ShantiniJul 1, 2023

It’s super privileged to tell people to “simply stop using Twitter.” People who rely on mutual aid can’t do that here due to much smaller reach (and sometimes even server rules). People have life-saving community on Twitter that doesn’t exist elsewhere.

Ever try sharing a Mastodon link to someone who isn’t a user? It’s a garbage experience and if you run a business or something Mastodon is not the place.

Stop putting the onus on marginalized people to make your platform succeed, that’s a garbage take!!!!!

Show threadShantiniJul 1, 2023
Additionally, just because a person is on here doesn’t mean they’re a fediverse evangelist or enjoyer. Many of us are just here because other people came here from Twitter. Many of us will also leave once a better alternative becomes available.
Show threadShantiniJul 1, 2023
This place is never going to be where “everyone” is. I’m sorry. Give up on that. Twitter was easy to sign up for, had search, and you could share public links to Tweets without friction. This place has too much “ideology” and too little functionality.
Show thread🇨🇦
@shantini Perhaps. But here I am confident that I am messaging a person. And that the flow of toots to my screen is not algorithmically selected to make me angry. Do I wish there were 10x as many users? Of course. Do I wish I could find things that I saw before ? Yes, sometimes. But all of my complaints fall into the category of “so what. Keep giving it a try”
Jul 1, 2023 at 9:26pmWeb
Show threadPaul CantrellJul 3, 2023

@notveryhandsome
Take a moment to read the 3-post thread you’re replying to there.

Were those posts asking for •your• opinion on •your• experience?

Or were they asking you to consider the experiences of people who are •not• you, and whose needs are different from yours and you may not have considered?

Show thread🇨🇦Jul 4, 2023

@inthehands
@shantini

On rereading my own remarks, I realize that I was too quick to pass over valid criticism of Mastodon. Sorry about that. In hindsight it was too late at night for me to give a great reply.

I really want Mastodon to succeed. I like it conceptually and have invested more time into discovering other users than I ever did on the bird platform.

But all the criticism @shantini is making is valid. Sadly Mastodon has the flavour of Linux on the desktop. Of course it works, and the enthusiasts are very happy. But the sudden migration to desktop Linux did not happen.

Show threadPaul CantrellJul 4, 2023

@notveryhandsome
Thanks for taking the criticism well. Not everyone can do that. I know that the barrage of replies to posts about Mastodon’s shortcoming have really exhausted and demoralized a lot of people, including Shantini.

I agree about the Linux on the Desktop parallel. I think Mastodon has better odds of wider success, but it shares similar problem. I too want community-owned social networking to succeed.