Mastodawn

petersuber Jul 29, 2023

Excellent diagnosis and recommendations by @kissane.
https://erinkissane.com/mastodon-is-easy-and-fun-except-when-it-isnt

I'm a committed #Mastodon user. But I sympathize with the complaints she has gathered and understand why they drove many users away.

All of us who are here and committed to stay should take them seriously, especially if we want more people from our networks to give Mastodon a try (not deterred by its reputation), like what they find (not deterred by their experience), and decide to join us.

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Fernando Rios Jul 29, 2023

@petersuber @kissane

Been here all but 2 days and have experienced every single one of those things except the "got yelled at, felt bad" one (so far). The analogy that Mastodon feels like eating your vegetables resonated (I like my veggies btw!)

Also, though not exactly the same, the rules on some instances made me think of internet forums where newbies are scolded for just posting basic questions instead of providing a well structured, reasoned query with a minimum working example.

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William Gunn Jul 29, 2023

@riosfrnd @petersuber @kissane I've seen all that, too. I guess I take a more parent-like reframe and think about it as learning manners. We're not born learning how to be polite, yet it's nice to live in a society where people have standard ways of demonstrating respect for one another. There's no consensus on what Mastodon manners are yet, and people will tell you opposite things not so nicely, but polite enforcement of norms is an aspirational goal, in my book.

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William Gunn Jul 29, 2023

@riosfrnd @petersuber @kissane I'm aware I'm touching some sensitive things using this framing. Not everyone had a happy childhood with gentle but firmly supportive parents and some people have trauma associated with the whole concept of manners. With respectful awareness of that, it remains a useful framing for the cognitive style of various instances. Some may see themselves as more "parental" and be seen by others as authoritarian. Others may be "free/open" and seen as chaotic.

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William Gunn

@riosfrnd @petersuber @kissane These two styles of instances will have very different ideas about what the norms are and will find themselves at cross-purposes if they happen upon a norms discussion. This can't be helped or prevented; it's up to each person to enter the discussion with as much meta-level awareness of this as they are capable of & other people to be compassionate about misunderstandings.