Matt BrownApr 6, 2023
David Slifka

Don’t have time to get into it now, but I’m on team “make the fediverse so great that it attracts more people,” and not team “yell at those who use big social.”

And I’d encourage the same from everyone who wants to @spreadmastodon.

Things I ask myself:
- Have we done everything to make it super easy to join Mastodon and find great follows?
- What do organizations need in order to experiment on Mastodon?
… etc.

@mmasnick @andy

Apr 6, 2023 at 2:48amIceCubesApp
Show threadwilliam.maggosApr 6, 2023

@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy

the #fediverse is about journalism, the best info and arguments spreading most widely, an improved version of Twitter cause there's no gatekeepers or unearned tastemakers.

people also want to have their perfect community here, but there will always be other ways to do that better. we kinda need to make a choice on what our priority is. if it is journalism, we're gonna need to open up search at least. maybe "boost with comment" instead of QT too.

Show threadsoaprootApr 6, 2023
@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy I'm definitely on team "make the fediverse so great that it attracts more people". I might also be on team "say what is wrong with big social". And perhaps even more on team "treat big social as irrelevant" (it sorta is to me). Agreed that yelling at people for using a particular social network isn't as good as any of these three.
Show threadgenewitchApr 6, 2023
@davidslifka @[email protected] @mmasnick @andy

Not to be a stick in the mud, but "fediverse" encompasses much more than just Mastodon: https://fediverse.party/en/fediverse/

I prefer Misskey since it supports Markdown and 3000 characters per note and image description, as well as a full emoji "boost", custom emoji, animated/annotated text, per user themes and skins, "channels" and "groups" for context shifting between different people you follow, user "drives" for storage, and i prefer the android app to mastodon's, as well as a lot i am forgetting.

This note is already 100% longer than mastodon allows users to submit.

I haven't been able to get GNU Social nor Pixelfed instances to properly federate, but that's probably my fault, since many users use both daily.

Anyhow apologies for evangelizing "the others", I'm happy this whole federated social networking stuff is finally taking off, about 13 years after i first set up a GNU Social server on a lark.
- Fediverse.Party - explore federated networks

Let's make social media free, federated and fun! Fediverse.Party is your guide into the world of decentralized, autonomous networks running on free open software on a myriad of servers across the world. No ads and no algorithms. Join Fediverse and become part of the new interconnected Web!

Show threadbillyokApr 6, 2023

@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy sad to say it but you’re on the much smaller team.

More than any challenges with onboarding, it’s the continuous shrieking about twitter — sorry, “bird site” — that makes this whole movement feel so off-putting and futile. Why would I recommend anybody jump in when the conversation has been absolutely dominated, 5 months running, by the thing they’re supposed to want to leave behind?

Show threadGabriele PollaraApr 6, 2023

@billyok

Yep, totally agree. If you want to build a nice community with all the benefits of decentralised network etc... you need to make it welcoming and engaging, not just a place to discredit other networks.

Twitter (there, I said it) as a concept is not terrible, and many of its features being replicated here. People here should focus on making a compelling argument for Mastodon as a positive, viable alternative.

@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy

Show threadbassplayerApr 6, 2023
@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy Yes! So tired of the shaming posts i.e if you use twitter you are evil. That being said, asking the people you follow on twitter to also post to mastodon might be helpful
Show threadJeff JarvisApr 6, 2023
@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy
So strongly agree.
Show threadFrancois HeinderyckxApr 6, 2023
@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy
A little bit of finger-wagging would not hurt, just stating that any activity and engagement on Twitter is, de facto, supporting its owner and contributing to its finances. It reminds me of a successful late 20th Cent. strategy to deter teenagers from taking up smoking: Do you really want to contribute making rich capitalists who despise you even richer?
Show threadSoftSecretsApr 6, 2023
@davidslifka 👍 @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy
Show threadNathanApr 6, 2023
@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy I just joined myself and overall the onboarding went smoothly. Biggest pain point for me was the inability of my local instance to see the full Following list of those I was following (if they weren’t on my local instance). Ideally I’d like to manually search for & follow a handful of key people, then use their following lists for discovery.
Show threadNathanApr 6, 2023
@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy I ended up doing this, I just had to visit each person’s profile page on their local instance in a browser, then manually add via a search in my client.
Show threadMike Masnick ✅Apr 6, 2023
@eggpi @davidslifka @spreadmastodon @andy yeah, it is a bit of a pain, but check out https://github.com/Lartsch/FediAct which is a browser extension that makes this much easier
GitHub - Lartsch/FediAct: Chrome/Firefox extension that simplifies interactions on other Mastodon instances than your own.

Chrome/Firefox extension that simplifies interactions on other Mastodon instances than your own. - GitHub - Lartsch/FediAct: Chrome/Firefox extension that simplifies interactions on other Mastodon...

GitHub
Show threadNathanApr 6, 2023
@mmasnick @davidslifka @spreadmastodon @andy this looks great, thank you
Show threadwakest likes your bugs ⁂Apr 12, 2023
@eggpi @davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy @MonaApp now loads remote followers as well as a few other apps!
Show threadBob HarveyApr 6, 2023

@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy

In my view the fediverse is pretty good, although there is an accidental nature to discovering other people. That is both its charm and its weakness.

I just posted to a hotel loyalty scheme, and guessed their handle. It would be nice if , mid edit, I could search for handles without losing what I was doing.

I would also like to see "distribution lists" - so I can share a toot with e.g. all the people on a podcast in one address.

Show threadBob HarveyApr 6, 2023

@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy

As to /organisations/ - my employer would like to know who is reading their postings, and be able to leap on them as new fodder.

I would hate that. Don't do it.

my employer would like to be able to buy exclusive rights to hashtags based on trademarks

I would hate that. Don't do it.

my employer would want to be displayed above other toots.

I would hate that. Don't do it.

Show threadDavid SlifkaApr 6, 2023
@BobHarvey @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy you hit it on the head - can we find ways for orgs to get enough metrics to make the fediverse worthwhile for them, without compromising privacy or UX that makes the fediverse the solution we all need? I bet we can, and it can’t be the things you mention!
Show threadBob HarveyApr 6, 2023

@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy
Well, the sort of things that Might be attaractive to businesses would be

*Virtual server addresses
@[email protected] - without Megacorp having to run their own instance.

API access so they can retrieve replies without monitoring the feeds - from whichever server they are posted from - or some sort of email gateway ditto

A "no replies accepted" style of posting, so they could make announcements without bothering what people say back to them

...cont

Show threadBob HarveyApr 6, 2023

@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy
cont...

My local bus company would want to be able to post delays and traffic announcements, like they do on Twitter, but also offer a "reply" service for the time of the next arrival

Look at this bus stop "for next bus text mandjdpd to 84268". You get a text back with the ETA of the next bus.

The bus company pays for that SMS reply - via the internet the customer bears the transport cost

A clever service might include "25% occupancy" too

Show threadJoey FishkinApr 7, 2023

@davidslifka @spreadmastodon @mmasnick @andy

I would add: let’s think about great features for multiple audiences of potential users.

But I bet a LOT of those different audiences would like full-text searching… I get that it’s technically challenging but it would be a huge improvement!