Neil MullensJan 7, 2023

Why aren't people staying here?

#ElonMusk drove more than a million people to #Mastodon, but many aren’t sticking around

The number of active users on the Mastodon social network has dropped more than 30% since the peak and is continuing a slow decline, according to the latest data posted on its website. There are around 1.8 million active users in the first week of January, down from over 2.5 million in early December.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2023/jan/08/elon-musk-drove-more-than-a-million-people-to-mastodon-but-many-arent-sticking-around

Elon Musk drove more than a million people to Mastodon – but many aren’t sticking around

More than 130,000 people were joining the new independent social media network a day in November. So why hasn’t it taken off?

The Guardian
Show threadAris TeonJan 7, 2023

@3DayMonk I'm not sure we can draw conclusions from those numbers. There's always a drop in activity around the holidays. That's also why media companies, podcasters, YouTubers etc produce less content around this time.

On the other hand, I think many Twitter accounts with lots of followers have decided to keep feeding and empowering the Twitter monster because they don't want an internet without corporate gatekeepers, and don't want to relinquish their status.

Show threadNeil Mullens
@aristeon Yes, very possible true. And, for some, that last point will be a major factor!
Jan 7, 2023 at 11:00pmWeb
Show threadAris TeonJan 7, 2023

@3DayMonk indeed. But I think it's fine even if Mastodon doesn't become huge. We can build our community and make it better than the birdsite.

If people still refuse to hold the far right oligarch to account and don't understand how flawed the corporate social media model is, then maybe they're better off over there enjoying their drama, outrage, awful takes, promoted disinformation accounts, and algorithmic manipulation.

Show threadNeil MullensJan 7, 2023
@aristeon I feel quite conflicted about it really. I'm more comfortable here than on the birdsite. However, an alternative to the right-wing capitalist agenda also needs its voice to be heard by people who wander in over there. It’s bad enough that main street media is totally dominated by the right.
Show threadAris TeonJan 7, 2023
@3DayMonk I hear you. We need to try to get people over here. For instance by cross posting from here to there and reminding followers of Mastodon. But if we cannot, we should do our own thing and make this platform work for us. There are enough people who are tired of internet oligopolies, and gradually more and more people will join and use it.
Show threadNeil MullensJan 8, 2023
@aristeon Totally agree.
Show threadAris TeonJan 7, 2023

@3DayMonk indeed. But I think it's fine even if Mastodon doesn't become huge. We can build our community and make it better than the birdsite.

If people still refuse to hold the far right oligarch to account and don't understand how flawed the corporate social media model is, then maybe they're better off over there enjoying their drama, outrage, awful takes, promoted disinformation accounts, and algorithmic manipulation.