Randahl FinkAug 3, 2024

On all the Mastodon statistics sites, Mastodon is bleeding active users.

Examples:

Picture 1: https://mastodon.fediverse.observer/stats

Picture 2: https://fedidb.org/software/mastodon

I suspect this is due to Mark Zuckerberg embracing the ideas of the Fediverse and giving every Instagram user a Threads account that he controls.

Mastodon performs better, is more open, has better app choice, and will never have ads. Threads has critical mass.

The world will be far better if Mastodon wins, but right now Mastodon is losing.

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Show threadJohan PaulAug 3, 2024

@randahl Mastodon has also some serious issues. Like depending on the instance, you may or may not see all the replies to a thread.

That's a massive oversight.

Show threadRandahl FinkAug 3, 2024

@kypeli if you are on a malfunctioning instance, why do you not switch?

I am on the main instance and it has become rock solid.

Show threadJohan PaulAug 3, 2024

@randahl Is my own instance malfunctioning you think?

It's just how the ActivityPub protocol works as it cannot know all the other instances in the fediverse.

Show threadJohan PaulAug 3, 2024

@randahl And what you are saying about being on the main instance is basically that the federated nature of the Fediverse does not work and we have to move to main instances.

So we are back to Twitter and Threads.

Show threadRandahl FinkAug 3, 2024
@kypeli not necessarily. I think many instances work. The main instance was just an example.
Show threadJohan PaulAug 3, 2024

@randahl It depends on how active they are meaning how many users they have meaning how much traffic they get.

They know only of the content and replies of all the messages they receive.

That's why me, on my single user instance, I don't see many of the replies to messages that have never entered my instance before someone I know interacts with it.

Show threadJohan PaulAug 3, 2024
@randahl This is not an issue of the instance or the user. But the very foundation how the ActiivityPub protocol works, which is why by the definition, this is a subpar experience.
Show threadRandahl FinkAug 3, 2024
@kypeli I have never experienced anything like that. And I have been quite active here since late 2022.
Show threadШуроAug 3, 2024

@randahl @kypeli It happens and yes, it is by design.

Basically it works like email - you see all comments that are sent to you but if you are not the author and see someone's else post usually you don't see all the comments from other instances. It is not a big problem though.

Show threadJohan PaulAug 3, 2024

@shuro @randahl Thanks for the clarification.

Just curious though. Why don't you think it's a big issue?

For me it was kinda the good thing about Twitter to see some random post or discussion and being able to see all of it.

Show threadШуро

@randahl @kypeli You and me are a good example how this works by the way. My server is small, your server is personal. However we federated to each other when it mattered even though we are not familiar on the Fediverse.

But you likely wouldn't want to get all posts or comments in the world on your node and run a server cluster enough to power a small accounting company just in case you'll want to read one of them sometime :)

Aug 3, 2024 at 7:34amWeb
Show threadJohan PaulAug 3, 2024

@shuro @randahl That's true, I would not :) That's why I don't have the firehose of extra feeds enabled in my instance.

But I would hope that the ActvitityPub protocol would be working so that if I am interested in some thread, it would allow the instance to fetch on-demand all the messages to that thread.