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Maybe a bit tangential to the original comment, but starting my potentially controversial rant on Mastodon and Twitter: The real problem with Mastodon, is that

Maybe a bit tangential to the original comment, but starting my potentially controversial rant on Mastodon and Twitter: The real problem with Mastodon, is that it's too similar to Twitter! People try out new sites because they have something different in terms of content creation or consumption (Discord, with its real-time communication and flow of conversations, Tiktok for its instant video creation and consumption, etc...) But Mastodon has nothing new to show off, since it's basically a Twitter clone (yeah, with some extra features like federation, but seriously why use it when you have Twitter?) Mastodon has basically become Twitter for ex-Twitter people who don't want to deal with ratios and wild crowds and have their own "cozy" space. And I've observed people trying to move to Mastodon and realize it's a very quite place and immediately jump back in on Twitter after a month... I understand that there is a niche of people who dig that kind of cozy stuff, but most people still just love the wildness of Twitter where anyone can be commented on, retweeted, quote-tweeted, "ratioed", and "get judged and fucked by the audience". Yes, it's also one of the most horrible and deranged places of the Internet, but people accept that and still log in because we have our own death drives to fulfill. We know that cigarettes and drugs are harmful, but isn't that the point?

rapnie 5y ago
There is only so much that one microblogging app differs from another, or one chat app from yet another chat app. But there's more to Mastodon than what you describe. The fact that you have chronological timelines, and not some random algorithmically generated list and recommendations flying in from everywhere, is really refreshing. This means too that when you first use Mastodon, your UI is mostly empty. It seems quiet. The impatient ones then already leave. If you take the time to build your following, then you get a great personal timeline. And the server instance you choose can already give you a nice community in the server timeline. The fediverse is small compared to Twitter user base, but with millions of users there's plenty to explore and engage with. And there's better netiquette in general.
- cyber_kinetist 5y ago
  > The fact that you have chronological timelines Twitter also has chronological timelines, there’s a button on the top right. > The fediverse is small compared to Twitter user base, but with millions of users there's plenty to explore and engage with. …no, there isn’t. The population mainly consists of cartoon child porn artists and enthusiasts (pawoo.net), tech people (official and semi-official instances), small groups of queer people (on smaller closed instances), and that’s mainly it (from what I’ve seen). Engagement on smaller instances seems to be very low, with most toots being 0-1 likes and almost no comments posted on them. > And there's better netiquette in general. No, mob/clique mentality from Twitter is already there (but even more amplified by the federation aspect, since instances can ban other instances) The reason Mastodon doesn’t have that much drama is simply because there aren’t enough people there, and I predict a mass migration to Mastodon will be accompanied by the most dramatic controversies.
Nav_Panel 5y ago
Oh, I totally agree on all counts. I have no reason to use Mastodon while Twitter still exists and is free. OTOH I'm currently working at a company building a social platform specifically targeted at crypto communities, and it's fun to think about what sorts of different features we can offer to that space of users and their specialized needs.
- cyber_kinetist 5y ago
  Please do. A wide portion of the Twitter audience wants crypto/NFT guys to disappear from Twitter, to the extent that they’re making blocklists and using third-party apps to filter out crypto-related posts and people. You’ll make life better for both sides.
- moneywoes 5y ago
  What company? Sounds intriguing
  - Nav_Panel 5y ago
    https://commonwealth.im/ https://commonwealth.im/

rapnie 5y ago

There is only so much that one microblogging app differs from another, or one chat app from yet another chat app. But there's more to Mastodon than what you describe. The fact that you have chronological timelines, and not some random algorithmically generated list and recommendations flying in from everywhere, is really refreshing. This means too that when you first use Mastodon, your UI is mostly empty. It seems quiet. The impatient ones then already leave. If you take the time to build your following, then you get a great personal timeline. And the server instance you choose can already give you a nice community in the server timeline. The fediverse is small compared to Twitter user base, but with millions of users there's plenty to explore and engage with. And there's better netiquette in general.

cyber_kinetist 5y ago
> The fact that you have chronological timelines Twitter also has chronological timelines, there’s a button on the top right. > The fediverse is small compared to Twitter user base, but with millions of users there's plenty to explore and engage with. …no, there isn’t. The population mainly consists of cartoon child porn artists and enthusiasts (pawoo.net), tech people (official and semi-official instances), small groups of queer people (on smaller closed instances), and that’s mainly it (from what I’ve seen). Engagement on smaller instances seems to be very low, with most toots being 0-1 likes and almost no comments posted on them. > And there's better netiquette in general. No, mob/clique mentality from Twitter is already there (but even more amplified by the federation aspect, since instances can ban other instances) The reason Mastodon doesn’t have that much drama is simply because there aren’t enough people there, and I predict a mass migration to Mastodon will be accompanied by the most dramatic controversies.

Nav_Panel 5y ago

Oh, I totally agree on all counts. I have no reason to use Mastodon while Twitter still exists and is free. OTOH I'm currently working at a company building a social platform specifically targeted at crypto communities, and it's fun to think about what sorts of different features we can offer to that space of users and their specialized needs.

cyber_kinetist 5y ago
Please do. A wide portion of the Twitter audience wants crypto/NFT guys to disappear from Twitter, to the extent that they’re making blocklists and using third-party apps to filter out crypto-related posts and people. You’ll make life better for both sides.
moneywoes 5y ago
What company? Sounds intriguing
- Nav_Panel 5y ago
  https://commonwealth.im/ https://commonwealth.im/