emilyNov 7, 2022
Thea

I keep seeing people say Mastodon is nothing like Twitter. And they’re right.

Mastodon is an echo of the old internet, it’s decentralised, chaotic. What you get depends on your sysadmin. You can’t search, everything has to be shared to you by a human. Networks split apart and rejoin. What you see is your unique connection to it.

Is this good? Maybe. But for me that’s the internet I grew up with. No algorithms, no targeted adverts, just human interaction, and it was glorious.

Nov 6, 2022 at 2:21amWeb
Show threadTheaNov 6, 2022

This also is very much like early Twitter. I joined in 2007. Twitter was a cheap group SMS service, it connected you to your friends not to companies and celebrities.

I get that I’m not like most people. I grew up in a very conservative rural area so the internet has always been my connection to friends and peer groups, a way to converse with people rather than a way to escape or get famous.

Show threadJack Yan (甄爵恩)Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus Probably like you, I joined when it was called Twttr! And it was better then.
Show threadactual chris  Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus I came here to say this and you beat me to it. My first experience of the internet was BBSes I paid actual money to connect to. I also joined Twitter in 2007. Back then, you didn’t need to worry about your “reach”, you just posted whatever you were thinking even if it was like what song happened to be playing at the moment.
Show threadJeff RobertsNov 6, 2022
@jazzsequence @sitharus have been thinking about how this has that fabulously weird BBS feel. It’s a great feeling to rediscover!
Show threadOnemorejess3Dec 12, 2022
@reliablyjeff @jazzsequence @sitharus If I can add (sorry to barge in), yeah, I had been thinking of the old newsgroups, the sci./alt. ones back before the Web was really a thing outside universities. 😀
Show threadRaymond KNov 6, 2022
@sitharus Same here; I joined Twitter in 2007 (as @dltq) and I loved it there. A lot has happened in these 15 years. And I myself mentally moved on already in 2010/2011 even though I still used it now and then.
Show threadLive, Laugh, LovecraftNov 6, 2022
@dltq @sitharus I also joined Twitter in 07 or 08.
This reminds me of that, and I enjoy it.
Show threadRichard HallNov 6, 2022
@sitharus I know exactly what mean. This time round, we know what's at stake - let's hope we don't mess this up again!
Show thread👩‍🦯The Blind FraggleNov 6, 2022
@sitharus I didn't grow up in a rural area, but I'm the same. I do use it for both escapism and connection, but yes, I would much rather hear from and talk to real people!
Show threadbacigalupeNov 6, 2022
@sitharus agree
Show threadEVHasteNov 7, 2022

@sitharus

What a great way to look at it. A lot of us yearn for the old internet but maybe we've forgotten what it looks like?

There's def stuff that could be improved, but I'm a fan so far.

Show threadben orpheo  🐾Nov 7, 2022

@sitharus I did not have the time to take a closer look on the search and I also love the old/pioneer feeling.

But somehow, I think, it's 2022 and a powerful search is a crucial feature for any modern App.

But as I wrote, I have to take a closer look.

Show threadCarlNov 7, 2022
@sitharus this is my take as well. Been on Twitter since 2008, and the vibes I get here are very much early Twitter vibes.
Show threadChristian GrobmeierDec 11, 2022
@sitharus Joined T in 2009, but just to look why others are talking about it. Didn't know what to write. Missed those days in the past years, when I suddenly thought about "reach" and what would happen when I would click the like button
Show threadDaniel LakelandDec 11, 2022

@sitharus
>This also is very much like early Twitter.

Which should make us think about what keeps it from becoming like Twitter in 10 years? One advantage is the possibility of running a small/individual instance. But most email goes through Gmail...

Show threadArindam BasuNov 6, 2022

@sitharus

Yes, exactly. A lot of us grew up in the days when they used to say that the web was not 'meant 'to be monetised.

Show threadStephen Jondrew 🇨🇦Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus Absolutely. People claiming Mastodon is a Twitter alternative are imo not being realistic. However, Mastodon can be a replacement for Twitter for some people.
Show threadLesleyL, mastodon convertNov 6, 2022
@Stephen @sitharus None of the modern commercial “social” platforms come close to replacing the communities we had before. This is much better.
Show threadSantiago Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus
Show threadAstrobach Nov 6, 2022
@santiago @sitharus how did you embed a GIF? I was trying to do this earlier.
Show threadSantiago Nov 6, 2022
@rorystarr @sitharus just upload it as an image
Show threadLev Delahunty SalteenaNov 6, 2022
@sitharus 💯
Show threadBrad KingNov 6, 2022
@sitharus same. This feels like a BBS and a message board together, and I kinda love it. Definitely more people centered, but not Group-Think pushed by the algorithm!
Show threadian 🇵🇭Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus @zkat i still catch myself pining for those netsplits from IRC
Show threadMrs Mouse at workNov 6, 2022
@sitharus Hell yes.
Show threadThatchNov 6, 2022
@sitharus
Some would say the golden age, some would not. I liked the early internet, you had to hunt not grocery shop.
Show threadDragonfly KnotNov 6, 2022
@sitharus I dolike this. Reminds me of the early days of the Internet in the early to mid 90s. I really need a Netscape Navigator though. Firefox has too much bloat.
Show threadPseudo NymNov 6, 2022

@sitharus so very much this.

Old Unix grey beard here. "I remember when..."

No, but seriously, Mastodon can't be all things to all people. It was never meant to be a "Twitter clone" or anything other than... Itself.

Some will find a nurturing space here for the kind of connections they want, and some won't. So be it.

