4 ms·

I feel like there just something about "this thing is slightly difficult to get started using" that keeps normies out and keeps the place reasonable. It's the o

by scoofy 8mo ago

I feel like there just something about "this thing is slightly difficult to get started using" that keeps normies out and keeps the place reasonable. It's the only way to prevent the Eternal September of a popular social network. I felt a similar experience to this on a trip to Scotland recently. My partner and I visited Iona, and it was just amazing. I suspect it was such a pleasant experience because, while the place is about tourism, it's somehow not cliche shit. I suspect the difficult in accessing the island plays a big role.

krapp 8mo ago
[flagged]
- BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
  > The only people I've ever heard complain about the slight difficulty are techies Because everyone else has never heard of mastodon or this fediverse shit. Of course you don't hear complaints from people who don't know what it is. > I'll take normies over There are no "normies" as you call them using federated services. They don't want to need to think about server to server federation rules. They want a global central feed.
  - krapp 8mo ago
    I've seen plenty of "normal" and non "techie" people on Mastodon. And the point is the complaints about the "complexity" of Mastodon - which isn't really that complex you can literally join an instance as easily as signing up for a subreddit - are disingenuous coming from this crowd.
    - BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
      People don't want to join "an instance". People don't want to care about what "an instance" is which also means being asked to be aware of things like instance-specific moderation rules. And I don't know what it's like now, but cross-server following used to be quite annoying.
      - krapp 8mo ago
        People join "rooms", "lobbies", "boards", "subs", "groups", "servers" and the like all the time, and deal with moderation rules.
        BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
        Facebook groups and subreddits became so popular because they're all on centralized websites so you can join many of them all in one place and you can talk to people in all of them through the same platform. Single service, single login domain, single thing to tell your grandparents, and, very very very importantly, single global search. There are major differences between "subs"/"rooms" that are fundamentally joined and independently operated protocol hosts that are fundamentally not.
        krapp 8mo ago
        Those differences are not so complex and confusing that you need deep technical skill to figure them out. You can follow anyone from any instance (per the rules, if you're on someone else's instance) or follow hashtags or use relays if you run your own instance (for which numerous services exist.) The most difficult part of Mastodon is linking to other instances but even that just involves using the search bar.
        BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
        > Those differences are not so complex and confusing One might ask why Bluesky has more sign-ups and monthly active users acquired in less time even without the facestagram login power funnel that Threads has. And of course Threads has waaaaaayyy more. The evidence of what people want from a social media service is right in front of us and very clear. This reads to me very much like the timeless words of Seymour Skinner, "Am I so out of touch? No! It's the children who are wrong."
        krapp 8mo ago
        Bluesky had the benefit of marketing, association with Twitter and the support of influencers and Threads is owned by Meta and is integrated into Facebook. What is that supposed to prove, beyond that advertising companies are good at advertising themselves?
  - rsynnott 8mo ago
    I suppose define 'normies'? There are plenty of non-techies, but they're often primarily using it for a specific community.
    - BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
      Eh. I'm not going to defend OP's use of the term "normies". It's pejorative and fundamentally othering. > plenty of non-techies Viewing the concepts and consequences of federation (no global search, disjoint moderation by instance owners) as "tech" is a fundamental category error.
- eudamoniac 8mo ago
  Every single comment on your profile's first page is political, usually invective. Please review the HN guidelines.
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
  - krapp 8mo ago
    You're a racist and a fascist, kindly eat me. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46515813 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46515813 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47141183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47141183
    - eudamoniac 8mo ago
      Oh no, not an ist! Anyway...
sph 8mo ago
> I feel like there just something about "this thing is slightly difficult to get started using" that keeps normies out and keeps the place reasonable. I think about this when people say that contributing to Linux is difficult and they should adopt more user-friendly ways of accepting changes, rather than mailing patches from the command line. The friction is a feature. You don't want too much, but no friction just invites the spammers and the trolls wasting everybody's time. If anything, as the Internet grows and machines compete with humans, you want even more friction than ever before.

by scoofy 8mo ago

krapp 8mo ago

[flagged]

BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
> The only people I've ever heard complain about the slight difficulty are techies Because everyone else has never heard of mastodon or this fediverse shit. Of course you don't hear complaints from people who don't know what it is. > I'll take normies over There are no "normies" as you call them using federated services. They don't want to need to think about server to server federation rules. They want a global central feed.
- krapp 8mo ago
  I've seen plenty of "normal" and non "techie" people on Mastodon. And the point is the complaints about the "complexity" of Mastodon - which isn't really that complex you can literally join an instance as easily as signing up for a subreddit - are disingenuous coming from this crowd.
  - BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
    People don't want to join "an instance". People don't want to care about what "an instance" is which also means being asked to be aware of things like instance-specific moderation rules. And I don't know what it's like now, but cross-server following used to be quite annoying.
    - krapp 8mo ago
      People join "rooms", "lobbies", "boards", "subs", "groups", "servers" and the like all the time, and deal with moderation rules.
      - BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
        Facebook groups and subreddits became so popular because they're all on centralized websites so you can join many of them all in one place and you can talk to people in all of them through the same platform. Single service, single login domain, single thing to tell your grandparents, and, very very very importantly, single global search. There are major differences between "subs"/"rooms" that are fundamentally joined and independently operated protocol hosts that are fundamentally not.
        krapp 8mo ago
        Those differences are not so complex and confusing that you need deep technical skill to figure them out. You can follow anyone from any instance (per the rules, if you're on someone else's instance) or follow hashtags or use relays if you run your own instance (for which numerous services exist.) The most difficult part of Mastodon is linking to other instances but even that just involves using the search bar.
        BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
        > Those differences are not so complex and confusing One might ask why Bluesky has more sign-ups and monthly active users acquired in less time even without the facestagram login power funnel that Threads has. And of course Threads has waaaaaayyy more. The evidence of what people want from a social media service is right in front of us and very clear. This reads to me very much like the timeless words of Seymour Skinner, "Am I so out of touch? No! It's the children who are wrong."
        krapp 8mo ago
        Bluesky had the benefit of marketing, association with Twitter and the support of influencers and Threads is owned by Meta and is integrated into Facebook. What is that supposed to prove, beyond that advertising companies are good at advertising themselves?
- rsynnott 8mo ago
  I suppose define 'normies'? There are plenty of non-techies, but they're often primarily using it for a specific community.
  - BugsJustFindMe 8mo ago
    Eh. I'm not going to defend OP's use of the term "normies". It's pejorative and fundamentally othering. > plenty of non-techies Viewing the concepts and consequences of federation (no global search, disjoint moderation by instance owners) as "tech" is a fundamental category error.
eudamoniac 8mo ago
Every single comment on your profile's first page is political, usually invective. Please review the HN guidelines.
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]
- krapp 8mo ago
  You're a racist and a fascist, kindly eat me. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46515813 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46515813 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47141183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47141183
  - eudamoniac 8mo ago
    Oh no, not an ist! Anyway...

sph 8mo ago

> I feel like there just something about "this thing is slightly difficult to get started using" that keeps normies out and keeps the place reasonable. I think about this when people say that contributing to Linux is difficult and they should adopt more user-friendly ways of accepting changes, rather than mailing patches from the command line. The friction is a feature. You don't want too much, but no friction just invites the spammers and the trolls wasting everybody's time. If anything, as the Internet grows and machines compete with humans, you want even more friction than ever before.