Just reading through the replies on X to @libreoffice 's recent tweet about how they're going to be focussing more on Mastodon in future.
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Because few other social media offer that kind of friction to onboarding.
Other social media chases userbase, so of course they make creating an account as easy as possible, and because it's centralized, there is no second step to talk to anyone.
Imagine getting told about email for the first time only to be told that no, gmail isn't accepting new users, but other servers are, except you don't know what those other servers are or how they're different than the one you were told about.
Especially now that many people have friction or fear about creating yet another account that they'll have to remember the password for.
If you create a "mastodon account" you also have to remember what server you created it on.
This is all to say I understand where other people get stuck, and that's before they create an account and see an empty feed or try searching for their friend's account and cant find them.
@NaClKnight @libreoffice Having to pick a server is not really "friction", though, in my mind.
When I first heard about it, I Googled it, and the first thing that came up was joinmastodon.org. Which I clicked on and started reading, and it told me that the network was a collection of lots of different instances, and I thought, "Wow, you mean like IRC? This is amazing!"
So I browsed the servers, and at that point I was just looking for one with a cool-sounding domain name -- because I'd also read how your handle was @user@server.tld -- and I found c.im. So I joined that because I thought @GrahamDowns@c.im sounded really cool.
It wasn't friction for me. It was a selling point.
Besides, think about what the Internet *is*: one big network consisting of multiple servers. And I had a home network long before it was connected to the Internet.
You can't have a single server and call it a "network", because to me, "network" implies multiple machines.
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Just reading through the replies on X to @libreoffice 's recent tweet about how they're going to be focussing more on Mastodon in future.
There's a lot of anti-Mastodon sentiment on X. Some downright hatred of the platform on principle.
And some of it is from people who've tried Mastodon and really don't like it, didn't gel with it, can't get to grips with the UI or find the general sentiment of the community distasteful.
Which is all fair enough. But a lot of it stems from a complete lack of understanding of how the platform works. Some people think you have to have an account on every server where you want to follow someone, and you have to swap between those servers all the time in order to interact with them.
Others have never heard of Mastodon before, and after clicking on the link to LibreOffice's profile on Fosstodon and trying to create an account, they see that that instance is currently accepting new members by invitation only, so they give up and ask, "Why do you want us to join a platform that requires invitations."
EVEN THOUGH the message about Fosstodon being invitation-only explicitly tells them they can pick a different server, and they'll still be able to follow anyone on Fosstodon or anywhere else on the network.
Why is this stuff so difficult for people to grasp?! I'm not trying to flex or anything, but I joined this place in November 2022, and the concept of "pick a server and follow anyone on any other server" was a no-brainer for me. It was actually one of the drawcards.
I don't understand why people find it so confusing. Why it's such a mental block to people. I just don't.
For people who sole experience of social media is Facebook or Twitter then it's a different way for social media to operate. It's outside their experience.
Many just want everyone handed to them on a plate, with no though, reflection or the slightest possible learning curve.
Which attitude explains the state of social media and the world generally today.
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Just reading through the replies on X to @libreoffice 's recent tweet about how they're going to be focussing more on Mastodon in future.
There's a lot of anti-Mastodon sentiment on X. Some downright hatred of the platform on principle.
And some of it is from people who've tried Mastodon and really don't like it, didn't gel with it, can't get to grips with the UI or find the general sentiment of the community distasteful.
Which is all fair enough. But a lot of it stems from a complete lack of understanding of how the platform works. Some people think you have to have an account on every server where you want to follow someone, and you have to swap between those servers all the time in order to interact with them.
Others have never heard of Mastodon before, and after clicking on the link to LibreOffice's profile on Fosstodon and trying to create an account, they see that that instance is currently accepting new members by invitation only, so they give up and ask, "Why do you want us to join a platform that requires invitations."
EVEN THOUGH the message about Fosstodon being invitation-only explicitly tells them they can pick a different server, and they'll still be able to follow anyone on Fosstodon or anywhere else on the network.
Why is this stuff so difficult for people to grasp?! I'm not trying to flex or anything, but I joined this place in November 2022, and the concept of "pick a server and follow anyone on any other server" was a no-brainer for me. It was actually one of the drawcards.
I don't understand why people find it so confusing. Why it's such a mental block to people. I just don't.
