With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!!
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@taylorlorenz the big two seen to be the decision paralysis surrounding choosing a server, and the mastodon hoa shaming new users for stuff
@Viss @taylorlorenz I can't recall ever getting hoa shamed on mastodon, tbh.
But the decision paralysis is real.
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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 I think joining Mastodon is really easy, especially with all the amazing join(this, that) .org
What could be improved is making self hosting easier and more accessible. I think that will make this beautiful project more attractive to communities (local or digital). Small self-hosted instances of people who know each other will probably be more active and engaging and thanks to the fediverse they'll connect with inspiring skeletons and the rest -
@taylorlorenz Also, specifically for TikTok users, we actually do have a federated alternative, not sure if you heard of it, https://joinloops.org?
I wonder if Mastodon's reputation has been too tarnished by all the gatekeeping and scolding. Maybe we could get more people into the fediverse sneakily through another platform?
I've been waiting for the apps to become available in the default app stores before recommending that to anyone. Testflight and an APK download are a high barrier to entry for a lot of people and first impressions are important
Edit: it's available on the app store for iOS now
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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
An advertising budget -
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 In my opinion the major "problem" with Mastodon is the lack of many sources that are present on Twitter. I'm Italian and on Twitter I was following many journalists, newspapers and politics, while here on Mastodon there are really few of them. The same applies for other kind of accounts
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@taylorlorenz I just joined and I have no idea what I’m doing. So, there’s that.
You should check out http://fedi.tips
The most important thing you need to do is follow people and hashtags to make sure your home feed is full.
If you make a post with the introduction hashtag and say something about yourself there then you can get a lot of recommendations that way
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@taylorlorenz Have you heard/read about the Forkiverse? The Mastodon server started by three popular podcasters that has grown to almost 10k members in just about two weeks.
I actually put together https://stefanbohacek.com/blog/fediverse-an-overview-for-community-organizers/ using it as a case study, hoping to maybe start reaching out to people who already have a following and could be interested in replicating this experiment.
I think that the http://dropout.tv fandom would be a great one to try what the forkiverse did but don't know who to suggest it to.
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@jbd @hfinyow @taylorlorenz Counter to your counter: most people use one of, what, four different email services? Email hasn't been captured like social media was, but they're working on it.
I do agree, though. Mastodon is anti-commercial, and people are used to for-profit social media, which has its own structures. People are accustomed to that, and even if it's crap, it's what they know.
The reason people flock to a few email services is largely because they are bundled in packages or office suites, and used in businesses and therefore easily used at home. There are still many providers and even more clients, plus the option to self host.
I do not foresee businesses using Mastodon for internal or client communication. -
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 People just dismiss it right away, and I never understood it why. Worst case they come up with excuses that they maybe heard from a person who heard it from another person's cat that it was cumbersome.
"It doesn't work, I hate it" has been a response from people with exactly 0 experience too many times and I cannot fathom why. They haven't even given themselves a chance to get angry at clumsy federation and they're already dismissive
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@taylorlorenz@mastodon.social Lack of celebrities, in my experience.
@mzedp @taylorlorenz and that's great
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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 selection of server still seems to be a big deal.
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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 recommending a server is always a barrier but https://fedi.garden/fediverse-servers-sorted-by-topic/ helped in my recent fedi-evangelist efforts
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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 There are a million little friction points for non-technical people. Example: somebody links somebody else's post, I click on it and I am brought to their server. Which means I am no longer recognized as logged in and can't follow/comment/like etc.
To me this is a minor bump on the road, and in two clicks I can sort it out. For my mother it is an impossible wall of confusion (my father gave up on understanding any technology that appeared after the '80s). -
@taylorlorenz one thing, the decentralized nature means there is perhaps too much choice. Do you get an account on mastodon.social, mstdn.ca, mastodon.com, tusky.whatever.... And also what app do you use to access it? When there was Twitter, there was one official app. With Mastodon, there are a multitude. Sometimes too much choice is counterproductive.
Isn't the Mastodon app on Google Play an official one? I've always used that on mobile and it works great.
On PC I just open my instance on my browser
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@OrionKidder
> "Refuse" implies she has a responsibility to do itImplies it for you.
That's fine with me.> Setting up an instance takes time
Time is money.
> technical skill,
Not any more.
> and money.
Much less than you think.
~6 bucks a month is actually an amount of money anyone should be willing to spend to support, the ownership of your very own data, your re contacts, your independence an democracy itself.If freeriding suits you, that's your choice.
@bitpickup @OrionKidder @taylorlorenz Maybe she has already paid some money (to Mastodon).
I don't think just setting up an instance will attract more users from other place, but thank you for mentioning. It's indeed very cheap. If one day my current instance somehow discontinue, I would consider setting up one on my own.
Personally I see this as a place to make new friends. I don’t expect people I already know to use it for they think there’s no clear benefit.
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@bitpickup @OrionKidder @taylorlorenz Maybe she has already paid some money (to Mastodon).
I don't think just setting up an instance will attract more users from other place, but thank you for mentioning. It's indeed very cheap. If one day my current instance somehow discontinue, I would consider setting up one on my own.
Personally I see this as a place to make new friends. I don’t expect people I already know to use it for they think there’s no clear benefit.
@bitpickup @OrionKidder @taylorlorenz For me, the benefit is that there aren’t so many bots user pretending to be human users here.
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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?
I think the main problem is discoverability, at least for new users, it's hard to get started. When you don't know anybody here, your timeline is just empty and you can feel quite lost. Having a good onboarding experience that would help you find people that one would find interesting would help a lot to retain people I think.
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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 are you really sure you want more people?
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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
They aren't spoon fed Mastodon like all the other corporate social media.I hope Loops takes off due to TikToks new maga ownership but last time I tried it out the android app wasnt a very good experience.
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@ai6yr "Biggest barrier to courting new users: we are culturally hostile here to influence peddlers". I'd say that is Mastodon's biggest appeal!
@n @ai6yr resistance to influence peddlers may also be why newcomers are baffled (I was).
Other platforms have a lot of marketing before anyone actually signs up: a combination of hand-holding instructions and (yes) boosterism that promises all kinds of marvels.
Could individuals with accounts here in the Fediverse be *a bit* more willing to provide something *a bit* like marketing to friends and family outside - cheerful #fediverse #howto #guide for #newcomers?