Welcome, and thanks for putting into words what a lot of us were feeling.

Show threadRayna FaheyNov 6, 2022
@sitharus I don't feel like a product on here.
Show threadCa_GiNov 6, 2022
@sitharus It's more human :-)
Show threadoshyNov 6, 2022

@sitharus Hell yeah

Fediverse is internet without the corpo shit that has bloated our online interactions for far too long

Show threadFaith HunterNov 6, 2022
@sitharus Yes! I’m enjoying this little trip back to the ‘old days’ when the internet was our playground.
Show threadCat NewsNov 6, 2022
@sitharus it absolutely makes the conversations feel more natural
Show threadmay-li khoe ✨Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus I was just telling @rarar this today! it has old internet vibes and that gives me feeellliiiiings
Show threadianbobmorrisNov 6, 2022
@sitharus i'm here because people i like am here
Show threadZoey 💗Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus I believe this will be a good thing in the end. I’ve missed the internet we grew up with because of the microcosms. Microcosms can have their own culture that isn’t subject to the opinions of several hundred million people that don’t get the nuances of a social circle.
Show threadthe roamerNov 6, 2022

@sitharus

New here on mastodon, from twitter. I find your explanation really useful --- it helps me to work with the system according to its design principles, rather than fighting it. Thanks!

Show threadpanchoNov 6, 2022
@the_roamer @sitharus
Same here..
Show threadBusesarecoolactually🚌🚍Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus you really can’t search? I assumed I wasn’t getting results because the servers are all bogged down with new members.
Show threadTheaNov 6, 2022
@busesarecoolactually you can search for hashtags and people, not on arbitrary content. It’s a deliberate choice to stop topic brigading. Also you can only search what your instance has seen, not the whole fediverse.
Show threadMark HarrisNov 6, 2022
@sitharus @busesarecoolactually There's no full-text search, and that's a lot like AltaVista used to be - subject based and looking for information, not looking for something you can use against someone.
Show threadGirtBySeaNov 6, 2022

@nzlemming @sitharus @busesarecoolactually

As I remember Altavista wasn"t just a subject directory, it had genuine crawling & indexing of web pages.
Looksmart, which local smartie Evan Thornley made a motzah on, was a directory search engine. https://www.afr.com/technology/we-ve-been-duped-by-big-tech-says-the-aussie-who-tried-to-buy-google-20191211-p53j3v

But as local smarties go, none could match the chutzpah of Sean Howard,
---(who cooked up OzeMail w Malcolm Turnbull money,, plus what he got from flogging his computer magazine to Kerry packer) - - -who just pinched someone's incredibly useful software (trumpet winsock) to put on his mag cover disk, prefilling the isp field w OzeMail as default. It's a classic court case, http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UTasLawRw/1996/13.pdf

We've been duped by Big Tech says the Aussie who tried to buy Google

Dotcom tycoon Evan Thornley, the tech pioneer and founder of LookSmart, outlines his vision for a kinder, gentler internet of the future.

Australian Financial Review
Show threadGirtBySeaNov 6, 2022
@sitharus @busesarecoolactually
What's topic brigading? Sacrificing utility of global search, being able to find who's saying what about what you're interested in, without writer having to declare what is findable by tagging, is a hugely backward step, IMHO
Someone will no doubt make a widget to do the job.
Early days for interface I hope, different skins will turn up. They'd be smart to make one that looks like Twitter, with most of screen devoted to messages.
Dock will autohide I hope, it takes up so much real estate.
Show threadLinus NärklingNov 6, 2022
@sitharus Does that mean the amount of results I get when searching hashtags depends on the size of my instance?
Show threadTheaNov 6, 2022
@vapid it does, you can't search everything in the fediverse because it's not a unified network. Larger instances will (in theory) have more diverse connections and therefore more results in search.
Show threadSwitchNov 7, 2022
@sitharus @vapid many larger instances will also have less strict rules about oppressive content. I prefer fewer connections with better people.
Show threadSpeyquine (Lucy)Nov 6, 2022
@busesarecoolactually
You can search by hashtags tho.
Show threadBusesarecoolactually🚌🚍Nov 6, 2022
@speyquine yeah I’m gonna have to get in the habit of actually putting #hashtags in.
Show threadkennon Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus This. So much this.
Show threadWA𐕣LY 🌷Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus not sure why I never thought about the no algorithms bit but it makes so much sense why the timeline feels right on mastodon.
Show threadPatrickCMillerNov 6, 2022
@sitharus Damn. Nailed it. Feels like 1990 but with some now.
Show threadBronJoviNov 6, 2022
@sitharus 1000000% this. My partner and I have been squealing about the old web vibes for a few days. I feel like I have returned home 
Show threadBen Gracewood 🚲🇳🇿Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus My draft Spinoff post on this whole thing is titled "Hear me out: Mastodon is terrible and you love it."
Show threadAngie 🍂Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus I hadn't been so excited about an Internet platform and community in many years.
Show threadCampbellgordonNov 6, 2022
@sitharus that's what I'm getting too. This feels like I should have MSN messenger open somewhere and incubus playing through windows media player. It's a nice touch of nostalgia.
Show threadCarlos Barcenilla Nov 6, 2022
@sitharus so I'm back at a BBS connected to FidoNet. Nice!
Show threadNoah A. JolingNov 6, 2022
@sitharus mIRC, msn, Myspace, vampirefreaks,… I miss those days. But your right. Mastodon kinda gives me that late 90’s/early 00’s vibe and oh my I love it! 🖤