Parade du Grotesque 💀@energisch_ @lauren @askfedi @FediTips
Or using their web site: fedi.tips
Fedi.Tips@ParadeGrotesque @energisch_ @lauren
"This is basic stuff the community should provide."
I have a website full of beginner's guides for Mastodon and the Fediverse:
If there's something the professor doesn't understand in the guide, ask me directly and will be happy to help directly. I will reword the guide if needed, as it is supposed to be as easy to understand as possible.
Lauren Weinstein@FediTips @ParadeGrotesque @energisch_ Why isn't that site directly promoted as the place to go, rather than all the confusing text about logging into this site and other vague statements. It should be big and bold and clearly indicated where users who don't understand any of this after following a URL to a post will know what to do next!
@lauren @ParadeGrotesque @energisch_
I don't work for Mastodon, I am just an unofficial volunteer running an independent site.
It's up to the websites of Mastodon etc to decide if they want to link to independent sites.
By the way, there are also other guides you can try too:
https://fedi.tips/what-do-i-do-next-are-there-any-other-guides-to-mastodon-and-the-fediverse/
@FediTips @ParadeGrotesque @energisch_ More guides is more confusion. Users "stumbling" onto Mastodon for the first time via an external URL need to know clearly and succinctly what to do next, based on zero knowledge of noncentralized platforms.
@lauren @ParadeGrotesque @energisch_
I do try to assume zero knowledge in my guide, but it's inherent in a federated network that there is never a single point of entry, or single way to sign up.
It's similar to email, there is no single guide to email but many different guides that cover how to use it in slightly different ways.
Some of the guides are really, really simple short videos that serve as a good quick intro:
Mastodon in 180 Seconds 🐘
Tanya Karoli 4 a better world
Hippasus500 aka jwn2@energisch_ @ParadeGrotesque @FediTips @lauren
I don’t agree, Lauren. If I ran an instance (I don’t, so consider that about the worthiness of my advice <wink>), I’d promote a guide that I thought made the most sense to me.
My assumption is that people choosing my instance share at least some of my sensibilities — what appeals to me may also appeal to them.
But YMMV. So maybe I give alternatives, too.
@Hippasus500 @energisch_ @ParadeGrotesque @FediTips ProTip: Most people used to centralized social media platforms only -- and that 99.999% I'd wager -- don't care a bit about the focus of individual servers. They just want to get online and start communicating. The whole concept of "sharing my sensibilities to choose my server" is completely meaningless to most people. This is why Mastodon fails.
@energisch_ @ParadeGrotesque @FediTips @lauren
Btw, your initial post ^exactly^ mirrored my experience when I first encountered the bird site. Consequently, I never really got into it. (In retrospect, the right course of action <grin>).
While I disagree with your assertion about a multiplicity of guides, being able to recommend one is a good idea.
@Hippasus500 @energisch_ @ParadeGrotesque @FediTips And how long ago was it that you had that experience with Twitter/X? How many years ago?
@FediTips @energisch_ @lauren @ParadeGrotesque
Years before it became the cesspool it is today. Back when it was still new and shiny.
When I came to Mastodon, I got lucky. I stumbled across a post from @FediTips. The advice there was invaluable to me.
But that’s the point (yours, too). Being able to recommend a guide to new users is a good idea.
@Hippasus500 @FediTips @energisch_ @lauren
I would probably go as far as saying people who are used to centralized social networks do not go to Mastodon: they go to Threads or Bluesky instead.
We get the people who are willing to research things and who are brave enough to go against the flow. And these usually understand decentralized stuff is going to be slightly harder than the centralized stuff.
@energisch_ @ParadeGrotesque @FediTips @lauren
Maybe you’re right.
But we’re all human beings here (I think, <wink>). We’re a curious animal. We’re not all curious about the same things. I find people on Mastodon for which your characterization is accurate, but others for whom it isn’t.
For example, I prefer doing my grocery shopping at a local major market. I’m not motivated to explore smaller alternatives.
@Hippasus500 @energisch_ @ParadeGrotesque @FediTips Here we go again with the "we only want certain kinds of people here" crap again. This is the sort of stuff that disgusted me on Mastodon when I initially started looking at it.
@lauren @energisch_ @ParadeGrotesque @FediTips
Be disgusted then! Block them. Say nasty things if you like.
You choose. We each choose. We can only choose for ourselves.
I’m eternally optimistic that what I say will resonate with others. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it does in the worst possible way.
C’est la vie, C’est la guerre. Ce sont les vielles pommes de terre.
@FediTips @ParadeGrotesque @energisch_ None of these guides are useful if people coming from centralized services who have never dealt with decentralized ones aren't directly pointed at those guides at the time when they need the info, which is likely when they follow an external URL to a Mastodon post!
John Lusk@lauren @FediTips @ParadeGrotesque @energisch_
"It's anarchy. Go read fedi.tips. Godspeed."
Mark T. Tomczak@lauren @FediTips @ParadeGrotesque @energisch_ That's a good idea. I should see if I can hack it into the unauthenticated request flow on my server.