@GrahamDowns @libreoffice I've decided people are lazy idiots. You can't change my mind
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Just reading through the replies on X to @libreoffice 's recent tweet about how they're going to be focussing more on Mastodon in future.
There's a lot of anti-Mastodon sentiment on X. Some downright hatred of the platform on principle.
And some of it is from people who've tried Mastodon and really don't like it, didn't gel with it, can't get to grips with the UI or find the general sentiment of the community distasteful.
Which is all fair enough. But a lot of it stems from a complete lack of understanding of how the platform works. Some people think you have to have an account on every server where you want to follow someone, and you have to swap between those servers all the time in order to interact with them.
Others have never heard of Mastodon before, and after clicking on the link to LibreOffice's profile on Fosstodon and trying to create an account, they see that that instance is currently accepting new members by invitation only, so they give up and ask, "Why do you want us to join a platform that requires invitations."
EVEN THOUGH the message about Fosstodon being invitation-only explicitly tells them they can pick a different server, and they'll still be able to follow anyone on Fosstodon or anywhere else on the network.
Why is this stuff so difficult for people to grasp?! I'm not trying to flex or anything, but I joined this place in November 2022, and the concept of "pick a server and follow anyone on any other server" was a no-brainer for me. It was actually one of the drawcards.
I don't understand why people find it so confusing. Why it's such a mental block to people. I just don't.
@GrahamDowns @libreoffice mastodon should take these comments seriously. They should try to understand how people "don't just get it".
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@NaClKnight @libreoffice Having to pick a server is not really "friction", though, in my mind.
When I first heard about it, I Googled it, and the first thing that came up was joinmastodon.org. Which I clicked on and started reading, and it told me that the network was a collection of lots of different instances, and I thought, "Wow, you mean like IRC? This is amazing!"
So I browsed the servers, and at that point I was just looking for one with a cool-sounding domain name -- because I'd also read how your handle was @user@server.tld -- and I found c.im. So I joined that because I thought @GrahamDowns@c.im sounded really cool.
It wasn't friction for me. It was a selling point.
Besides, think about what the Internet *is*: one big network consisting of multiple servers. And I had a home network long before it was connected to the Internet.
You can't have a single server and call it a "network", because to me, "network" implies multiple machines.
@NaClKnight @libreoffice Just thinking now about your comments about email. Not sure if you remember, but when Gmail first started out and was still in early Beta, that was exactly what happened. They would open up blocks of 1000 every few days or so, and if you wanted an @gmail.com address, you had to move really quickly because when that block was full, it was full, and you'd get something along the lines of, "We're not accepting new registrations at the moment."
And thinking back to IRC, most IRC servers were capped to 500 concurrent users, so if you tried to connect to one and it was full, you'd either have to connect to a different server on the network instead, or wait a while and try again. Some servers would actually kick you if you were idle for more than 20-30 minutes or so, to give others a chance.
If you play certain online games, maybe you've experienced something similar? Where you have to pick a server to play on, and the servers are sometimes full? And that geographically closer servers generally (but not always) give you better performance?
So it's not an altogether foreign concept, even by today's standards....
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@NaClKnight @libreoffice Just thinking now about your comments about email. Not sure if you remember, but when Gmail first started out and was still in early Beta, that was exactly what happened. They would open up blocks of 1000 every few days or so, and if you wanted an @gmail.com address, you had to move really quickly because when that block was full, it was full, and you'd get something along the lines of, "We're not accepting new registrations at the moment."
And thinking back to IRC, most IRC servers were capped to 500 concurrent users, so if you tried to connect to one and it was full, you'd either have to connect to a different server on the network instead, or wait a while and try again. Some servers would actually kick you if you were idle for more than 20-30 minutes or so, to give others a chance.
If you play certain online games, maybe you've experienced something similar? Where you have to pick a server to play on, and the servers are sometimes full? And that geographically closer servers generally (but not always) give you better performance?
So it's not an altogether foreign concept, even by today's standards....
Aight. That's totally fine. You mentioned not understanding not understanding why people find it confusing. I tried to explain.
The people who find it confusing don't know what IRC is, let along have used it, let alone think of it fondly. They don't remember the origins of gmail or think about MMO servers, let alone MMOs where you have to have a different character per server.
