Chris
Ars TechnicaMastodon fixes “confusing” sign-up process to attract users fleeing Twitter
Mastodon forms a plan to make decentralized social networks go mainstream.
Stephen Cerruti@arstechnica I, for one, am confused about your use of quotation marks in this headline. I read it to mean that there is debate the sign up process is confusing.
I myself would have written, 'Mastodon "fixes" confusing sign-up process...' acknowledging the confusion of the process and calling into question the chosen fix.
The idea that people who would abandon sign-up over the confusion will someday decide to try to switch to an alternate instance is flawed.
Shiri Bailem@scerruti @arstechnica It's specifically marking it as a quote and not a statement from the journalist or the editor. The author isn't saying they find it confusing, but that people are calling it confusing.
@shiri @arstechnica I'm not convinced by that explanation. If people are calling it confusing, unless they have some reason to lie, then it is confusing to some people by definition and therefore quotes shouldn't be required.
The article says "becoming instantly confused" it hardly seems they are quoting users.
@scerruti @arstechnica Titles are written by editors while the content is written by journalists, so the patterns and rules differ between them.
It also makes the title more interesting and dynamic. Their entire point is just to get you to read it, and even better if it strikes up a conversation, so you're just proving that it was a good choice.
That headline choice helped me decide to unfollow @arstechnica . TBH it was also the lack of hashtags. So, I don't think it was a good choice.
Dan@scerruti
I think in this case it's literal quotes, not ironic quotes. The process was called confusing.
@arstechnica
I think in this case it's literal quotes, not ironic quotes. The process was called confusing.
@arstechnica
@painkiller @arstechnica Yeah, that's what @shiri said, but the article gives evidence that it is confusing so it is a misleading headline (regardless of whether it is intentional or just bad editing).
@scerruti @arstechnica @painkiller As someone who found it not-at-all confusing, I'm behind the quotes. Especially since they're probably get farm or hassle from people for *not* quoting it (ie. people thinking that Ars is slandering Mastodon)
Zeem@scerruti @arstechnica I wouldn't even call it confusing so much as intimidating. Like starting a new job and not knowing 100% if you understand everything because it's unfamiliar. The actual mechanics of Mastodon aren't difficult at all.
But then again, when you're talking going mainstream, anything less than one-tap-and-done might as well be a convoluted mess to the generally useless public.
StoatI see you got your first "well ackshully". You have arrived. 
Monsieur Valentine 🇺🇦@arstechnica is it really confusing?
snoda
hac@valeg @arstechnica I think so
Orca 🌻 | 🎀 | 🪁 | 🏴🏳️⚧️@arstechnica Why is every media calling it a "fix" or a "improvement"?? Defaulting everyone new to one server is disasterous to the decentralized nature of fediverse.
ChookMother 🇦🇺🦘@arstechnica Mastodon has a CEO?
@anne_twain @arstechnica
Mastodon gGmbH has a CEO:
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2021/08/mastodon-now-a-non-profit-organisation/
See also:
https://mstdn.social/@feditips/110260433570114000
Mastodon gGmbH has a CEO:
https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2021/08/mastodon-now-a-non-profit-organisation/
See also:
https://mstdn.social/@feditips/110260433570114000
Mastodon now a non-profit organisation
In June, I was able to officially register Mastodon gGmbH after nearly 8 months of legal work (“gGmbH” means “non-profit limited liability company”). A non-profit limited liability company in Germany is structered and operates similarly to a for-profit limited liability company with a few key differences. The founding document of the company is written such that the activity of the company is working towards goals that benefit the public; the shareholders may not receive any revenue from the company’s activities and can at most withdraw the funds that they originally paid in; employees may not receive extraordinarily high wages; and the company can receive donations which are then tax-free, although any other income that does not fit the definition of a donation continues to incur various taxes. To found such a legal entity the founding document must pass a review by the German tax office and the founders must pay in 25,000 EUR of starting capital.
@arstechnica @anne_twain There's a non-profit behind the project maintaining the code-base.
nora@arstechnica can confirm! I just made this account today and it was vastly easier than it was last year. Yay!!
timzl 🍔@arstechnica I don't know how anyone reads that article and thinks "this sounds bad".
@Gargron wants Mastodon to be a viable alternative to any commercial social media platform. How is that a negative position?
A barrier to that was ease of use. That's why there were like 1000 posts from Nov-Jan 2022 that were like "Here's how to use Mastodon everyone!"
Personally, I don't want to go to bluesky. I like it here. But I'm still waiting for #sports coverage to make it to the fediverse 
@timonline @arstechnica One of the reasons I'm on a Friendica instance: can subscribe to rss feeds
David@arstechnica The problem with the multiple Mastodon instances is not that they’re confusing. It’s that the multiple Mastodon instances are unreliable. When a lot of people join Mastodon at the same time, it’s normal for the Mastodon instances to either crash or slow to a halt. Which is unsurprising because the instances are run by volunteers.