With all the tiktok drama I have been telling people Mastodon is still here and kicking!!
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@andyinabox
The statement was specifically about @taylorlorenz, as she is out here for quite a while now and a respected journalist in the IT space, went independent time ago, and finances herself by subscriber support. She is the ideal kind of "influencer" to promote the fedi and at the same time to test and prove that with an established modest fixed support for servers, a different kind of social web is possible. The German mastodon instance digital.courage for example decided to expect a fixed "profile fee" of 1 Euro per month, payable once a year, as accounting every month would be to much work.It is obvious that setting up and maintaining a well moderated instance for users in the fediVerse comes with work and expenses. That's what my comment(s) started to begin with, by mentioning exclusivity and the bottleneck of moderation. I have no doubt that small communities can self moderate.
The experience itself would even fit into Mrs. Lorenz realm of expertise and actually give room for content creation, articles and books.I'm writing this comment from a self hosted friendica instance, way more powerful than mastodon, the ideal single user platform, not only for independent journalists. So if it where for Mrs. Lorenz herself, a social.usermag.co node would not only suffice without even entering the community and moderation details, she'd be in the drivers seat of her data and social web contacts. She even could publish simultaneously to bluesky, the fediverse, the diaspora network, tumblr and by email. With one click. And recieve all the input by her followers on her very own server. Ultimately that's what our decentralized web is about.
Right now, even tho she is independent, she depends on centralized gatekeepers that by the law of enshitification sooner or later always will cheat her. Be it substack, patreon, YT or the expectation that Elon might throttle the reach of her voice because she interviewed the mother of his child. They will always have the upper hand.
So teasing her the way I did is without any doubt nothing else than just that, using a wording that call's the attention for a split second to initialize own thought processes. A kinda friendly wake up call.
Te be sincere, it's not only embarrassing in my opinion to need to talk in length about this, actually my comments were directed way more to@OrionKidderwho already pulled the rug, than to you.The passive-aggressive communication style you people developed out there in the realm of the commercialized (a)social web is .. well .. painful to watch. Being for more than 15 years now out here in the federated web, we continuously are exposed to the backlashes and bad habits that reign out there, created and induced by algorithms, addictive dopamin schemes and all the rest we all know about.
This is the internet with people from all over the world, not only from northern america. And if right now you are Barcelona based, probablement ya se dio cuenta que, como dicen los alemans, andere Länder andere Sitten. De hecho al punto que siquiera los españoles y los latinos son capaces de comunicarse por largos ratos sin ofenderse y empezar a ponerse de estupidos porque parten de la base de que probablemente ay mala intencion del otro lado de la pantalla.
Why would I even bother to waste my time, the only thing I truly own, to address others out here with bad intent? Because others do so? If people aren't willing to think twice, think out of the box, give the benefit of the doubt, they most likely should dedicate themselves to do some blog posts and grant the world the right to cherish their glory, instead of reaching out into social interaction in a realm like the fediVerse where we all share so many things in common, beginning with the fact that we already managed to escape the sites set up by criminals out there, that the fact that we engage with each other should suffice to have fun together, instead of being afraid that some is trying to have fun at our expenses.
Right now I'm working on some material for to promote and explain our decentralized setup, maybe this map creates enough curiosity in Mrs Lorenz to think about setting up her own fediVerse nodes for her podcast, and her writings, mabye she even could host her videos on some peerTube instance. That way she might evolve her independent setup while surfing and milking the sites and setups she managed to evolve already.
The tone of my posts?
The tone of my posts are the way I write them and that's quite far and distant to the way your hear them.
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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 @hpod16 "Normals" simply don't care. Unless there’s a massive culture shift toward Mastodon, people won't leave other networks because it's less painful to stay than it is to change. This is the crux of every psychological decision ever.
People just need to give it a try and see for themselves, but that's a big ask.
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@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.
@hfinyow @taylorlorenz There is a Mastodon app though. I'm on it atm. Just not one Fediverse app. Or am I mistaken?
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For one thing, if your app is popular it can be because the UI is easy to use and the design is excellent.
Equally important? You can only build diverse, resilient communities if you can bring a wide range of users together. That cross-pollination between otherwise desperate communities is the magic of social media for me.
I often call the fedi "a nice college town" and it even has an HOA (an HOA that gets huffy and offended if you point out they are acting like an HOA)
@futurebird My personal reason for wishing Mastodon was more popular is I believe we could maybe bring people back from the brainwashing-mashines. Sadly those who need it the most are addicted to being spoon-fed with brain-rot I believe. @bovaz @aurochs
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@ryanc @taylorlorenz im waiting for actual people who are visually impared to ask for it. because so far all the screaming is done by dipshits doing virtue signaling - and its those virtue signaling dipshits that are chasing people away
they think theyre "helping".
they arent.
#BlindAltBot (@anantagd@ieji.de)
I'm blind and for me alt text is the Big Special Thing about Mastodon. If someone posts a meme, I'm in on the joke. Someone shares beautifiul moss, or their cat, I'm in on the beauty or fun or whatever. I'm now 62, and this is the first time I entered a community and a culture where people grant me this kind of access and community. So grateful for people who do alt text.
ieji.de (ieji.de)
ChanceyFleet (@ChanceyFleet@mas.to)
As a Blind person i never thought i would be on social media savoring photos. But the communal Mastodon alt text game is so strong that sweet, poetic or silly descriptions abound on my timeline. Thanks to legions of people who take time to write a meaningful description of the ephemera they post, i learn so much about insects, plants, buildings, memes — all dispatches from a dimension of the world that i otherwise wouldn't experience. If you're wondering whether anybody reads these things: YES.
mas.to (mas.to)
I didn't hunt those down, they were just in my retoots ("blind alt text in:library"), FWIW.
