The problem is users are addicted to vanity metrics. For this sole reason, Threads will probably beat the shit out of both Twitter and Mastodon. There is good r

The problem is users are addicted to vanity metrics. For this sole reason, Threads will probably beat the shit out of both Twitter and Mastodon. There is good reason to suspect Tiktok faking views (viewcount is only people who were shown the video, including those that skipped it) played a major role in getting users to create so much content for nothing. It would be a lot harder to fake those vanity metrics on a more open platform. The people you followed on Twitter who faded away from Mastodon after an early signup, those are the ones who are there for the vanity metrics (which at some scale do translate in to commercial value but for the vast majority do not.) I believed the opinions of how bad Mastodon was from a user experience standpoint, and a sign up process, until I signed up last year. It's all bullshit. My feed has multiple people I followed on Twitter, it's cleaner, and the people who just posted for engagement are gone. The signup process was painless. It's arguably easier to use than Twitter.