ProPublica

Someone asked us earlier today how many of our Mastodon followers were established users vs newcomers. We weren't sure so...

Let's do a wildly unscientific survey!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN ON MASTODON?

More than a year
14.4%
Less than a year but before Twitter sale (10/27)
6.7%
After Twitter sale but before 11/15
38.6%
I just joined in the last few days (since 11/15)
40.3%
Poll ended at .
Nov 20, 2022 at 4:24amWeb
Show threadkevsthabestNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I joined originally a long while ago (Around the time jester started advertising Counter.Social). But only started really using it after the drama on twitter. Today being the day I deactivated my account.
Show threadKevin GaminNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica Well, now you and Elon have something in common!
Show threadProPublicaNov 20, 2022
@kevingamin rest assured, we will not be using poll results to set company policy.
Show threadKevin GaminNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica OH THANK GOD.
Show threadkeeps vis.social runningNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica can you add an option for 'More than 2 years' ?
Show threadProPublicaNov 20, 2022
@kristinHenry alas, only 4 slots available!
Show threadkeeps vis.social runningNov 20, 2022

@ProPublica You might want to do another one then, with 'just arrived', more than 1 year, ....

It frustrates me that surveys here don't allow 5 options. Not giving a neutral option skews the survey.

Yes, I've been on mastodon since 2017, and on my instance from 2018, but I see room for improvement. At least on surveys.

On other features, a lot of thought has gone into them.

Show threadlike jam or bootlacesNov 21, 2022

@ProPublica

Because we are having something of a special moment what with this all being so new to so many, it seems like it might be a good time to note that other software allows more than four options.

Seemed particularly relevant giving that this is the second time today I've seen "alas only 4 options"

Maybe not a make-or-break feature on its own, but a wonderful example of the wider varieties & possibilities afforded through a federated approach that are harder to realize in take-it-or-leave-it monoliths.

Show threadfviz Nov 20, 2022
@ProPublica first account created years ago, but started using it more emphatically the last few days
Show threadhugoedelarosaNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I made an account years ago, but I came back a couple of weeks ago. I only open the bird app to find people that put their mastodon handle in their bio.
Show threadguardianelmNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I voted but don't follow you. You were right about the "wildly unscientific" bit🙂
Show threadguardianelmNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica Of course I'm following you now, so that might not invalidate the poll.
Show threadKurt KremitzkiNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica May 2017, who has me beat? 💪
Show threadCarlos SolísNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica
I've been on the #Fediverse since it was still called Identi.ca, Diaspora and Friendica, so take a quick guess
Welcome - Identi.ca

Show threadFroward JasonNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica Technically about 5 years ago but it felt so slow and unusable back then and I knew nobody here, so my account stayed dormant until early November.
Show threadBob StepnoNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica ... Reminiscent of the old pre-Web Internet concept, "Eternal September" --- when the AOL (etc.) onslaught became something far beyond the traditional fall semester arrival of new students with mainframe computer-lab access... all asking the same questions. (Probably the origin of "FAQ" files in previous Septembers.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September
Eternal September - Wikipedia

Show threadNathan StambroNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica You’re missing the option of “Many years but a multi-year break until the Twitter sale”!
Show threadOlivia VesperaNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I think the better question to ask, is activity, how many of us had an account and were actively using it prior to this.
Show thread[old] stefan 🙌Nov 20, 2022
@OliviaVespera @ProPublica yeah I joined in 2016 but TBH I only used it on and off the last few years.
Show threadcarodjah!✨tune in wednesday✨Nov 20, 2022
@OliviaVespera @ProPublica i set one up two years ago but kinda fell off from using it until this week.
Show threadOlivia VesperaNov 20, 2022

@carodjah @ProPublica
@ochaos
@AlgoCompSynth
@Toastie

So i'm the same way, I knew about mastodon, i tried to use it, but no one in my local community was using it even though it was better and (i think) the future of how social media networks should be, so i went to twitter! but now people are coming to mastodon, and we can help them cause unlike them who are stressing about it, we have some experience with it already. we prepared for this XD.

