Mastodawn

Mariatta 🤦‍♀️ :python:Nov 7, 2022

Feels like such a hurdle coming to this platform. Steep learning curve and long onboarding process, compared to others.

Choosing an instance itself is too much overhead, causing decision fatigue, it becomes a barrier in participating in the space. Even now I'm feeling like maybe I'm "misplaced" 😟

But ... I will learn. Perhaps I need to actually use this platform exclusively in order to be immersed and exposed to all the features, and then maybe I'll learn to appreciate it.

@mariatta I feel this. It's a non-trivial adjustment for me and I had a five-year headstart but there are still growing pains. I think the graph of people we follow is what makes or breaks the experience.

I'm torn on staying on this instance or moving to my own which both feel somewhat problematic in some ways.

Brett Cannon Nov 7, 2022

@webology @mariatta I'm half tempted to follow @simon @jacob and @andrew down the self-hosting rabbit hole once https://masto.host/ is taking on new clients

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Chris is.Nov 8, 2022

@brettcannon @webology @mariatta @simon @jacob @andrew for me the big draw to wandering.shop was the local timeline. It's all writers and crafty geeks and I'd lose that on a personal instance.

Brett Cannon Nov 8, 2022

@offby1 @webology @mariatta @simon @jacob @andrew If the other site we are all coming from is any indication I won't have time for the server firehose

Chris is.Nov 8, 2022

@brettcannon @webology @mariatta @simon @jacob @andrew True as far as it goes. I'm hoping this place will feel a bit more like Twitter did 10+ years ago. A bit more "sociable" rather than "social-network"-ey.

Time will tell.

Jeff Triplett Nov 8, 2022

@brettcannon @mariatta @simon @jacob @andrew unless the UI changes it’s kind of a pain to reply to people from different servers. At least on desktop I get prompted for my account a half-dozen times a day even though I am replying from my timeline. So I suspect there are other annoyances.

jacobian Nov 8, 2022

@webology @brettcannon @mariatta @simon @andrew weird, I’ve never had that issue (and by definition _everyone_ is on another instance for me)

Brett Cannon Nov 8, 2022

@jacob @webology @mariatta @simon @andrew Never happened to me either

annaraven Nov 8, 2022

@brettcannon @jacob @webology @mariatta @simon @andrew yeah it seems to work okay for me.

Mario Munoz (has moved)Nov 8, 2022

@webology @mariatta

Just adding 2 cents. It does feel like a bit of mental overheard, not unlike learning a new library or software feature (walrus operator, anyone?) Not ideal, but feasible.

But is it worth it?

It becomes harder to invest in something, though, when you're not sure how to answer that question. Jeff's point about the social graph is a good point.

I'm sure it's harder for folks with higher follower counts (easier for me 😄 )... but it is an important question to answer...

Jeff Triplett Nov 8, 2022

@pythonbynight @mariatta I think for me, I know that I do not want to maintain my own server. So that again ties my social media graph to one human's business which we all know how that plays out either intentionally or unintentionally.

Logistically I think I could pull a backup, but then I'm going to be tied to whatever servers versions they were on, and that's not trivial to migrate either.

Mario Munoz (has moved)Nov 8, 2022

@webology @mariatta

Interesting. Is this the case even within the "federated" model? Does this mean your graph is tied to the server that you're on? Not sure I follow.

Jeff Triplett Nov 8, 2022

@pythonbynight @mariatta I need to look into it more. I think your graph and backup would be fine, but restoring it back to a running state might not be trivial because of how many services are required to run and be configured and which versions each service needs. It might just work on a Docker image though.

Mario Munoz (has moved)Nov 8, 2022

@webology @mariatta

Ah okay, I see what you mean in that sense.

It's true, something might be a little bit complicated if we're already talking about bringing docker into the mix 😁

Mariatta 🤦‍♀️ :python:Nov 8, 2022

@pythonbynight @webology It's just too complicated. It assumes the people who want to use mastodon have the time, energy, and resources to do all of those, when some of us just want to connect with our friends and not have the luxury of being able to worry about the internal infrastructure and technicalities 😟

Mario Munoz (has moved)Nov 8, 2022

@mariatta @webology

Maybe?

I'm curious if you caught the toot by @simon where he likens Mastodon to blogging.

(Here's his actual blog on it: https://simonwillison.net/2022/Nov/8/mastodon-is-just-blogs/)

I'm wondering if the complexity is more perceived than actual...

But totally understand the shift and growing pains...

Logged in to birdsite today and it feels kinda yuck in there, though...

Mastodon is just blogs

And that’s great. It’s also the return of Google Reader! Mastodon is really confusing for newcomers. There are memes about it. If you’re an internet user of a certain age, …