JustinHanaganAn EXTREMELY Simple Guide to Mastodon (for when someone says it's too complicated to catch on)
Did somebody tell you it's too confusing?
https://www.staygrounded.online/p/an-extremely-simple-guide-to-mastodon
people_are_cuteThe difficulty is not in using it, the difficulty is having people use it. Social network platforms matter jack shit when the ones you want to actually follow aren’t on it.
It's a bit of a joke post because a lot of the coverage around Mastodon gets really into the weeds with Federation, ActivityPub, etc. and journalists often describe it as "too techie" for "normal" users.
Well, "normal" users don't care about the technical backend of Twitter or Facebook so it always felt a bit disingenuous to me it was presented this way. Hopefully my post can dispell some of the confusion!
DameoutlawPeople don’t care about the tech stack of Big Social, but they’re not talking just about ActivityPub. When they go to Facebook and Twitter they do not have to select an instance. They create an account and boom. It would be disingenuous to compare and state that Mastodon offers the exact same. That’s more what people means that it’s too techie.
It’s not just frictionless. Plus, due to the maturity and the fact that the communities people care about are already on those platforms the ends justify the means for users.
It’s not just frictionless. Plus, due to the maturity and the fact that the communities people care about are already on those platforms the ends justify the means for users.
ShittyRedditWasBetterHas nothing to do with the actual backend and is 100% identity management. This entire thread is like a kde forum. A bunch of nerds with zero awareness why is not the year of Linux desktop again.
OtterBit of a self fulfilling prophecy there
Gotta get people on it in order to have people on it. Doesn’t happen overnight. A handful of people I followed elsewhere have now moved to Mastodon, but it took some time for that to happen
"Slowly, then all at once".
Personally, I think once the journalists and news orgs (finally) get on board, that will inspire government agencies to make the change, and that will be the true tipping point away from 𝕏.
Journos don't lead, they follow. While ostensibly they're on Twitter to promote their articles, in practice they're there to follow politicians and keep an eye on trending hashtags.
Something buzzworthy needs to happen on the Fediverse first.
Aren’t a few news organizations moving over already? I’ve seen a handful of local journalists shift too
pixelleIt has over 2 million active users. There’s plenty of people and content to be found. 🤷🏻♀️
IzzyPeople are too addicted to the parasocial relationship of celebrities and the like to just follow normal users.
This is exactly it. What these people actually mean when they say “there’s no one to follow” is that “there’s no clout to be chased.” People are brainwashed to use social media for clout chasing influencers rather than actual meaningful interaction.
To be fair, "a chance at fame and attention" is the sales pitch from the commercial platforms. They don't want users having "meaningful conversation". There's a great essay/rant from Cat Valente called "Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things".
I read that piece. It’s perfect.
squirrelopens site
gets greeted by subscribe pop-up and cookie banner
closes site
That’s more of a substack issue
The content of the guide (the real guide linked below) is pretty good :)
You can just click "no thanks" to the subscription box, but I've copy-pasted the full guide (short version) here for you:
Download the Mastodon app from the Apple app store or Play store.
Create an account (just like Twitter or any other social media)
Follow people, and get posting.
Of all the sites with popups, this site is one of the least annoying.
The most annoying is video popups. Those get ublocked.
Do you just open up and then close like every site you visit??
I haven’t seen a popup ad in years
It’s not a pop up ad, it’s a little pop up on the page asking to subscribe to a mailing list, I see them on most sites that host articles.
tim-clarkSo ads for their mail list and more data to be sold later. Size doesn't matter when it comes to ads and nefarious content.
It's just a little pop up...
Or, just a small site trying to make good content and engage users in a way that means they’ll return.
“BuT If I lIkE tHE CoNteNt I’lL CoMe BaCk AnYWay”, and some people would prefer a mailing list. There’s nothing inherently evil about a mailing list pop up…
So you want more spam ads in your email that is already overloaded with spam. No thanks, no social media site needs to send me email.
I just clicked no, wasn’t that difficult tbh…
ZloubidaYou can make and propose a mailing list without a pop up…
No pop-ups are acceptable. It doesn’t matter how small the pop-up is.
No pop-ups are acceptable to you.
If a site makes good content and doesn’t drown the actual article with ads then I’m not gonna begrudge a small mailing list pop-up, but each to their own.
no bananaHonestly I’d personally prefer a mailing list form at the bottom of the page, but I get why they do it so I’m kind of okay with it.
if you power through that then next stop is that this is not the full article and need to click “Read full story”
PrettyBlackDress“Guide” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
If it's still too complicated for someone after reading this I think it's safe to say they're a lost cause
1984This guide is 10 seconds to read… What’s going on… Is this a guide now?
This is the “I need you to explain it for me before we get out of the elevator” edition of a Mastodon starter guide.
I thought it was more of a joke article to funnel people to the real one
It took me two weeks to figure out how to get a Lemmy account.
The guide:
How do I use Mastodon?
✨much elegance✨