Sarah FackrellJul 8, 2023

Okay, so some observations after a week of social media turmoil:

- A LOT of #LawTwitter people (including a fair number of law profs) migrated to Bluesky last weekend.

- It appears that many of them already had invite codes but didn't use them until Twitter melted down (again).

- Related: At least one of my friends noted that during the last Great Migration (November) they weren't really sure Twitter would implode, so they weren't ready to jump (or fully jump) quite yet

Show threadSarah FackrellJul 8, 2023

- To my mind, the last point means that what we saw in some quarters wasn't so much a rejection of the fedi as much as a timing/perception issue

- So, depending on what happens over there in the future, those people may ultimately be persuadable to try the fedi (or try it again)

- But, for now, the mass of people over there creates an undeniable gravitational pull for law people

Show threadSarah FackrellJul 8, 2023

- To be clear: I still believe in the fedi and strongly prefer Mastodon to Bluesky as a platform

- But I think it's worth thinking about why people are making the choices they are making now

Show threadSarah FackrellJul 8, 2023

- To that end, I haven't seen any law friends saying that search or quoting are what make them prefer Bluesky.

- Instead, I've heard more about timing (see above) and perceived difficulty of onboarding.

- I've also seem comments to the effect that some people just want a place where they can scroll a bit and find interesting content, without taking the time/energy to build up a follow list. No judgment here; just observing the different preferences

Show threadEllie Margolis
@design_law also the ability to quote post is a big draw for a lot of people.
Jul 8, 2023 at 8:40pmMetatext
Show threadDavid ColarussoJul 8, 2023
@EllieMargolis @design_law one thing I find funny is that when I try other platforms I keep realizing how much a ❤️ the edit function here.
Show threadSarah FackrellJul 8, 2023
@Colarusso @EllieMargolis Funny you mention that. I was never someone who was agitating for an edit button on the birdsite but now that I've gotten used to it, I really miss it elsewhere.
Show threadDavid ColarussoJul 8, 2023
@design_law @EllieMargolis same!
Show threadSarah FackrellJul 8, 2023
@EllieMargolis I can see that. One thing that's interesting to me is how we've all become more sophisticated users in the sense that we have a stronger view of what's really necessary in a platform. For me, it's lists (or some other meaningful way to control what I see outside of a simple follow-not follow binary), for others, it's QTs or search or something else.
Show threadEllie MargolisJul 8, 2023
@design_law yes, lists are important to me also. I am missing them on Bluesky but I think there are few enough people there that it isn’t a huge problem yet.