I've seen a lot of voices saying that " #Mastodon does not need to grow to be successful", and "we don't need to put in more effort to welcome new users", and frankly this attitude is pissing me off.

"The reason that social media did not work as promised is not because we misunderstood the nature of the internet and the possibilities of digital connectivity, but because oligarchs took over the digital space."

If there is any chance of using social media as a force for democracy, we desperately need a system that _cannot_ be taken over by the oligarchs. And, right now, the #Fediverse is the best candidate for this.

Thus, there is homework that needs to be done. We cannot just rest on our laurels and proclaim that the tech is already good enough, and that the #Fediverse tech approach somehow magically solves all the problems of other social media platforms. We need to get away from the overwhelmingly white male European/North American user base and look for ways on how to increase #BIPOC user participation - not to mention participation of users from Asia, Africa, and South America.

If we try to maintain the Fediverse as the home of a small, incestuous group of people with a particular tech slant, the oligarchs will win.

https://www.vox.com/world-politics/23896050/protest-decade-2010-revolutionary-handbook-vincent-bevins-arab-spring-brazil-occupy-hong-kong

The 2010s was a decade of protests. Why did so many revolutions fail?

Journalist Vincent Bevins grapples with grassroots movements from Egypt to Brazil to Hong Kong.

Vox

@juergen_hubert "Mastodon does not need to grow to be successful" and "the tech is already good enough" are in no way the same thing.

The first is true. The Fediverse is a success.

The second is obviously false.

@fishidwardrobe

It's not just about the tech, but also about the culture. There is still too much unwillingness to seriously engage with the views of people from different backgrounds here.

@juergen_hubert Is there? You must be looking at very different posts to me … which would itself indicate diversity.

Spell it out for me. Which people? What backgrounds?

@fishidwardrobe Start with following some of the people active on #BlackMastodon and similar hashtags, and move on from there.

@juergen_hubert Well, those would be people who are … on Mastodon. They are already here.

I'm aware of the argument that there aren't enough black people here, and I'm sympathetic, but that problem is made of people. There is no technical change you can call for that will fix it.