IRC is niche. MMOs are niche. The origin of gmail is far enough in the past that an entire generation has been born since and is now old enough to vote.
You don't seem interested in how someone else could find it confusing, which is chill, but I'm not gonna debate that with you. It's ok if you don't consider it friction. Other people do.
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@NaClKnight @libreoffice Just thinking now about your comments about email. Not sure if you remember, but when Gmail first started out and was still in early Beta, that was exactly what happened. They would open up blocks of 1000 every few days or so, and if you wanted an @gmail.com address, you had to move really quickly because when that block was full, it was full, and you'd get something along the lines of, "We're not accepting new registrations at the moment."
And thinking back to IRC, most IRC servers were capped to 500 concurrent users, so if you tried to connect to one and it was full, you'd either have to connect to a different server on the network instead, or wait a while and try again. Some servers would actually kick you if you were idle for more than 20-30 minutes or so, to give others a chance.
If you play certain online games, maybe you've experienced something similar? Where you have to pick a server to play on, and the servers are sometimes full? And that geographically closer servers generally (but not always) give you better performance?
So it's not an altogether foreign concept, even by today's standards....
@GrahamDowns @NaClKnight I think maybe this is an age and context thing.
Most people have not ever been on IRC. A lot of people were born after IRCs heyday. I got introduced to IRC after it was already sunsetted, so to speak, via a fandom. People my age and younger, and even people ten years older, are not likely to know about IRC, much less how it works.
Most people have never had to choose an email server. They either picked Google because hey, their school used Google, everyone uses Google, or they got a free account from Microsoft, or they got a free account from their ISP.
Privacy conscious people choose an email server. Or tech enthusiasts. Or "I really need a professional domain name". That's about it.
People that have only been on social media and/or only been on big tech email do not have the experience of choosing flavours or needing to know how things work behind the curtain. -
@GrahamDowns @NaClKnight I think maybe this is an age and context thing.
Most people have not ever been on IRC. A lot of people were born after IRCs heyday. I got introduced to IRC after it was already sunsetted, so to speak, via a fandom. People my age and younger, and even people ten years older, are not likely to know about IRC, much less how it works.
Most people have never had to choose an email server. They either picked Google because hey, their school used Google, everyone uses Google, or they got a free account from Microsoft, or they got a free account from their ISP.
Privacy conscious people choose an email server. Or tech enthusiasts. Or "I really need a professional domain name". That's about it.
People that have only been on social media and/or only been on big tech email do not have the experience of choosing flavours or needing to know how things work behind the curtain.@len I think you explained this more clearly and patiently than i did. Thank you.
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@GrahamDowns @NaClKnight I think maybe this is an age and context thing.
Most people have not ever been on IRC. A lot of people were born after IRCs heyday. I got introduced to IRC after it was already sunsetted, so to speak, via a fandom. People my age and younger, and even people ten years older, are not likely to know about IRC, much less how it works.
Most people have never had to choose an email server. They either picked Google because hey, their school used Google, everyone uses Google, or they got a free account from Microsoft, or they got a free account from their ISP.
Privacy conscious people choose an email server. Or tech enthusiasts. Or "I really need a professional domain name". That's about it.
People that have only been on social media and/or only been on big tech email do not have the experience of choosing flavours or needing to know how things work behind the curtain.@len @NaClKnight Yeah.
It's not even so much that people consider it friction, as Salty said. That I can understand, because different people prioritise different things. So, "Sigh, now I have to pick a server too? Ain't nobody got time for that!" is something I can accept. I feel that way about lots of other things, like why can't stuff just work, you know? (Although I would say that if you really don't want to pick a server, just join mastodon.social. It's the default, it requires no thought, it just works)
It's the fact that people don't even seem to understand the *concept* that there are such a things as servers, that the internet is comprised of millions of servers, that servers run the whole damn world, and in fact, even if you're using X or Facebook, you're more than likely connecting to differing servers internally because of CDNs.
It kind of puts me in mind of that survey a few years ago that asked people if they use the Internet daily, and lots of people said no, because they only use Facebook (i.e. from the app).
Meaning if you don't use a web browser to access it, it's not the Internet.
And seriously, what the actual...?!
It actually makes me angry, this dumbing down of technology. My favourite analogy is, if you drive a car every day, you should at least know where and how to check oil and water, or change a tyre, or maybe, just maybe, a spark plug.
