Zooming out to this whole conversation on Twitter because it really is bizarre. To summarize:

Tracy Chou: I don't like that I have to use Mastodon to read stuff from tech people.

Doge Guy: Tech people have nothing worth hearing anyway.

Elon Musk: I hope tech people stay on Mastodon.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1628546242807746561

@fediversenews

Elon Musk on Twitter

“@BillyM2k @triketora (hoping they stay there🤞)”

Twitter

So basically, if you want to hear from tech people, you must use Mastodon.

But according to Elon Musk, why would you do that? Tech people have nothing worth saying anyway. And he hopes they stay on Mastodon.

@fediversenews

Whether Elon Musk likes it or not, tech people have important things to say that a whole lot of other people want to read.

For example, here's Google employee @johnmu talking about search engine optimization.

https://mastodon.social/@johnmu/109879325577937391

This is actually something that a lot of publications might want to report on.

@fediversenews

Social networks are not always about how many people use them, but more specifically *who* uses them.

Twitter itself was never that popular compared to Facebook.

It always had an outsized influence on public culture due to who used it.

Well, now tech people and academics have migrated over to the Fediverse.

Which means that if you want to talk to tech people and academics, you have to figure out how to use it.

For many people, the Fediverse is becoming critical for work.

@fediversenews

In fact, the Fediverse is now so critical to the tech industry that GitHub rolled out support for Mastodon profiles this month.

That's not a small thing.

Again, if you want to talk to tech people, a Fediverse presence is paramount.

https://mastodon.social/@nova@hachyderm.io/109790532829442644

@fediversenews

Here's the thing about network effects.

If a culture has a strong enough pull, everything adjacent to that culture gets pulled within its orbit.

This is why Tracy Chou finds herself forced to use Mastodon -- despite wishing she could stay on Twitter.

For example, where tech people go, tech executives tend to follow.

Where tech executives go, other industry executives follow.

Where executives go, VCs and investors follow.

That's how network effects work.

@fediversenews

@atomicpoet @fediversenews

@atomicpoet
Yep. I dunno who Tracy Chou is but I've watched the geek places progressively pull in others over and over again.

We move, they follow.

Eventually so many of them follow that it starts to suck and we have to build something less sucky.

Maybe one day we'll find a way to build something too weird and difficult for them to all follow, but I doubt it.

Weirdos explore the edges of the social space, and then when they find something that works everyone else flows in.