Arvind NarayananDec 20, 2022

Mastodon has roughly 1% as many active users as Twitter. But it feels like much more than 1%. Why is that?

Because we're not a random 1%. People in some communities are much more likely to find Mastodon appealing. For example, at least 30% of the people I follow on Twitter are on here, based on their Twitter bios.

This "homophily" makes it easier for communities to reach critical mass. The downside is that it makes Mastodon more of an echo chamber (on top of the other reasons that make it so).

Show threadArvind NarayananDec 21, 2022

It’s interesting to compare Mastodon to Linux (on the desktop), which IMO appeals to similar types of people due to similar underlying philosophies. In both cases the adoption is roughly 1%.

What might make Mastodon appealing to the 99%? Some possibilities:
* Tumblr, Wordpress, etc. join the fediverse, making its network effect as big as any centralized app.
* Instances run by entities that people know and trust, such as their school, employer, town, or religious organization.

What else?

Show threadblterrible
@randomwalker Sadly, I think Mastodon needs an "algorithm" that puts posts in your timeline that match some criteria. Rather, I think it needs an algorithm _framework_ that can support multiple, different algorithms that are configured and supported differently by different server admins and users. It should be done in an open way so that you can see the logic/code behind the whole thing.
Jan 4, 2023 at 9:49pmWeb
Show threadArvind NarayananJan 4, 2023
@blterrible Yes, my pinned thread says exactly that :) https://mastodon.social/@randomwalker/109287636404189717