Mastodon isnt just a life-raft, mastodon is how we win.

The next big thing is not corporate apps. Not corporate anything.

We arent running away from elon, we're replacing him.

@kevinrns great, so what’s the funding model and plan to get billions of people on here? Also, how to deal with all the sociological and legal issues at that scale? Who’s going to work out the deal with Twitter that allows us to use one app that works with both systems during the transition period?
@seeteegee @kevinrns the funding model is simple, you pay to be on your instance. It doesn’t even cost much - fosstodon has I believe 50K+ people on it and monthly costs are currently $2110 (source: https://hub.fosstodon.org/about/ ). Even if only 10K of those people pay, it’s 20c per person. That doesn’t pay the admins or moderators, but charge $2/month and their wages are covered. These are not unreasonable fees to ask people to pay.
About | Fosstodon Hub

Some info on how things work around here.

@Brendanjones @kevinrns I'm not sure if this funding model is sustainable over the long term.

At what point do the admins decide that they need money to pay their rent/mortgage while dealing with all of the social issues on social media? Not to mention the possibility of large legal costs and costs associated with law enforcement compliance.

Besides, how does this money get spent strategically to position Mastodon as the Twitter alternative? I'm thinking advertising, outreach, marketing, deal making with other companies.

@kevinrns @seeteegee
> At what point do the admins decide that they need money to pay their rent/mortgage

That’s the entire point of paying them?

> Not to mention the possibility of large legal costs and costs associated with law enforcement compliance.

I don’t know enough about this to meaningfully discuss it. Someone else welcome to jump in.

@kevinrns @seeteegee
> how does this money get spent strategically to position Mastodon as the Twitter alternative? I'm thinking advertising, outreach, marketing, deal making with other companies.

I refute the framing of this question. Why does Mastodon need to be or do any of this? It’s growing magnificently already using zero of what you speak. And what deals does it need to make with other companies?

@kevinrns @Brendanjones From my perspective there are a great many people on Twitter with no plan to switch to Mastodon. Some will never ever switch due to the harassment they faced here and troubles getting set up. These are strategic problems that need addressing lest it become another fidonet. Sure, people still use it but barely anybody notices.

I use both because some communities chose to switch while most others are staying put. That friction is high, and if I need to budget my time I’m more likely to drop Mastodon because of the lesser content and engagement.

Also, the smug level here is quite high and annoying at times. The CW issues need to be addressed. This client I use still calls posts “toots.” It’s a real mess with no obvious roadmap.

@kevinrns @Brendanjones I think that one of the most salient comments I've heard on this topic is that Mastodon feels like a kind of exodus from the city core to the suburbs, with all the metaphorical imagery that it implies.

@seeteegee @Brendanjones

More like the reverse, this is people abandoning the Plantations and are looking for work, and all that that implies

@kevinrns @Brendanjones that wasn’t how one woman felt who wrote an article in a US newspaper about it. She was the victim of immediate descrimination here.