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Peter SterneThe New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN and Associated Press have all posted guides to using Mastodon, which in turn have been syndicated by numerous local news outlets. That matters. We're rapidly approaching a situation where the media will refer to things happening "on Mastodon" the way they referred to Twitter in, say, 2013.
James S@petersterne I was so excited to see Techmeme doing this already, as they listed what looked like at least a hundred Mastodon mentions on an article.
Mastodon Migration@ev @petersterne
Absolutely! This Techmeme development is pretty wonderful:
Techmeme: Top News >>> https://www.techmeme.com/221219/h0320
@mastodonmigration @ev Yeah, and it makes total sense. Techmeme (and Mediagazer) want to include prominent people’s takes on major news stories along with links to the stories themselves. In the past, those takes mostly happened on Twitter. Now they happen on both Twitter and Mastodon.
E@petersterne @mastodonmigration @ev the transition is happening more rapidly than I thought it would, thankfully. At least for the political and news Twitter that I followed.
David Goodland
Mabb@petersterne wishes really do come true! 😁
Kevin Johnson@petersterne
This is so great to see!
Twitter was helped to become the de facto public square because journalists would incorporate it into their articles & reports. I'm really glad to see this starting to happen to Mastodon. I hope it continues.
It really felt as those journalistic winds shifted this week after Elon pissed off the journalist community.
Adam Fields@digitalbits @petersterne it’s a really big problem that it’s so difficult to follow someone or interact with a post when you’re viewing it on their server that you’re not logged into. That’s a huge barrier to adoption of incorporating posts into other articles.
Mark Loundy@fields @digitalbits @petersterne I’m not seeing those barriers. I easily follow and interact with many users on other instances.
@markloundy @digitalbits @petersterne Through a timeline or app that's relatively easy. But if you get a permalink to a post, and you're not logged into the instance it's on, and you try to interact with it in any way, you get these cumbersome popups. Copying and pasting the url of the post or user into your own server is not a low friction pathway. I think there are chrome extensions that will make this simpler, but that's not a widespread solution.
@fields @markloundy @petersterne
Thanks for sharing. That hasn't been my experience, but I think your experience brings up a good point. Barriers of adoption exist as mileage will vary considerably depending on which combination of server/domain you sign up with, plus app you choose to use.
@fields @petersterne @digitalbits I’m using both MetaText and the Mastodon iOS apps. I selected this instance because it was large, for perceived infrastructure reliability.
Ticktok@fields @markloundy @digitalbits @petersterne yea, there's already been browser plugins made to combat this, but it definitely would be nice to have some kind of in-built way to handle it.
That said, I'm sometimes logged into more than one instance, so I don't know how an in-built option would be able to handle that.
The copying and pasting of the url into your instance's search seems to be the easiest way atm.
That said, I'm sometimes logged into more than one instance, so I don't know how an in-built option would be able to handle that.
The copying and pasting of the url into your instance's search seems to be the easiest way atm.
@@fields @markloundy @digitalbits @petersterne
People need to be educated to use the share button instead of copying the link from their browser address bar
@fields @markloundy @digitalbits @petersterne
it gives you a permalink that will show anyone the toot from the point of view of their own instance so no login prompt and no need to paste into search
@meganox @fields @markloundy @digitalbits Does the permalink show the post from the POV of the instance of the person sharing it or from the POV of the instance of anyone who clicks on it? The former doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. The latter would be incredible but I’m not sure how it would work.
@petersterne @fields @markloundy @digitalbits
it should show anyone who clicks it the POV from their own instance which is why the login doesn't get shown
i'm not sure how it's implemented, whether uris in a specific format are rewritten by the client, all i know is i haven't had any problems since i started using it
if someone does post a link that takes me to a different instance, rather than logging in again, i just copy the whole uri to the search box on my instance, it's a lot quicker
@petersterne @fields @markloundy @digitalbits
i do agree it can be confusing and is clunky, a global translation system that would keep you in your instance unless you specifically asked to view on the remote (there are reasons to do this sometimes) would be very helpful
@meganox @fields @markloundy @digitalbits Interesting, though it doesn’t seem to be working on mobile web (or any of the mobile apps) for me.
Ladrillo_azulWhat did came first Journalists or Twitter. Hard question.
It would also help much if all major media would include Mastodon as a direct link of choice along side the Facebook and Twitter options. Now, my big communities I follow on Twitter are tied to Major League Baseball and the National Weather Service. They need to get the heck on over here.
SeaGoatGirl
Htaggert@petersterne I’m pretty excited about this!
djohngo@petersterne So they will say "on social media" instead of naming the platform?
