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It will be as useful as other HN campaigns: stop using WhatsApp and use Signal, stop using Chrome and use Firefox, stop using Twitter and use this OSS alternati

by outime 2y ago

It will be as useful as other HN campaigns: stop using WhatsApp and use Signal, stop using Chrome and use Firefox, stop using Twitter and use this OSS alternative with 0.1% of the users, stop using Reddit, stop using Kubernetes, etc.

skeeter2020 2y ago
What's your alternative action? I tend to agree with you, but personally I've tried to stop pointing out problems without providing solutions; failing at something is better than preemptive surrender.
- adamtaylor_13 2y ago
  Surrender implies there’s something inherently wrong with these alternatives. Something a lot of people just don’t agree with. I agree with you that it’s helpful to be proactive, but the incumbents are there for a reason: at one point a large consensus agreed they were the best for doing X, whatever X might’ve been in that situation. Maybe that’s changed. But a lot of folks don’t think so. Twitter is useful precisely due to its network effect. That’s why I’ll never move to mastodon. Doesn’t make sense for the reason that I use the tool.
- outime 2y ago
  I'm not suggesting surrender, but I want to point out that a significant portion of the HN crowd seems to have a very specific perspective that doesn't align with reality. The average Discord user (hence, the largest percentage of the userbase) prioritize convenience, whether they're regular users or server creators. They don't care about being indexed by Google - they just want to connect quickly, chat, play games together, and so on. This convenience-driven mindset extends to technical communities on Discord. Creating a server there is as simple as clicking a couple of buttons, whereas setting up a new forum requires significant technical effort and ongoing maintenance, besides $$$. These practical aspects are often overlooked in discussions, hence the failure of all these campaigns lead by a bit too technical people i.e. those who are willing to spend time researching alternatives and enduring their particular pains, and don't care about networking effects. To challenge Discord effectively, create something equally convenient yet superior (like being indexable by Google). Wait for Discord's deep enshittification and seize the opportunity then. If it's not as convenient, don't expect users to switch. The average user won't invest time in learning new platforms when they can get everything faster and for free elsewhere.

by outime 2y ago

skeeter2020 2y ago

What's your alternative action? I tend to agree with you, but personally I've tried to stop pointing out problems without providing solutions; failing at something is better than preemptive surrender.

adamtaylor_13 2y ago
Surrender implies there’s something inherently wrong with these alternatives. Something a lot of people just don’t agree with. I agree with you that it’s helpful to be proactive, but the incumbents are there for a reason: at one point a large consensus agreed they were the best for doing X, whatever X might’ve been in that situation. Maybe that’s changed. But a lot of folks don’t think so. Twitter is useful precisely due to its network effect. That’s why I’ll never move to mastodon. Doesn’t make sense for the reason that I use the tool.
outime 2y ago
I'm not suggesting surrender, but I want to point out that a significant portion of the HN crowd seems to have a very specific perspective that doesn't align with reality. The average Discord user (hence, the largest percentage of the userbase) prioritize convenience, whether they're regular users or server creators. They don't care about being indexed by Google - they just want to connect quickly, chat, play games together, and so on. This convenience-driven mindset extends to technical communities on Discord. Creating a server there is as simple as clicking a couple of buttons, whereas setting up a new forum requires significant technical effort and ongoing maintenance, besides $$$. These practical aspects are often overlooked in discussions, hence the failure of all these campaigns lead by a bit too technical people i.e. those who are willing to spend time researching alternatives and enduring their particular pains, and don't care about networking effects. To challenge Discord effectively, create something equally convenient yet superior (like being indexable by Google). Wait for Discord's deep enshittification and seize the opportunity then. If it's not as convenient, don't expect users to switch. The average user won't invest time in learning new platforms when they can get everything faster and for free elsewhere.