But of course, most people who drive cars every day in 2026 have no idea because car manufacturers are hiding the engine under hard opaque plastic covers that require qualified people to open.
It's making people dumber, man.
But that's my own hang-up, and I suppose making technology more accessible to the uneducated masses without making them feel like they need to educate themselves before turning on a computer or turning the key in their ignition, is objectively a good thing. Even though I would still love it if they were required to obtain such basic knowledge first.
I dunno what emoji to use here...
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@len @NaClKnight Yeah.
It's not even so much that people consider it friction, as Salty said. That I can understand, because different people prioritise different things. So, "Sigh, now I have to pick a server too? Ain't nobody got time for that!" is something I can accept. I feel that way about lots of other things, like why can't stuff just work, you know? (Although I would say that if you really don't want to pick a server, just join mastodon.social. It's the default, it requires no thought, it just works)
It's the fact that people don't even seem to understand the *concept* that there are such a things as servers, that the internet is comprised of millions of servers, that servers run the whole damn world, and in fact, even if you're using X or Facebook, you're more than likely connecting to differing servers internally because of CDNs.
It kind of puts me in mind of that survey a few years ago that asked people if they use the Internet daily, and lots of people said no, because they only use Facebook (i.e. from the app).
Meaning if you don't use a web browser to access it, it's not the Internet.
And seriously, what the actual...?!
It actually makes me angry, this dumbing down of technology. My favourite analogy is, if you drive a car every day, you should at least know where and how to check oil and water, or change a tyre, or maybe, just maybe, a spark plug.
But of course, most people who drive cars every day in 2026 have no idea because car manufacturers are hiding the engine under hard opaque plastic covers that require qualified people to open.
It's making people dumber, man.
But that's my own hang-up, and I suppose making technology more accessible to the uneducated masses without making them feel like they need to educate themselves before turning on a computer or turning the key in their ignition, is objectively a good thing. Even though I would still love it if they were required to obtain such basic knowledge first.
I dunno what emoji to use here...
@GrahamDowns @NaClKnight It is absolutely a thing I think needs to be taught in schools early. Since it's like knowing how the post office or telephone network works. You don't need a high level explanation, just a low level one, but it's important to know so that people don't take advantage of you and as a building block for understanding how the world is out together right now.
Best you can do as an individual is to help awareness of that in schools, in politics about schools, even volunteering as a parent to teach for an afternoon can help with that kinda thing. Can even do community things, not just around schools.
Is not how it should be, just how it is. -
@NaClKnight @libreoffice Having to pick a server is not really "friction", though, in my mind.
When I first heard about it, I Googled it, and the first thing that came up was joinmastodon.org. Which I clicked on and started reading, and it told me that the network was a collection of lots of different instances, and I thought, "Wow, you mean like IRC? This is amazing!"
So I browsed the servers, and at that point I was just looking for one with a cool-sounding domain name -- because I'd also read how your handle was @user@server.tld -- and I found c.im. So I joined that because I thought @GrahamDowns@c.im sounded really cool.
It wasn't friction for me. It was a selling point.
Besides, think about what the Internet *is*: one big network consisting of multiple servers. And I had a home network long before it was connected to the Internet.
You can't have a single server and call it a "network", because to me, "network" implies multiple machines.
@GrahamDowns @NaClKnight @libreoffice @GrahamDowns i had a friend explain it to me and joined their server for fun, and i was confused for weeks afterward. I'm more tech savvy than most of my social circle (I have built PCs and can manage Windows settings - really not much, but way more than average), and it really wasn't intuitive for me.
The part where other servers could talk to ours made sense quickly, but I was confused about profile migration, federation, and the differences between various front ends for a long time. And I was only able to deal with it because I joined a friend's server on a lark, and had never used Twitter.
It's intuitive to folks who are hyper tech savvy or have used the older internet, I think. A lot of people will be confused and put off by the whole thing. -
@GrahamDowns @NaClKnight @libreoffice @GrahamDowns i had a friend explain it to me and joined their server for fun, and i was confused for weeks afterward. I'm more tech savvy than most of my social circle (I have built PCs and can manage Windows settings - really not much, but way more than average), and it really wasn't intuitive for me.
