With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!!
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The lack of an algorithm is the biggest advantage and the biggest disadvantage - it makes it hard to discover new content and people to follow. I know people are working on "starter packs" for Mastodon like they have on BlueSky, which I think will help.
But I wonder if we could find other ways to make discovery easier - a "followed by people you follow" or "favorited by people you follow" feed, or something. Also, I wonder if the interface shouldn't suggest boosting a post when you favorite it... We need more people boosting more stuff, with no algorithm.
You have to follow 200+ people to get a decently full feed on Mastodon, and everyone has to boost a lot. Reducing the effort required to do those things would increase engagement on Mastodon, I'm pretty sure.
@marymessall @taylorlorenz Yes, a default "favorited by people you follow" feed would be great. We may dislike algorithms like those used by e.g. Linked-In, but it is effective: When you only have the time to open it once a week, important stuff (for you) still appears at the top. Many of my colleagues joined Mastodon, but became completely inactive. Why? If they did have something important to say, it was snowed under by all the other posts....
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With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!! I love this app and I really think the decentralized model is the best for social media.
Still, people don’t want to join! What do you think Mastodon’s biggest barriers are to courting new users? What could be done to improve the product and grow the user base in a positive way?
@taylorlorenz so much good stuff mentioned in this thread. Had we had groups similar to Facebook groups, I see how one could move lots of people to the Fediverse. You'd set up your profile for friends and family to follow you and you them, and you'd join groups similar to what's been locking people into FB. Here in Sweden FB groups for your local town or city district is the number one reason people who hate FB stay there. That and birthdays/parties.
Most people don't want to "toot" everyday. -
@Viss @taylorlorenz I can't recall ever getting hoa shamed on mastodon, tbh.
But the decision paralysis is real.
@taylorlorenz @ryanc ive been shamed a bunch. for not adding alt text to memes
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With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!! I love this app and I really think the decentralized model is the best for social media.
Still, people don’t want to join! What do you think Mastodon’s biggest barriers are to courting new users? What could be done to improve the product and grow the user base in a positive way?
@taylorlorenz the concept is confusing. Join a server, but you're connected to other servers, and if you get booted off a server you can still use another server... I think for a lot of people it sounds like a thing for people who are into tech.
I reckon the way to bring people over is at the community level.
Forget the fediverse, forget the tech, just come and join community X/Y/Z over here, its just like signing up for any other social platorm and it's not owned by a megalomaniac tech bro.
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With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!! I love this app and I really think the decentralized model is the best for social media.
Still, people don’t want to join! What do you think Mastodon’s biggest barriers are to courting new users? What could be done to improve the product and grow the user base in a positive way?
@taylorlorenz Picking servers adds to the perception that it's a complicated or a "tech" thing. There are good mobile clients - I've been using ivory for ages. Some of the default designs on the web feel dates and overly complicated.
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@taylorlorenz so much good stuff mentioned in this thread. Had we had groups similar to Facebook groups, I see how one could move lots of people to the Fediverse. You'd set up your profile for friends and family to follow you and you them, and you'd join groups similar to what's been locking people into FB. Here in Sweden FB groups for your local town or city district is the number one reason people who hate FB stay there. That and birthdays/parties.
Most people don't want to "toot" everyday.That's Friendica though, not Mastodon
I would rather see a "fediverse authentication scheme" than the different services evolving into eachother.I would be very happy if the fact that I have an account on any Fediverse instance means I can authenticate and use any other.
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That's Friendica though, not Mastodon
I would rather see a "fediverse authentication scheme" than the different services evolving into eachother.I would be very happy if the fact that I have an account on any Fediverse instance means I can authenticate and use any other.
@troed @taylorlorenz I'd love that too, that would be the dream. That people could use "Login with
Mastodon" instead of google, FB, apple... -
@killick @jake4480 remember how MySpace worked, we could design out own little corner of the web with widgets and favorite friends? And then we took our info to meta and decorated our corner with pics of family and friends. And then we took our info and decorated and connected through tiktok or whatever and at some point we grow tired of having to grow new connections or learn new formats for something that doesn't grant us easy access or connection. Displaced again and again, then feeling concerned with whether our new server choice will disband when a moderator gets a new job. It's challenging to root into for an internet refugee. Still we persist, of course. I really do love the fediverse and am happy to have found my way within it. It's a pilgrimage of sorts, the journey not the destination or whatever. But every time I recommend it to someone I get stuck with what server to suggest they begin with. Mastodon.social is an often times blocked server by regular users of the fediverse.
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That's Friendica though, not Mastodon
I would rather see a "fediverse authentication scheme" than the different services evolving into eachother.I would be very happy if the fact that I have an account on any Fediverse instance means I can authenticate and use any other.
@troed @taylorlorenz I never managed to see it (groups) work on Friendica... It would be nice to see it in practice...
Friendica has a steep learning curve to even understand (for me, I'm sure its different for others).
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I haven't seen or heard any reports since a initial uproar in 2022, when the MusXodus started. That's why asked. I guess that's more reasonable than stating without references or pointing out where and whom to block.
black twitter decided to choose bluesky over the privileged european mastodon community, created a bluesky node of their own and are surfing happily ever after in the realm of decentralized networks.
Good for them!
@NickGates @futurebird @IveyJanette @taylorlorenz@bitpickup @OrionKidder @NickGates @futurebird @taylorlorenz I'm also on Bluesky.