Steven Bodzin@petersterne All helpful but they need to post their headlines here too. And of course we need newsmakers who break news here, the way that Cristina Fernandez releases everything first on Twitter.
Gregg Prendergast@petersterne I wonder if mastodon can be embedded in news articles the way tweets were
Jo Fountain@frontier @petersterne think it depends on the rules of the instance? Pretty sure many have rules that you can't share another's toot outside the fediverse except with express permission
[Nb I'm pretty new so not is that language is right 😂]
@frontier @petersterne rule 14 in my world: "Content hosted on Mastodon.nz or produced by its users may not be reused outside of the fediverse without the express permission of the author(s)"
Benjamin Kwiecień 🇵🇸@petersterne I remember when companies and organizations started joining Twitter officially way back in the day. It was weird to see it getting adopted like that for the first time and breaking into the main stream. Before that companies didn't do social media like they do now. From what I remember, it was journalism sites like the BBC that joined Twitter early on. If that pattern is to be repeated, then news outlets moving onto Mastodon might mean the fundamental shift has occurred.
Helen Shaw (Athena Media )@petersterne yet some media organisations and journalists not proactive and setting up accounts; even to ensure they are also monitoring Mastodon
Gerard Cunningham ✒️@petersterne
And then the #Fediverse will become a new rightwing talking point.
"Did you hear about poor Dave Bigot?"
"What happened?"
"Woke Feds got him."
Christopher@faduda @petersterne Then Fediverse as a term just disappears. It all just becomes "Mastodon", because no one will ever hear about any other platform on here again.
@Kichae @petersterne
Maybe.
But "internet" went away when the WWW went mainstream, and yet it's come back.
Maybe.
But "internet" went away when the WWW went mainstream, and yet it's come back.
Chris CarlinYou guys are missing the analogy with Mastodon and the World Wide Web.
Fediverse/ActivityPub are WWW. Mastodon is equivalent to a website.
You don't talk about all www content as if it's on NBC.com or whatever, do you?
ActivityPub and Fediverse refer to the infrastructure. Mastodon is the individual application.
Cathie English, Ph.D.@petersterne This is good news!
Michael@petersterne
Don't spur the Fourth Estate.
Don't spur the Fourth Estate.
marktaylor@petersterne We will see.
Bc Clarity Carlton-Martin@petersterne When being a nerd was not a thing
Groovy Tasia@petersterne My mom asked me what Mastodon is after the local news covered it. I'm just hoping my explanation was too confusing, so she doesn't want to join. Because I do not want to get 20 calls a day asking me how to do things on here 😂
Ann@petersterne
Do you suppose the power that be didn't know there were very great viable alternatives to his disaster?
Do you suppose the power that be didn't know there were very great viable alternatives to his disaster?
calc.exe@petersterne but they're not on mastodon, they're on the fediverse...
Matti Redsky
Ian K Tindale
Mr. Pataphor, Dadaist Dad@thatonecalculator @petersterne Doesn't matter, people use no-name facial tissues, and call them Kleenex. The general public want a condensed easy term of reference. They have enough problems getting their heads around the idea that Mastodon is not one online site/thing.
The small percentage will get the idea of Fediverse, if other parts become useful alternatives. If a Fedi version of TikTok becomes noteworthy, then the concept may broaden. perhaps we will be lucky.
The small percentage will get the idea of Fediverse, if other parts become useful alternatives. If a Fedi version of TikTok becomes noteworthy, then the concept may broaden. perhaps we will be lucky.
@JPK_elmediat
@petersterne all I'm reading is "learning a single term is sooooo hard let's just be complacent with misinformation" 😐
@petersterne all I'm reading is "learning a single term is sooooo hard let's just be complacent with misinformation" 😐
@thatonecalculator @petersterne For many it is. Having experienced teaching High School students in multiple levels & grades, I see the public is very diverse in learning styles/modes.
A large portion of the population are very concrete hands-on learners. They construct their reality in a one to one problem-solving. They are prone to a simple direct solution & they struggle with shades of grey & variation.
It is not complacency, "learning this concept is difficult for them".
A large portion of the population are very concrete hands-on learners. They construct their reality in a one to one problem-solving. They are prone to a simple direct solution & they struggle with shades of grey & variation.
It is not complacency, "learning this concept is difficult for them".
@JPK_elmediat @petersterne you're making it much more complex than it has to be. People understand the difference between "email" and "Gmail". Same thing with "Fediverse" and "Mastodon". Just correct people who make mistakes and there's a good chance they'll learn. It's not some crazy advanced concept people need to learn.