The part where other servers could talk to ours made sense quickly, but I was confused about profile migration, federation, and the differences between various front ends for a long time. And I was only able to deal with it because I joined a friend's server on a lark, and had never used Twitter.
It's intuitive to folks who are hyper tech savvy or have used the older internet, I think. A lot of people will be confused and put off by the whole thing.@CheetahFluff @GrahamDowns@c.im @NaClKnight @libreoffice Yeah, THOSE things (exactly how federation works, what profile migration entails, and all the rest) took me a while to get to grips with too. Perhaps not as long as most, because I was interested and did a lot of my own research and figuring out.
But that's not really what I'm talking about, because you won't be exposed to any of those things until you join.
And in order to join, you need to understand the concept that Mastodon consists of lots of different servers, so you need to pick one, thereafter you'll be able to follow and be followed by anyone.
You don't need to understand HOW federation works at that point, or HOW profile migration works, or that there's a big asterisk on "anyone*" above because servers can block other servers, etc.
But you really should have no problem grasping the fact that there are multiple interconnected servers, you can pick any server you like, and that you'll be able to follow users on any other server.
And from what you say, you didn't have any problem grasping that.
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@CheetahFluff @GrahamDowns@c.im @NaClKnight @libreoffice Yeah, THOSE things (exactly how federation works, what profile migration entails, and all the rest) took me a while to get to grips with too. Perhaps not as long as most, because I was interested and did a lot of my own research and figuring out.
But that's not really what I'm talking about, because you won't be exposed to any of those things until you join.
And in order to join, you need to understand the concept that Mastodon consists of lots of different servers, so you need to pick one, thereafter you'll be able to follow and be followed by anyone.
You don't need to understand HOW federation works at that point, or HOW profile migration works, or that there's a big asterisk on "anyone*" above because servers can block other servers, etc.
But you really should have no problem grasping the fact that there are multiple interconnected servers, you can pick any server you like, and that you'll be able to follow users on any other server.
And from what you say, you didn't have any problem grasping that.
@GrahamDowns @GrahamDowns @NaClKnight @libreoffice I should've been more clear. I say quickly, but it really was a few days. And I was only willing to give it a shot despite the confusion because a friend invited me. -
Just reading through the replies on X to @libreoffice 's recent tweet about how they're going to be focussing more on Mastodon in future.
There's a lot of anti-Mastodon sentiment on X. Some downright hatred of the platform on principle.
And some of it is from people who've tried Mastodon and really don't like it, didn't gel with it, can't get to grips with the UI or find the general sentiment of the community distasteful.
Which is all fair enough. But a lot of it stems from a complete lack of understanding of how the platform works. Some people think you have to have an account on every server where you want to follow someone, and you have to swap between those servers all the time in order to interact with them.
Others have never heard of Mastodon before, and after clicking on the link to LibreOffice's profile on Fosstodon and trying to create an account, they see that that instance is currently accepting new members by invitation only, so they give up and ask, "Why do you want us to join a platform that requires invitations."
EVEN THOUGH the message about Fosstodon being invitation-only explicitly tells them they can pick a different server, and they'll still be able to follow anyone on Fosstodon or anywhere else on the network.
Why is this stuff so difficult for people to grasp?! I'm not trying to flex or anything, but I joined this place in November 2022, and the concept of "pick a server and follow anyone on any other server" was a no-brainer for me. It was actually one of the drawcards.
I don't understand why people find it so confusing. Why it's such a mental block to people. I just don't.
@GrahamDowns I felt much the same as you scrolling through those comments... Someone posted a screenshot showing a message saying they could sign up on a different server and straight up said it was invite-only. (Showing off their poor reading skills in the progress.)
I guess this message will somehow need to be communicated even clearer. People don't read, is what this teaches us... I saw a feature suggestion on the Mastodon git page about this somewhere, I'll see if I can find it back.
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@GrahamDowns I felt much the same as you scrolling through those comments... Someone posted a screenshot showing a message saying they could sign up on a different server and straight up said it was invite-only. (Showing off their poor reading skills in the progress.)
I guess this message will somehow need to be communicated even clearer. People don't read, is what this teaches us... I saw a feature suggestion on the Mastodon git page about this somewhere, I'll see if I can find it back.
@GrahamDowns Found it: https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/21556
I went ahead and linked this recent debacle.
