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99% of social media users don't care about any of this. If it's one extra step or configuration they need to learn, or includes a word like "protocol" that they

99% of social media users don't care about any of this. If it's one extra step or configuration they need to learn, or includes a word like "protocol" that they need to understand, they won't use it.

steveklabnik 1y ago
That's one reason why Bluesky has gained a lot of traction. All of this is under the surface, not something you need to care about unless you want to.
- verdverm 1y ago
  I would contend not all of it is under the surface The Bsky team regularly highlights other apps, custom feeds, and moderation choice
  - steveklabnik 1y ago
    The important part is that you don't need to know about any of this to use the service. Of course, the protocol enables user-level features.
  - extraduder_ire 1y ago
    You don't need to know how any of those features or websites work to use them. I'd also argue that most users have no idea who the people working on the site are. (even if reading the replies under their personal posts gives a different impression) The end user just sees they can subscribe to a moderation list that hides any post labelled as "Beans", or that they can have a feed next to their Discover feed that's an endless stream of people getting ligma'd. Or that they can use their account to log into a seemingly unrelated site.
danabramov 1y ago
Right, which is why the article makes the point that it’s invisible to the end user several times. That’s also why it frames the benefits in the concrete way that shows up in the products — like products being able to riff on each other’s data. My audience for this article is slightly technical so I put some focus on the technical parts. I don’t try to avoid mentioning the “protocol” for the same reason why teaching to make websites involves mentioning HTTP. I 100% agree with you though and that’s important for broader communication. What people care about are good products.

99% of social media users don't care about any of this. If it's one extra step or configuration they need to learn, or includes a word like "protocol" that they need to understand, they won't use it.

steveklabnik 1y ago

That's one reason why Bluesky has gained a lot of traction. All of this is under the surface, not something you need to care about unless you want to.

verdverm 1y ago
I would contend not all of it is under the surface The Bsky team regularly highlights other apps, custom feeds, and moderation choice
- steveklabnik 1y ago
  The important part is that you don't need to know about any of this to use the service. Of course, the protocol enables user-level features.
- extraduder_ire 1y ago
  You don't need to know how any of those features or websites work to use them. I'd also argue that most users have no idea who the people working on the site are. (even if reading the replies under their personal posts gives a different impression) The end user just sees they can subscribe to a moderation list that hides any post labelled as "Beans", or that they can have a feed next to their Discover feed that's an endless stream of people getting ligma'd. Or that they can use their account to log into a seemingly unrelated site.

danabramov 1y ago

Right, which is why the article makes the point that it’s invisible to the end user several times. That’s also why it frames the benefits in the concrete way that shows up in the products — like products being able to riff on each other’s data. My audience for this article is slightly technical so I put some focus on the technical parts. I don’t try to avoid mentioning the “protocol” for the same reason why teaching to make websites involves mentioning HTTP. I 100% agree with you though and that’s important for broader communication. What people care about are good products.