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#BlindAltBot (@anantagd@ieji.de)
I'm blind and for me alt text is the Big Special Thing about Mastodon. If someone posts a meme, I'm in on the joke. Someone shares beautifiul moss, or their cat, I'm in on the beauty or fun or whatever. I'm now 62, and this is the first time I entered a community and a culture where people grant me this kind of access and community. So grateful for people who do alt text.
ieji.de (ieji.de)
ChanceyFleet (@ChanceyFleet@mas.to)
As a Blind person i never thought i would be on social media savoring photos. But the communal Mastodon alt text game is so strong that sweet, poetic or silly descriptions abound on my timeline. Thanks to legions of people who take time to write a meaningful description of the ephemera they post, i learn so much about insects, plants, buildings, memes — all dispatches from a dimension of the world that i otherwise wouldn't experience. If you're wondering whether anybody reads these things: YES.
mas.to (mas.to)
I didn't hunt those down, they were just in my retoots ("blind alt text in:library"), FWIW.
@ryanc @taylorlorenz @jima pretty sure the various alt text bots werent around in 2024
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@ryanc @taylorlorenz @jima pretty sure the various alt text bots werent around in 2024
ChanceyFleet (@ChanceyFleet@mas.to)
Blind people now have AI image description and these days a Blind person will send another Blind person just an AI description of a selfie, with no source photo. In the complex AI discourse i would just like to say that AI image description has changed the game for Blind folks. It's a hell of a ride at age 43 to read my first picture book and first graphic novel. AI is complicated but textualizing images is brilliant
mas.to (mas.to)
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ChanceyFleet (@ChanceyFleet@mas.to)
Blind people now have AI image description and these days a Blind person will send another Blind person just an AI description of a selfie, with no source photo. In the complex AI discourse i would just like to say that AI image description has changed the game for Blind folks. It's a hell of a ride at age 43 to read my first picture book and first graphic novel. AI is complicated but textualizing images is brilliant
mas.to (mas.to)
@Viss @ryanc @taylorlorenz @ChanceyFleet Cool! Thanks; I hadn't seen that development.
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@Viss @ryanc @taylorlorenz @ChanceyFleet Cool! Thanks; I hadn't seen that development.
@ryanc @taylorlorenz @ChanceyFleet @jima also i wrote a thing
GitHub - Viss/gptocr: a script that uses openai's gpt-4 preview to generate alt-text for images on mastodon
a script that uses openai's gpt-4 preview to generate alt-text for images on mastodon - Viss/gptocr
GitHub (github.com)
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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
1 Taylor Swift post -
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 One big one:
People want an app that gives them a sign-in right there, not an app that allows them to petition instances for an account.
TBF that part is kinda fiddly, but we wouldn't be very defederated if everyone signs up on Mastodon dot social (which unfortunately most people do).
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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 there is the perception that Mastodon is a bit difficult - the initial thing of having to pick an instance is a bit offputting.
But I suspect also that Mastodon having no company behind it means that there is no marketing department pushing it and that prevents people from being lured in.
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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 Ya probably the onboarding process, It’s cumbersome.
A few more celebrities onboarding and posting regularly would help.
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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 reason I’ve heard is that: "On Mastodon, servers can easily end up blacklisted" (if you run your own instance), and "users may be silenced for expressing different opinions".
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@MrLee @taylorlorenz Despite what you may believe, it is the number one most frequently cited objection I hear when introducing people to the fediverse.
Also, the other problem as I mentioned is the network effect. All their friends are in the corpo-controlled silos. We can have a technically better product, but if they can't reach the people they want to reach, it's kind of pointless.
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@erikcats @taylorlorenz and add geography/region to that list. I'm on an instance specific to Canada, mainly mstdn.ca. I've flirted with the idea of going over to ottawa.place but for now, I don't see a reason to move....I'm too casual a user of social media for the server I'm on to make a difference.
@hfinyow @erikcats @taylorlorenz That does exist already just in different ways.
Fedi.Garden – An easy way to join Mastodon and the Fediverse
Highlighting nice servers on Mastodon and the Fediverse
(fedi.garden)
Fediverse Observer checks all sites in the fediverse and gives you an easy way to find a home from a map or list or automatically.
We observe all Fediverse Sites. Find a Fediverse site to sign up for, find one close to you using a list, map or let us auto-pick one for you!
(fediverse.observer)
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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 Maybe by starting to talk to our friends offline again.
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@jill @hfinyow @taylorlorenz 4x4x4x4x4
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@jill @hfinyow @taylorlorenz Neither you mine
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@hfinyow @erikcats @taylorlorenz That does exist already just in different ways.
Fedi.Garden – An easy way to join Mastodon and the Fediverse
Highlighting nice servers on Mastodon and the Fediverse
(fedi.garden)
Fediverse Observer checks all sites in the fediverse and gives you an easy way to find a home from a map or list or automatically.
We observe all Fediverse Sites. Find a Fediverse site to sign up for, find one close to you using a list, map or let us auto-pick one for you!
(fediverse.observer)
@jill @erikcats @taylorlorenz for those sufficiently motivated, this should be enough. I think I found my server through Twitter back before they started messing with the algorithm to suppress any Mastodon related posts.