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@NickGates @bitpickup @futurebird @taylorlorenz Yes. And I immediately block.
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@NickGates
> Black users have consistently reported hostilityIs that still so @futurebird & @IveyJanette or is this a tale that persists because of events in the past?
The most important detail of the fedi is decentralization. Moderation problems increase with the size of instances. Communities protect themselves best by creating their own instances.
@bitpickup @NickGates @futurebird @taylorlorenz Yes. That's why I block when needed. And I've also started posting on Bluesky as an alternative option. I left Threads in 2025 because the harassment towards Blacks was intolerable.
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With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!! I love this app and I really think the decentralized model is the best for social media.
Still, people don’t want to join! What do you think Mastodon’s biggest barriers are to courting new users? What could be done to improve the product and grow the user base in a positive way?
@taylorlorenz
2 things:
People are lazy. Signing up to the #fediverse can be more difficult. Building not only a following, but finding people that make stuff you like is challenging here. It's not fed to you like on a #fyp algorithm.
People like short video formats. I was never big on twitter, and that's what this platform is akin to. Maybe #Loops will be good in the future, but for now it lacks content from point 1. -
@marymessall @taylorlorenz Yes, a default "favorited by people you follow" feed would be great. We may dislike algorithms like those used by e.g. Linked-In, but it is effective: When you only have the time to open it once a week, important stuff (for you) still appears at the top. Many of my colleagues joined Mastodon, but became completely inactive. Why? If they did have something important to say, it was snowed under by all the other posts....
@GeertAarts @marymessall @taylorlorenz the timeline being by time only can also make it challenging across timezones. I'm awake and alive 14 hours before most of my friends, so I post when I post but then re boost my own posts according to the timezone my friends are now awake in.
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The lack of an algorithm is the biggest advantage and the biggest disadvantage - it makes it hard to discover new content and people to follow. I know people are working on "starter packs" for Mastodon like they have on BlueSky, which I think will help.
But I wonder if we could find other ways to make discovery easier - a "followed by people you follow" or "favorited by people you follow" feed, or something. Also, I wonder if the interface shouldn't suggest boosting a post when you favorite it... We need more people boosting more stuff, with no algorithm.
You have to follow 200+ people to get a decently full feed on Mastodon, and everyone has to boost a lot. Reducing the effort required to do those things would increase engagement on Mastodon, I'm pretty sure.
@marymessall @taylorlorenz too many fedi users are married to the "reverse chronological" algorithm. They yes, "algorithms" are often bad in capitalist social media. A big problem there is that the user cannot control the algorithm.
Mastodon can give people a choice of algorithms. Allow them to build their own. ... -
@killick @jake4480 remember how MySpace worked, we could design out own little corner of the web with widgets and favorite friends? And then we took our info to meta and decorated our corner with pics of family and friends. And then we took our info and decorated and connected through tiktok or whatever and at some point we grow tired of having to grow new connections or learn new formats for something that doesn't grant us easy access or connection. Displaced again and again, then feeling concerned with whether our new server choice will disband when a moderator gets a new job. It's challenging to root into for an internet refugee. Still we persist, of course. I really do love the fediverse and am happy to have found my way within it. It's a pilgrimage of sorts, the journey not the destination or whatever. But every time I recommend it to someone I get stuck with what server to suggest they begin with. Mastodon.social is an often times blocked server by regular users of the fediverse.
@MamaLake @killick yeah, all of this is true too. Took a bit to set up here (didnt find it that tough, although maybe I'm tech minded and don't mind messing with things) and took probably a couple years here to really get going, but anything like this really does, is what people might forget. I was on Twitter 13 years. Walled gardens ain't great. I even paid my server admin here after being here just a couple years. I never gave Twitter a cent, and never wanted to. Coming here has really been eye opening and shifted my mindset in a lot of ways.
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With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!! I love this app and I really think the decentralized model is the best for social media.
Still, people don’t want to join! What do you think Mastodon’s biggest barriers are to courting new users? What could be done to improve the product and grow the user base in a positive way?
@taylorlorenz Honestly, network effect, and having to go to the effort of choosing a server.
I don't know how to solve these problems, but putting them out there so that someone smarter than I ca propose a solution.
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With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!! I love this app and I really think the decentralized model is the best for social media.
Still, people don’t want to join! What do you think Mastodon’s biggest barriers are to courting new users? What could be done to improve the product and grow the user base in a positive way?
@taylorlorenz
Honestly, Mastodon is not a "product" and it doesn't push itself on the masses with any sort of commercialization, nor should it. It's a safe space for us weirdos who like to talk about all kinds of random things. I hope to keep my feed pretty much meme-free. -
@magpieluvseeds @T_X @taylorlorenz if you're in Canada, try mstdn.ca. I recommend anyone outside of the USA to get on a mastodon instance that is outside the control of the NSA.
@hfinyow @T_X @taylorlorenz very good advice. Even for those in the USA
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With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!! I love this app and I really think the decentralized model is the best for social media.
Still, people don’t want to join! What do you think Mastodon’s biggest barriers are to courting new users? What could be done to improve the product and grow the user base in a positive way?
@taylorlorenz Taylor I wrote up my thoughts here and am working on an update to document the progress made on each: https://indieweb.social/@tchambers/114739709799083596
