Mastodawn

I think we tend to overestimate the importance of software design as the main factor in explaining why social media feels “good” to us while underestimating the importance of good people posting good things. This comes to mind as folks wonder if Bluesky or Substack Notes or whatever new platform might be more “user friendly” than Mastodon and then therefore definitely “better.”

Jeff Jarvis Apr 15, 2023

@profcarroll
Agree. Affordances matter--because they allow good people and productive conversation and community norms to be supported; that is where the value lies. Of course, humans (looking at you, Musk & Best) can also ruin it all, no matter the technology.

Fred Apr 15, 2023

@profcarroll I *mostly* agree but think that a lot of the subtle "I want to use that again" juice comes from frictionless UX which depends on a refined product, both visually and functionally. Mastodon falls down a lot here, and I think it's part of the reason why it's maybe not as sticky as it should be. Which is a completely different dimension than whether the content feels "good". Instagram knows this in their bones: https://www.reddit.com/r/Instagram/comments/12m13sf/heres_why_instagram_will_never_let_you_see_who/

Here’s why Instagram will never let you see who unfollowed you

In addition to it being a stupid, petty, and childish pursuit, Instagram does not want users to be hesitant to unfollow people — they want you to...

reddit

David Carroll Apr 15, 2023

@fredbenenson I actually appreciate how Mastodon is not manipulative aka “sticky.” It’s been like a nicotine patch for me to ween off some very bad social media habits.

Fred Apr 15, 2023

@profcarroll Fair! It does require a lot more intentionality ...

Artsea Apr 15, 2023

@fredbenenson @profcarroll

I think it's also about what you are used to. I lasted two days on insta. It reminds me of early websites & blogs. Too much flash- type stuff going on, not at all intuitive to use if you didn't grow up with it.

I find learning tech easy. Was a graphic designer back when we were "commercial artists", learned basic in the 80s, blah blah. Early adopter of everything. Hated Insta.

Joost Apr 15, 2023

@fredbenenson @profcarroll This. There's no lack of good people posting good things here! And yet I have to kind of push myself to come back here, reminding myself that this place is ethically superior in every way so I really ought to. Because there's just a frustrating amount of friction that intuitively holds me back — that stuff matters.

Joost Apr 15, 2023

@fredbenenson @profcarroll Recent example: already frustrated by the absence of functional search, I thought I'd follow someone's old-school advice and check the Following list of someone I admired to see if I'd find more interesting people there

Here's how that works on Twitter:

1. Click the name of someone in your feed
2. Click "Following" to see a list of accounts with bios
3. Click "Follow" next to someone's name if I like their bio

Here's how that worked out for me when I tried it here 👇

Joost Apr 15, 2023

@fredbenenson @profcarroll
1. Click the name of someone in my feed
2. Click "Following" to see just a few accounts
3. Click "Browse more on the original profile"
4. Click "Following" to see a list of names. No bios. Unlike on Twitter you can't hover over a name to see their bio either + there's no "Followed by XYZ and x others you follow" to help you decide
5. Click on a random bunch of them individually on the off chance I like one
6. Find one I like + click "Follow"

Wait, we're not there yet!

Joost Apr 15, 2023

@fredbenenson @profcarroll
7. They're on a different server, so click the "Copy" button next to the account URL
8. Return to my own profile/server
9. Paste the URL into the search field
10. Hit the follow icon next to their name 😓

Honestly, by then I'd given up. And that was on my *second* attempt — first I tried to do this on my mobile in my browser and got stranded at step 8, because there's no search field at all.

Even liking a toot can take the same five clicks as in steps 6-10 above. 😕

David Carroll Apr 16, 2023

@almodozo @fredbenenson Mastodon apps solve this issue. Give one a try. They can work around the web security model that imposes the above friction by using the APIs instead of web sites.

Joost Apr 16, 2023

@profcarroll @fredbenenson Okay, but i mostly use mastodon (and twitter) on my laptop, not on mobile. And this is frankly a very clunky experience for unexceptional things to want to do on a social media site.

Are there reasons for why it has to be this way because of Mastodon's structure? Maybe! But the result is a lot of friction, which helps explain why so many of the Twitter migrants have not stuck around. "Good people posting good things" isn't enough when you can find those elsewhere too.

Fred Apr 16, 2023

@almodozo @profcarroll I just downloaded the main mastodon.social app for iOS and have to admit its pretty good, this will help I hope

David Carroll Apr 16, 2023

@fredbenenson @almodozo the app ecosystem is thriving. Some nice ux/ui energy

WaltFrench Apr 15, 2023

@profcarroll “good people posting good things” is of course what we seek in a platform

But

What’s good for me in any given moment, as I wear my different hats, varies. Some is of the broader moment, some is serendipitous arising from the “good design” of the platform

ᴚ uɐᗡ Apr 15, 2023

my from-the-hip take on blue sky goes something like this

centralized social is dead - it just doesn't know it yet. (post, CoSo, spoutible, #birdsite, etc)

Bluesky is decentralized, but it's based on web3 / crypto / microtransactions and web3 is dead - and everyone knows it

so perhaps... all roads lead to Mastodon 🐘

Peter Butler Apr 15, 2023

@profcarroll Absolutely. As many have noted since October, it’s not the software it’s the *community*

Big Worker Apr 15, 2023

@profcarroll yeah the main thing that keeps me going back to twitter despite it all is that there are still tons of people making good posts over there

David Carroll Apr 15, 2023

@Big_Worker That has not been my experience lately. I usually don’t last a few scrolls before closing it in disgust.

WayneNH Apr 15, 2023

@profcarroll Does it also mean that we are still building a social network of connections that deliver a desired"social effect", similar to where we've put in time to curate that outcome?