Michael Downey šŸ§¢May 1, 2023

So @Gargron be like:

"Decentralization is a big part of Mastodonā€™s DNA and is at the forefront of our mission. You may be asking, how a default server option furthers decentralization."

... literally no one is asking that, because it is literally the opposite of decentralization.

This is the price we pay for having an #OpenSource project with a BDFL.

  #FindABetterMobileApp #LiveYourValues #DontSellOut #Mastodon

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/05/a-new-onboarding-experience-on-mastodon/

A new onboarding experience on Mastodon

Today weā€™re making signing up on Mastodon easier than ever before. We understand that deciding which Mastodon service provider to kick off your experience with can be confusing. We know this is a completely new concept for many people, since traditionally the platform and the service provider are one and the same. This choice is what makes Mastodon different from existing social networks, but it also presents a unique onboarding challenge. To make this step easier, we now have a default sign-up option that works with a server we operate. If you wish to leave or join a different server, you can do so at any time.

Mastodon Blog
Show threadDan Newman

@downey @Gargron Thatā€™s true, but I do think this is likely the only way Mastodon scales to mass adoption. ā€œNon-techieā€ users arenā€™t going to thoughtfully pick a server when theyā€™re presented with a screen full of choices; theyā€™re just going to bail on the entire endeavor.

I hope other providers come along with similarly opinionated options, thoughā€¦ it would be nice if it was *actually* similar to email, with many well-supported players offering solid experiences.

May 1, 2023 at 3:11pmWeb
Show threadMichael Downey šŸ§¢May 1, 2023
@CreativeNewman Stop promoting learned helplessness. People are fully capable of making simple decisions.
Show threadjordanMay 1, 2023
@downey @CreativeNewman 
Show threadocdtrekkieMay 1, 2023
@downey @CreativeNewman History has quite constantly proved that they are, in fact, not capable of making simple decisions.
Show threadDan NewmanMay 1, 2023

@ocdtrekkie @downey Beyond that, picking a server isnā€™t actually a simple decision. You need a whole bunch of info upfront about how Mastodon works, moderation policies, etc. to make an *informed* decision. I disagree that sensible defaults promote learned helplessness.

Hopefully, newcomers learn how Mastodon works *through use* and the tools change servers get better so itā€™s truly seamless to move off the default once you find value in a different ā€œplaceā€.

Show threadocdtrekkieMay 1, 2023
@CreativeNewman I think @downey blocked me for this, lol.
Show threadDan NewmanMay 1, 2023
@ocdtrekkie @downey Same! šŸ™ƒ
Show threadWillowMay 1, 2023

@CreativeNewman @downey @Gargron

I don't really think "mass adoption" is necessarily a good thing. Few instance operators have money or resources to scale up, which only leaves large, well-capitalized commercial operators to dominate the fediverse.