@thatonecalculator @petersterne For many it is just email, like Kleenex. I'm not saying it overly complex, it is not. Many just gravitate to the simplest concept-label. That's why we end up with people seeing lots of immigrants coming in, the answer is a beautiful wall. Genders, there are 2. Taxes too high lower them.
Eventually enough folks will get the notion of the fediverse, but many will not be able to explain it, really understand it. Life will go on. 🙂
Eventually enough folks will get the notion of the fediverse, but many will not be able to explain it, really understand it. Life will go on. 🙂
Ian K Tindale 
@JPK_elmediat @thatonecalculator @petersterne
“@thatonecalculator @petersterne “Doesn’t matter, people use no-name facial tissues, and call them Kleenex.”
What? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. Everybody just calls it a tissue. Always.
“@thatonecalculator @petersterne “Doesn’t matter, people use no-name facial tissues, and call them Kleenex.”
What? I’ve never heard of anyone doing that. Everybody just calls it a tissue. Always.
@u0421793 @petersterne @thatonecalculator Hasn't been my experience. There is even a term for it, genericized or genericide. A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for/synonymous with, a general class of products or services, usually against the intentions of the trademark's owner.
@u0421793 @petersterne @thatonecalculator
In the US, the Kleenex name has become—in common usage but not in law—genericized: the popularity of the product has led to the use of its name to refer to any facial tissue, regardless of the brand. Many dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster and Oxford, now include definitions in their publications defining it as such.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kleenex
In the US, the Kleenex name has become—in common usage but not in law—genericized: the popularity of the product has led to the use of its name to refer to any facial tissue, regardless of the brand. Many dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster and Oxford, now include definitions in their publications defining it as such.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Kleenex
@JPK_elmediat @petersterne @thatonecalculator that’s true – examples are
Sellotape, which everybody calls any kind of adhesive tape simply because it’s the leading brand here in the UK (hilariously, the leading brand in Australia is called Durex!)
Tarmac (which isn’t always made by that company)
Velcro (more correctly it should be referred to as a hook and loop fastener, unless actually made by that company)
JetSki (which is a trademark of Kawasaki, all others are merely personal water craft)
Heroin (Bayer & Co)
Hovercraft (Saunders Roe)
Videotape (Ampex)
Chromakey (Ultimatte – whereas the BBC steadfastly refers to it as CSO – colour separation overlay)
Sellotape, which everybody calls any kind of adhesive tape simply because it’s the leading brand here in the UK (hilariously, the leading brand in Australia is called Durex!)
Tarmac (which isn’t always made by that company)
Velcro (more correctly it should be referred to as a hook and loop fastener, unless actually made by that company)
JetSki (which is a trademark of Kawasaki, all others are merely personal water craft)
Heroin (Bayer & Co)
Hovercraft (Saunders Roe)
Videotape (Ampex)
Chromakey (Ultimatte – whereas the BBC steadfastly refers to it as CSO – colour separation overlay)
@u0421793 @petersterne @thatonecalculator Depending on country or region, different trademark names become so dominant, they can be generalized in common usage.
Another variation is the flu or stomach flu. People forget that flu is short for influenza. You get sick, it is a cold or The Flu. I think that is why some don't think flu shots are necessary, because everybody gets "The Flu".
Another variation is the flu or stomach flu. People forget that flu is short for influenza. You get sick, it is a cold or The Flu. I think that is why some don't think flu shots are necessary, because everybody gets "The Flu".
@JPK_elmediat @petersterne @thatonecalculator the original manufacturers of The Flu are probably kicking themselves now over losing so many sales to those cheaper suppliers of generic flu
@thatonecalculator Well, they are specifically talking about Mastodon instances. They’re not using Pleroma or Misskey or other ActivityPub-based protocols. I know “the fediverse” is often used colloquially to refer to Mastodon instances but that is technically inaccurate. It’s the same way people often say “the internet” when they are technically talking about the World Wide Web.
Tae Kim@petersterne @Unfitforpurpose I wrote one for Barron’s too https://www.barrons.com/amp/articles/guide-to-mastodon-twitter-alternative-51669848601
Peter PrincipleLooks like John Mastodon's long-term plan for global domination is off to an EXCELLENT start.
He couldn't have done it without you, Elon!
DeusWhile this is great to hear but the Fediverse is not just Mastodon - there’s Misskey, Rebased, Pleroma, Akkoma and many other frontends like Soapbox (the one I’m using on my instance) who are all part of the Fediverse. The entire Fediverse being branded under ‘Mastodon’ miffs me (a bit).