Mastodon is an incredibly rare opportunity for open-source, non-profit, advertising-free, decentralised software to be a real contender in a category – and, if it continues to grow, even to pull many other social networks into being part of (or interoperable with) the fediverse.
It's strange to me that this isn't mentioned more in the endless opinions about features, onboarding, UX, "vibes" etc.
My post: why does every discussion focus on factors X, Y and Z, when I think factors A, B and C are also important?
Responses: more discussion about factors X, Y and Z.
@tomw There's plenty of UX experience amongst #Mastodon user (probably the most genious #UX person I've had the pleasure of working with myself, @scottjenson , being one). The biggest problem is this pervasive view that focusing on UX/onboarding is what "dot con" does. Or VCs. Or that great UX brings in the unwashed masses.
I want my wife and kids to use Mastodon. They won't if there's a smoother experience someplace else.
Focusing on UX and #onboarding is something you do for the very same reason as Mastodon really nudges you to write image descriptions.
To be inclusive.
@tomw But people never get to the stage of taking those other factors into account if the onboarding process is too hard for them.
I'm a big Mastodon evangelist but the overwhelming response I get is "I tried it & couldn't figure it out." Can't enjoy the features of the sportiest sports car if you can't get past the ignition on the test drive!
@stephstephking I can see that – and I did post in support of the easier onboarding in the app that was making a lot of people cross.
I just find it odd that things like "has no advertising" is so rarely mentioned as a positive. Instead a lot of the conversation happens as if all these different platforms are roughly interchangable, but Mastodon is harder to use.
@citizencat your argument reduces down to "I'm personally fine with the status quo therefore you should leave" which is illogical, unnecessarily hostile, and adds no value to the conversation (other than signalling to others that your future comments are likely to be of equivalent low value).
You're welcome to ignore this feedback, that's entirely your choice, but I thought it'd be worth sharing in case it helps.
@tomw @davew I agree with almost everything you say, except that vibes and onboarding aren’t trivial, - especially to #ISupportBlackMastodon & #LGBTQ who play such a significant part of Twitter and Mastodon. The fact it's gets (some) discussion isn't a problem, it's a feature - one that I hope thrives.
[runs for cover]
The UX is just terrible - all of the software out there, Mastodon included. If you need to explain a user how to use it, it goes to show the developers have not empathized with users well. I agree that they don’t have the funds and are doing it for the love of it.
The level of users being comfortable to using your software is directly proportional to engagement.
which is 10x more difficult than Mastodon.
lol That’s pretty much why I have NEVER used it. Just couldn’t get the hang of it. It’s the same with people in my circle. The young ones use it and I know they teach other - which should not be needed.
@tomw I completely agree!
This list - "open-source, non-profit, advertising-free" (didn't know enough about the decentralized part) - was one of the main reasons I chose mastodon when I left twitter.
Jeff konrad
Tom Walker
Troed Sångberg
Stephanie King
Citizencat
Richard Marr
Evan Prodromou
Steve Williams
Nate Gorby
Francis ☑️
Deus
pazuly
seeteegee
acm
meagan hanes
Tony Yates
ahimsa