Discovery here IS bad, and — I hate to say it — the solution to that is an (entirely optional) algorithm that surfaces potential follows and compelling content right out of the gate.
Algorithms aren’t inherently evil. Hell, “show posts in reverse chronological order” is in itself an algorithm.
What matters are 1) choice and 2) the intention with which the algorithm was designed.
#Mastodon https://mastodon.social/@mimsical/110865836818850808
I was able to bootstrap myself here relatively easily because I was both part of the deluge of Twitter users in November of 2022 as well as highly-motivated to make it work because I hated what Twitter was becoming and inherently grokked the benefit of federation.
That’s not going to be the common case.
If Mastodon is to expand far beyond low-hanging fruit like me it absolutely needs to meet users halfway.
@jeff totally agree. A lot of really good accounts came here in November 2022 but some got immediately put off and still others gave up around New Year. Many stayed of course, and the software is better now, but a lot was lost.
I understand not wanting to repeat the mistakes of corporate social media but I think Masto has been overly cautious with this, and as the default Fedi option should aim to implement all Birdsite's core features in a more consensual, better way.
Jeff C. 🇺🇦🇬🇱
DuncanMSussexPol