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As a software engineer, I found using Mastodon very confusing and nonintuitive. I want it to work and be successful, but trying to think of is anything but a c

As a software engineer, I found using Mastodon very confusing and nonintuitive. I want it to work and be successful, but trying to think of is anything but a curiosity until it’s more user-friendly for non-techies is a pretty fair argument…

dmix 4y ago
Even worse, users can signup on a random server then it can end up on one of the big server blacklists (or get shutdown) and they won’t be able to see or participate in major portions of the network. Try explaining to your mom why she needs to sign up again on a different URL, its no walk in the park (especially if you want to keep your old ‘tweets’ via backups): https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-switch-servers-on-mastodon-everything-you-need-to-know/ https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-switch-servers-on-mastodon-eve... If Mastodon grows bigger and blacklists grow, it could easily Balkanize, and it will be clear it’s more of a competitor or add-on to existing niche forums/communities. Something not really in the spirit of public social networks like Twitter. Which is totally fine, just different. …assuming they figure out the UX/UI issues to help it “cross the chasm” (which I’m skeptical will happen soon, that usually takes core leadership, good design is rarely tacked on afterwards). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm?wprov=sfti1
- sangnoir 4y ago
  > Try explaining to your mom why she needs to sign up again on a different URL, its no walk in the park How different is this from explaining switching from AOL to GMail?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - dmix 4y ago
    AOL doesn't blacklist Gmail users? And asking your mom to switch email addresses/providers and learn a whole new interface is probably not the example you want to use... People clung to Hotmail/AOL for YEARS, sometimes a decade.
- pingiun 4y ago
  > Even worse, users can signup on a random server then it can end up on one of the big server blacklists (or get shutdown) and they won’t be able to see or participate in major portions of the network. Maybe do a bit of research and don't sign up at shitty instances? The only reason I have seen for blocking instances if they're alt-right, racist, transphobic or harassing people

dmix 4y ago

Even worse, users can signup on a random server then it can end up on one of the big server blacklists (or get shutdown) and they won’t be able to see or participate in major portions of the network. Try explaining to your mom why she needs to sign up again on a different URL, its no walk in the park (especially if you want to keep your old ‘tweets’ via backups): https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-switch-servers-on-mastodon-everything-you-need-to-know/ https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-switch-servers-on-mastodon-eve... If Mastodon grows bigger and blacklists grow, it could easily Balkanize, and it will be clear it’s more of a competitor or add-on to existing niche forums/communities. Something not really in the spirit of public social networks like Twitter. Which is totally fine, just different. …assuming they figure out the UX/UI issues to help it “cross the chasm” (which I’m skeptical will happen soon, that usually takes core leadership, good design is rarely tacked on afterwards). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm?wprov=sfti1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm?wprov=sfti1

sangnoir 4y ago
> Try explaining to your mom why she needs to sign up again on a different URL, its no walk in the park How different is this from explaining switching from AOL to GMail?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- dmix 4y ago
  AOL doesn't blacklist Gmail users? And asking your mom to switch email addresses/providers and learn a whole new interface is probably not the example you want to use... People clung to Hotmail/AOL for YEARS, sometimes a decade.
pingiun 4y ago
> Even worse, users can signup on a random server then it can end up on one of the big server blacklists (or get shutdown) and they won’t be able to see or participate in major portions of the network. Maybe do a bit of research and don't sign up at shitty instances? The only reason I have seen for blocking instances if they're alt-right, racist, transphobic or harassing people