Show threadZorro Notorious MEB 😡Nov 20, 2022
@OliviaVespera @ProPublica I've had an account since 2017 but just started using it in the MuskmElon era.
Show threadRyan the hepcat 🐱Nov 20, 2022
@OliviaVespera @ProPublica very much this -- I have had this account since 2018 but I rarely used it until Elon took over the bird site.
Show threadStop ThatNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica @OliviaVespera Yes, this! As soon as it looked like Elon Musk was serious about buying twitter, I started making accounts on other sites as a just in case. So I’ve had this account for a while, but only just started using it actively.
Show threadKeith MilnerNov 20, 2022
@OliviaVespera
I've had an account for years and hardly used it. Mind you, the same is true for Twitter.
@ProPublica
Show threadonecaliberalNov 20, 2022
@OliviaVespera @ProPublica I left Twitter more than two years ago.
Show threadJane AyersNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica … but I wasn’t on Twitter.
Show threadJohn LuskNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica
More than a year but not active until recently. A returner, I guess.
Show threadOrca 🌻 | 🎀 | 🪁 | 🏴🏳️‍⚧️Nov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I am not using Mastodon at all. I'm using Misskey.
Show threadjprestonianNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I've been on the internet since 1989. I have seen the collapse of *dozens* of "indispensible properties." Allow me to yawn at this one.
Show threadErik EllestadNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica Joined initially several years ago, but the server I was on appears to have vanished. Rejoined recently.
Show threadRain EricksonNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica 2017
Show threadDeeKatNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica My sign up date is the 17th but I kept trying to join and failing well before then but after EM took over. Didn't know about it until then.
Show threadjennyjenjenNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I created a mastodon account a long time ago but didn’t use it til recently..
Show threadjennyjenjenNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I can’t even log into my old Mastodon! Oh well. I started anew here anyways.
Show threadBadgerNov 21, 2022
@jennyjenjen @ProPublica same. I created an account when Google+ was closing, but it's been dormant for awhile.
Show threadBigsurkateNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica found you here yesterday or today
Show threadJosh MaxwellNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I joined after seeing all the buzz on Twitter. Not looking for a Twitter replacement or fallback, just the more I learned about the fediverse and mastodon the more I realized this type of community is way more interesting and aligns with me better.
Show threadVicki DeSerisyNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica just joined today😆 😎
Show threadjustin fergusonNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I've had an account for several years, but it wasn't until the mElon started doing his stupid stuff that there was enough content for me to check in regularly.
Show threadSean TilleyNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I've been on the network since 2008.
Show threadJedi_KasraNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica friend of mine pointed out the site. I'm not leaving Twitter at all, but can't wait to see the amount of cope from all that do.
Show threadLorryNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica Ohm hi there Pro P!
Show threadElena G (she/they)Nov 20, 2022
@ProPublica since 2017
Show threadfreaksedNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica missing the option for "tried in the past and came back recently"
Show threadHareksuNov 20, 2022

@ProPublica Made the account a couple of years ago, but didn't really use it. Looked back into it when Musk started firing people on the birdsite.

In a way the same applies for twitter: I have had an account for 13 years but I only started using it regularly when the pandemic started (thought it was a shit platform, still do).

Show threadinsidekitty she/theyNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I had the means, motive, and opportunity to come over before the sale, but I had a hard time finding a server that I felt was my best fit. I finally settled on this one (and then they had the very nerve to be down for maintenance, lmao)
I’m hoping that a way to “server browse” without fully committing to one will happen soon. I hate being tied down. Especially when I have multiple special interests 
Show threadJason Walter 🇵🇸Nov 20, 2022
@ProPublica but I did have my eye on Mastodon for several years hoping its day would come. And here we are now!
Show threadJLarkyNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica where do I put "5 years, but I created second account after Nov 15"? :-)
Show threadJosh SorefNov 20, 2022
@jlarky @ProPublica fill out the unscientific survey twice, once from each account!
Show threadThe RecsNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica this is great! Wildly unscientific but a bit of an eye opener!
Show threadjprestonianNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica Wacky, huh?!
Show threadAndreas SteinhausNov 20, 2022

@ProPublica I had my first account @asteinhaus since 17. Aug. 2018 - but only 63 posts.

Now I am here since 22. Okt. 2022 with 493 posts.

It that Option 1 or 2? 🤓

Show threadAshokaNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica firts adopter but left in 2017
Show threadotsoNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica

never been on Mastodon, the network is called Fediverse, Fediverse works by ActivityPub

I have had a #SelfHosted Pleroma instance in more than a year

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ActivityPub
ActivityPub - Wikipedia

Show threadBadReflexesNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica
Minutes. I think...three?
Show threadpiotr 🏳️‍⚧️Nov 20, 2022
@ProPublica was using some instance in 2019_2020 but it got deleted i guess so now I'm back after the bird site fiasco
Show threadHRH ginsterbuschNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica sorry to disappoint: here for more than 5 years.
Show threadDaniel SolisNov 20, 2022
@ProPublica I parked years ago, but not actively involved.