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Just reading through the replies on X to @libreoffice 's recent tweet about how they're going to be focussing more on Mastodon in future.
There's a lot of anti-Mastodon sentiment on X. Some downright hatred of the platform on principle.
And some of it is from people who've tried Mastodon and really don't like it, didn't gel with it, can't get to grips with the UI or find the general sentiment of the community distasteful.
Which is all fair enough. But a lot of it stems from a complete lack of understanding of how the platform works. Some people think you have to have an account on every server where you want to follow someone, and you have to swap between those servers all the time in order to interact with them.
Others have never heard of Mastodon before, and after clicking on the link to LibreOffice's profile on Fosstodon and trying to create an account, they see that that instance is currently accepting new members by invitation only, so they give up and ask, "Why do you want us to join a platform that requires invitations."
EVEN THOUGH the message about Fosstodon being invitation-only explicitly tells them they can pick a different server, and they'll still be able to follow anyone on Fosstodon or anywhere else on the network.
Why is this stuff so difficult for people to grasp?! I'm not trying to flex or anything, but I joined this place in November 2022, and the concept of "pick a server and follow anyone on any other server" was a no-brainer for me. It was actually one of the drawcards.
I don't understand why people find it so confusing. Why it's such a mental block to people. I just don't.
@GrahamDowns Corporate social media invests a huge amount of time, effort, and money into making the onboarding experience completely effortless, no thought required, and making new users start seeing content immediately because of the algorithmic feed.
This is the standard against which people are judging the fedi.
"You are the algorithm" means you need to do some work to find your people here. People don't expect or want that. They're lazy and want everything handed to them. -
@GrahamDowns Corporate social media invests a huge amount of time, effort, and money into making the onboarding experience completely effortless, no thought required, and making new users start seeing content immediately because of the algorithmic feed.
This is the standard against which people are judging the fedi.
"You are the algorithm" means you need to do some work to find your people here. People don't expect or want that. They're lazy and want everything handed to them.@GrahamDowns You also need to consider the possibility that a lot of the attacks on the fedi on Twitter are probably inauthentic. Obviously the entities benefitting from being able to expose people to constant propaganda on Twitter do not want people to leave for a social network with an aggressive anti-Nazi culture and the means to enforce it. The fedi is a threat to the Nazis, and they deploy their bots and nonsense machine against all threats.
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@GrahamDowns Corporate social media invests a huge amount of time, effort, and money into making the onboarding experience completely effortless, no thought required, and making new users start seeing content immediately because of the algorithmic feed.
This is the standard against which people are judging the fedi.
"You are the algorithm" means you need to do some work to find your people here. People don't expect or want that. They're lazy and want everything handed to them.@jik Yeah. But my original observation was that I don't consider the fact that there are multiple servers and you need to pick one to join, whereupon you can follow users on any other server, difficult to understand at all.
It was completely intuitive to me back in November 2022 when I first joined -- and in fact, it was a plus for me.
But other replies to that post indicate that I'm in the minority, and that even most Mastodon users *do* consider that unintuitive and difficult to understand. So I'll just shut up now and go sit in the corner.
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@GrahamDowns Found it: https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/21556
I went ahead and linked this recent debacle.
@bammerlaan Ah, thank you for this!
I myself have opened a similar issue recently:
Make it more clear when user visits a login page of a server that's not their own · Issue #37690 · mastodon/mastodon
Pitch The current login page makes it clear that the user should not attempt to log in on a server that is not their home server, but perhaps there is a way to make it even more abundantly clear. Here is my proposal using a placeholder l...
GitHub (github.com)
Hopefully we'll see some improvements in this area, feels like pretty low-hanging fruit with a big payoff, if we can reduce the confusion.
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@bammerlaan Ah, thank you for this!
I myself have opened a similar issue recently:
Make it more clear when user visits a login page of a server that's not their own · Issue #37690 · mastodon/mastodon
Pitch The current login page makes it clear that the user should not attempt to log in on a server that is not their home server, but perhaps there is a way to make it even more abundantly clear. Here is my proposal using a placeholder l...
GitHub (github.com)
Hopefully we'll see some improvements in this area, feels like pretty low-hanging fruit with a big payoff, if we can reduce the confusion.
@stefan @GrahamDowns Ah! I'll write a comment to link these two separate issues together then
