it's weird how often people blame the technology of Mastodon for the failure of users to stick around instead of the most blindingly obvious, actual reasons:
1. habits are hard to break. people used to twitter or insta or FB are going to instinctually open those apps first
2. network effects are incredibly powerful. switching social networks isn't like trying a new toothpaste. networks move to new services *slowly* even when they're incredibly popular
that said, yes, obviously, the nature of a new technology determines the size of its ultimate audience
the fact that only "all-consuming" = good is a product of the growth at all costs mindset, doesn't reflect what actually makes online social networks good for individual users
@mimsical
Most massive successes are bumpy rides or sleepers, Harry Potter sat on shelves at first, and the development of the movie Rocky was turned down, a reported 1500 times, or the Avicci set at Ultra, are my favorite examples.
The beauty of the internet has been that everything seams possible, but the shame of it is how narrow the timespan of evaluating those successes have become.
I think the honest verdict for mastodon is "We won't know for a _while_".
Christopher Mims
Fire Silvernight