4 ms·

Part of the genius of Twitter is the name and its brand. Twitter, tweet, tweeting, tweeted, etc. Even if Twitter had no goodwill, it's an excellent name for suc

Part of the genius of Twitter is the name and its brand. Twitter, tweet, tweeting, tweeted, etc. Even if Twitter had no goodwill, it's an excellent name for such a service. None of the options presented here have that. "Hey dude, did you see that mastodon post?" "I'll add you on GNU Social" "Fediverse is getting popular, wanna fediverse?" "Nmd'ed you!" "Totally Aaether that!" "Breaking News: The Prime Minister of Australia just diaspored"

optimalsolver 6y ago
Ease of adoption is also being overlooked here. The average person doesn't want the hassle of self-hosting their own social media server. Not when they can join Twitter and be tweeting at the world within seconds without ever worrying about the technicals. That means the kind of people you'll be talking to on these platforms will most be techno-libertarian types. A plus for some, a strong negative for others.
- nine_k 6y ago
  You don't need to run your own Mastodon server. It's like email: you can run your own, but it's easier to join some of the numerous existing servers. Also, I don't see how decentralized service can live without decentralization of control and ownership of nodes. Without the latter, you just get a multi-DC centralized service. So there's no alternative to a certain degree of self-hosting. Either you yield control to a central authority, or you care enough to maintain a node under your control. OTOH self-hosting should be made as simple as possible for an average user. Much like running a Skype node, or a torrent node did not feel like hosting, and felt like just running an app. This is ruined by the need to run on mobile clients (can't be reasonable servers) and exacerbated by the widespread NATting of home networks, so your desktop can't easily be a server, too.
jonas21 6y ago
While Mastodon and Diaspora may be distinctly bad names, perhaps you don't need a great name either. Take Facebook, for example. Even with Twitter, I think there are probably thousands of words that would sound as natural as "tweet" if people were constantly saying it (and shouldn't it be "twit" anyway?).
- Swenrekcah 6y ago
  The person with a twitter account could then be a ‘twat’
  - DennisP 6y ago
    In the early days of Twitter, a guest asked Colbert if he'd used it and Colbert replied "I have twatted."
darksaints 6y ago
Speaking of GNU social, I have always thought that GNU was quite possibly the worst name to use for the project, simply because nobody knows how to pronounce it, and maybe if you do know how to pronounce it, someone else might pronounce it completely differently, so it you end up pronouncing it in two (or more!) ways until the person you're talking to knows what you're talking about. Is it 'new'? Or 'nyew'? I've also heard 'geh-new' and 'G-new'. 'new' is probably the easiest to say and is technically correct, but it is also an extremely ubiquitous adjective which can be placed next to literally any noun, and therefore a terrible way to brand something. And I think that is the primary reason why GNU/Linux never caught on and everybody just called it Linux. "What OS do you use?" "GNU/Linux" "Wait, I didn't know there was a New Linux!".
- rishav_sharan 6y ago
  New? I have always pronounced it as Ginu. -_-
  - aldanor 6y ago
    Gnoo
    - blisterpeanuts 6y ago
      I always say: guh-NOO Rhymes with kazoo.
- hyperpallium2 6y ago
  or expand it.
- qpiox 6y ago
  Visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU Click on the listen link in the first paragraph and you'll understand how to pronounce it.
- rakoo 6y ago
  Pronunciation issues have never stopped us from posting GIFs even though too many people still mispronounce it
krallja 6y ago
Mastodon posts are toots
- systemvoltage 6y ago
  +1, I really like it. It's cute, short and playful.
  - salamanderman 6y ago
    Definitely cute, short and playful. It has the downside that "toot" is also used as a more polite, kid-friendly word for fart. Though I do love the thought of hearing a newscaster saying something like "Breaking news: President Trump has just tooted, and critics are calling it inappropriate and disgusting."
    - benhurmarcel 6y ago
      "Tweet" sounded ridiculous at the beginning too. Everyone has just gotten used to it.
      - derwiki 6y ago
        "iPad" as well
      - shawnz 6y ago
        And the more trivial derivation "Twit" would have been even worse. Meanwhile "Tweeter" sounds terrible

optimalsolver 6y ago

Ease of adoption is also being overlooked here. The average person doesn't want the hassle of self-hosting their own social media server. Not when they can join Twitter and be tweeting at the world within seconds without ever worrying about the technicals. That means the kind of people you'll be talking to on these platforms will most be techno-libertarian types. A plus for some, a strong negative for others.

nine_k 6y ago
You don't need to run your own Mastodon server. It's like email: you can run your own, but it's easier to join some of the numerous existing servers. Also, I don't see how decentralized service can live without decentralization of control and ownership of nodes. Without the latter, you just get a multi-DC centralized service. So there's no alternative to a certain degree of self-hosting. Either you yield control to a central authority, or you care enough to maintain a node under your control. OTOH self-hosting should be made as simple as possible for an average user. Much like running a Skype node, or a torrent node did not feel like hosting, and felt like just running an app. This is ruined by the need to run on mobile clients (can't be reasonable servers) and exacerbated by the widespread NATting of home networks, so your desktop can't easily be a server, too.

jonas21 6y ago

While Mastodon and Diaspora may be distinctly bad names, perhaps you don't need a great name either. Take Facebook, for example. Even with Twitter, I think there are probably thousands of words that would sound as natural as "tweet" if people were constantly saying it (and shouldn't it be "twit" anyway?).

Swenrekcah 6y ago
The person with a twitter account could then be a ‘twat’
- DennisP 6y ago
  In the early days of Twitter, a guest asked Colbert if he'd used it and Colbert replied "I have twatted."

darksaints 6y ago

Speaking of GNU social, I have always thought that GNU was quite possibly the worst name to use for the project, simply because nobody knows how to pronounce it, and maybe if you do know how to pronounce it, someone else might pronounce it completely differently, so it you end up pronouncing it in two (or more!) ways until the person you're talking to knows what you're talking about. Is it 'new'? Or 'nyew'? I've also heard 'geh-new' and 'G-new'. 'new' is probably the easiest to say and is technically correct, but it is also an extremely ubiquitous adjective which can be placed next to literally any noun, and therefore a terrible way to brand something. And I think that is the primary reason why GNU/Linux never caught on and everybody just called it Linux. "What OS do you use?" "GNU/Linux" "Wait, I didn't know there was a New Linux!".

rishav_sharan 6y ago
New? I have always pronounced it as Ginu. -_-
- aldanor 6y ago
  Gnoo
  - blisterpeanuts 6y ago
    I always say: guh-NOO Rhymes with kazoo.
hyperpallium2 6y ago
or expand it.
qpiox 6y ago
Visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU Click on the listen link in the first paragraph and you'll understand how to pronounce it.
rakoo 6y ago
Pronunciation issues have never stopped us from posting GIFs even though too many people still mispronounce it

krallja 6y ago

Mastodon posts are toots

systemvoltage 6y ago
+1, I really like it. It's cute, short and playful.
- salamanderman 6y ago
  Definitely cute, short and playful. It has the downside that "toot" is also used as a more polite, kid-friendly word for fart. Though I do love the thought of hearing a newscaster saying something like "Breaking news: President Trump has just tooted, and critics are calling it inappropriate and disgusting."
  - benhurmarcel 6y ago
    "Tweet" sounded ridiculous at the beginning too. Everyone has just gotten used to it.
    - derwiki 6y ago
      "iPad" as well
    - shawnz 6y ago
      And the more trivial derivation "Twit" would have been even worse. Meanwhile "Tweeter" sounds terrible