Erin KissaneApr 30, 2023

I meant to be finishing a post about books I'm reading but I got distracted and wrote ~2500 words about Mastodon and Bluesky and the related things (welcoming design, insular culture) I've been stewing on for a few months

And also about vegetarian meat substitutes in the 1980s, which were *really something*

https://erinkissane.com/blue-skies-over-mastodon

Show threadSteve LieberMay 1, 2023

@kissane Great piece. I've watched my entire industry bounce of off mastodon because of the UX.

Hundreds of my peers would like to leave twitter and have made accounts on one instance or another. But they left out of frustration that simple things like clicking a follow button would sometimes instead send them to a login page. And when they expressed concern or confusion about this, someone would helpfully tell them it's actually a feature of federation, that really it's like email.

Show threadsam
@stevelieber @kissane
no offence but i'm an archaeologist and i have no trouble using mastodon on desktop or mobile..its really not as difficult as you are making out..
May 1, 2023 at 1:41amWeb
Show threadsamMay 1, 2023
@stevelieber @kissane
and i'm 44..so if me and my ancient computer skills can manage so can you
Show threadErin KissaneMay 1, 2023
@allofmystudentsrunaway @stevelieber I’m older than you, but I try to listen when people explain what they need, and I care about the way things feel for people who aren’t like me. 🤷🏻
Show threadsamMay 1, 2023
@kissane then i would say mastodon requires slightly more effort than most people are used to because there is no algorithm pushing stuff at you..so boost and comment the stuff you like, not stuff chosen for you by someone else based on what gets the most likes . welcome to mastodon, follow hashtags, boost people you like be prepared to have a wee chat sometimes.
Show threadSteve LieberMay 1, 2023
@allofmystudentsrunaway Hi Sam: It's not a problem for me at all, but it is a problem for nearly everyone else I've tried to bring here. I've personally convinced over a hundred people to make accounts, and maybe three of them got past the friction that many mastodon stalwarts insist does not exist.
Show threadsamMay 1, 2023
@stevelieber weaning yourself off the algorithm is hard, its a bit of a change. easier maybe for those of us who remember the old internet ,harder for them that only know fb or twitter