Vande India
Nitin PaiToday in The Print, I write about why I got onto #Mastodon and why I’m circumspect about the chances of its success.
“The odds are currently against Mastodon’s success, but they improve a teeny-weeny bit with every new user and every new toot.”
Naveen Nagar@nitin There is no harm in trying it out .. is there ? Its upto the users and Moderators to make it a success
@nknagar Of course. The article makes an argument for more people to use Mastodon.
Lord VoldeMaut 🏳️🌈@nitin Great read!
Particularly enjoyed the watering hole analogy you've inserted to explain the ongoing mass-exodus!
@Lord_VoldeMaut Thanks. It’s a tricky analogy though…for there are animals and plants that thrive in filth :-)
@nitin Oh absolutely! I just chuckled at how ingeniously clever that comparison was! 👍😅
Also, like you rightly point out, FOMO is proving to be a HUGE stimulus in building curiosity about Mastodon, over at the BirdSite 🙂
The migration of influencers “sends a signal to the people running Twitter that influencers can move out – perhaps completely – if the company doesn’t play fair. Mastodon has already begun to enjoy network effects and FOMO that will attract, initially at least, a higher quality user base. If Twitter chooses to ignore the signal, then Mastodon will more likely take off.”
#IndiahatesCAA_NRC_NPR@nitin to give a boost to mastodon as it stands for freedom can you include mastodon sharing link in all your articles published in media
@st_in That’s not within my control…even the headline is not in my control. The site administrators have to decide.
Navneet Mathur 🇳🇪 🇺🇸@nitin @Feignshourie completely agree. I have been making this point myself that opinion makers/ high follower accounts need to not just restrict themselves to creating a mastodon account but take an active stand for the movement if they believe that this can be a credible independent alternative. The one that we should nurture and help grow.
We need to #growthhack this
MODI❤HITLER@navneetmathur @nitin @Feignshourie
So what can be possible #growthhacks for #mastodon ?
1) Maybe we can have a Reddit style AMA sessions with prominent people. Something in line to what @audreytruschke is currently doing here.
2) We can start posting interesting threads(or buns) in mastadon on to birdsite.
3) Customized emojis seems to be a big hit. Can it draw in users?
4) can we integrate a tipping system like in Reddit?we can use doegcoin or smthg else.
meghnad 
@ullulullu @navneetmathur @nitin @Feignshourie @audreytruschke
Ooh! I can do an AMA. That's a great idea. Can announce it on Twitter and do it this weekend or something. :)
Papa Shark 
@Memeghnad @ullulullu @navneetmathur @nitin @Feignshourie @audreytruschke i can do an AMA. But what is the criteria for being prominent?
The Last of her Name@wabbster You are prominent if you have an audience. Period.
Arun Shourie x@ullulullu @navneetmathur @nitin @audreytruschke I have a plan to start frequent AMAs, lets see how it goes. That is good for engagement, little different than RT and like games
Prateek Khandelwal @ullulullu @navneetmathur @nitin @Feignshourie @audreytruschke to me, only #2 looks like something which will promote migration, rest would just make the existing usage more engaging
@the_overtaker @ullulullu @nitin @Feignshourie @audreytruschke
AMA to promote mastodon is a great suggestion as it will a) create wider awareness in the bird land, b) help people understand how to reach here as it can be tricky for many, and c) convert some fence sitters/ skeptics
@navneetmathur
So how can we organize AMAs. What all needs to be done for moderating questions, promoting AMAs and the likes?
@the_overtaker @nitin @Feignshourie @audreytruschke
So how can we organize AMAs. What all needs to be done for moderating questions, promoting AMAs and the likes?
@the_overtaker @nitin @Feignshourie @audreytruschke
well you should announce a date and time window when you will be available to field questions from your followers on any portal (FB/Twitter/Reddit) etc. and then execute on it. As simple as that. Of course it assumes that there is an audience that is willing and ready to ask you questions
goonertariq@nitin
Amen to that !
Amen to that !
Julien Deswaef@nitin Can you explain why you think the federated structure of Mastodon makes it more vulnerable to government control and cyberattacks?
@xuv Physical location of the servers.
@nitin Still not sure what you mean here. Sure some servers will be badly physically protected and in a juridiction that allows government control over them, but because of the federation, that will not be the case for all of them.
@xuv Not for all. But users on that instance will be vulnerable. Of course, they can sign onto another instance, but that involves rebuilding their profile
@nitin The cost of moving from one instance to another is diminishing every day. Since Mastodon 3.0, you can now move with all your followers. Though your posts stay where you posted them.
@nitin And I'm not advocating for all to be on the most secure instances. It depends on your threat model. I also believe that the more there will be instances, the better it is against cyberattacks and censorship. It's probably costly to do those two things (gain access and censor). So the more spread out we are, the best it is for all of us. They can't hack us all.
Sandip Bhattacharya ☮️@sandipb @nitin You can export your followers and following list. There is now a mechanism to transfer followers between instances that run Mastodon v3. You can import your following list too.
There is a way to request your full archive of post. But you can't import it somewhere else. At least, at this point.
There is a way to request your full archive of post. But you can't import it somewhere else. At least, at this point.
@xuv Governments have physical access to servers located in their territory, and people running individual instances have fewer resources to defend against cyber attacks.
@nitin There are instances that are managed by groups of people who handle security well. And there are instances in countries that don't spy on people. Which boils down to: choose your instance well, based on your needs.
Tarique Sani 
@nitin isn’t that a bit apple to oranges comparison? I guess most still don’t get the decentralised nature of mastodon and power of instances. The closest analogy I can draw is talking in a coffeehouse vs shouting in a fish market ;-)
A shakeout will happen and it will be good.
@tariquesani I hope the shakeout happens. It will be a good thing if it does. Over a longer term, patterns of human behaviour are likely to recur on the platform, as they’ve done since Usenet.
@nitin the influencers are going to be disappointed and some/most will leave. Then we can start having conversations.
@tariquesani As Animal Farm tells us, once the influencers leave, others among those who remain will become influencers.
@nitin I have hope for humans to go beyond repetitions. More than that mastodon is not really conducive to growth of influencers. It will more likely foster tribes than offer soapboxes
AdvManoj@nitin - A nuanced must read from Nitin. I connect to every word in the piece.
Ravi Kapoor 
@nitin Thought-provoking blog!👍
Aswath Rao@nitin Is .social "community-moderated'? Since most are signing up there and it has already "silenced" inditoot, why it will not end up banning a future Hegde? In federation, a dominating instance can exert undue influence and impose its values on a smaller instance by the threat of silent treatment. Not sure it is so egalitarian.
Bg Gogoi
🏃💡 (Running out of ideas for this bit)Mastodon isn't a social network, so it can't really fail or succeed, at least, not in the way you're thinking. Mastodon is a software that allows people to form communities, and promotes federation. It's this federation that is the social network. Mastodon is just a part of that.
I think it's time for writers, especiall tech writers, to stop comparing software (and tech companies) to the likes of Google, Facebook, etc. Not everything needs to be the next big thing. As long as anyone is listening on the Fediverse, it can't lose. Which is kind of the point.