Mastodawn

Chris Trottier Apr 18, 2023

The Guardian wrote about Mastodon yet again today. I find @wilf’s reporting on Mastodon stats to be dodgy.

While MAUs are half of peak—to be expected when comparing to November 2022—HYAUs are at their current all time high of 4.5 million. That’s important because, as it turns out, a month isn’t enough to assess whether people use a service.

That said, kudos to him for actually interviewing real Mastodon users.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/18/mastodon-users-twitter-elon-musk-social-media

@fediversenews

Thousands fled to Mastodon after Musk bought Twitter. Are they still ‘tooting’?

The decentralized social network has seen user numbers drop in recent months, but tech-savvy users remain passionate

The Guardian

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Chris Trottier Apr 18, 2023

As well, at least some of @wilf’s critiques are valid. Mastodon can feel like the Home Owner’s Association.

That was especially the case when the Twitter migration happened and old timers felt threatened.

However, the culture has changed.

There was a time when journalists were met with hostility. Now people really do want journalists to be on the Fediverse. This is a 180 degree change.

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Chris Trottier Apr 18, 2023

That said, a few of the critiques in @wilf’s article about Mastodon also seem wildly suspect.

One activist complains that they cannot hijack hashtags.

Which isn’t the type of behaviour I endorse, and seems downright toxic and hostile.

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Les Orchard

@atomicpoet @wilf Hijacking a hashtag sounds like a good way to get yourself muted or blocked or server-limited and find your ability to get any material in front of people degraded altogether (instantly or not)