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.

@petersuber It's important to remember that all coherent, stable communities must have barriers of some sort. I'm not arguing for the specific barriers we do have, just want to inject a little bit about how barriers can have a positive side to them, a viewpoint which is frequently missing in discussion among "the opens".

@williamgunn @petersuber I was thinking that. We don't say "We need to make academic mathematics open to people who can't solve equations", and rightly. Not everything has to be for everyone. Prog rock isn't for everyone, real ale isn't for everyone, sushi isn't for everyone — and that's OK.

I'm not 100% sure what that means for Mastodon, but I do know that "make it easy for anyone and everyone" is at least a double-edged sword.

@mike @petersuber Yes, and there's always metadiscussion about "who gets to be the influence peddler", too.