Jon S. von TetzchnerNov 26, 2024

When I talk about the importance of going all in on the Fediverse, I speak based on experience.

At Opera we built a massive user community. When I quit, we had something like 35 million registered users and 35 million monthly visitors.

The new Opera management did not see the value of that. They believed it was cheaper and better to just use Facebook and that investing in your own community was a waste of money. So they closed down MyOpera and built a following on Facebook and Twitter instead. Then they got caught by the bait and switch when Facebook changed and you would no longer reach your audience, without paying. Later on Twitter changed as well.

This is important to explain to companies and institutions as they go shopping for social media sites to invest in. The best investment is clearly in your own site, being part of the Fediverse. It is not even all that expensive to do. It may take longer to build, but at least it is your own.

Not saying you cannot build a following on those other sites, but your long term strategy should be the Fediverse with your own server.

We try to lead the way here and thus we build Vivaldi Social. Not just for our selves, but to make a point and support the Fediverse.

#fediverse #Mastodon #Twitter #Threads #BlueSky #Vivaldi

Show threadAlbert Cuesta Nov 26, 2024

@jon Absolutely, Jon. We talked about it a while ago at the MWC in Barcelona.

I've been trying to explain this to many companies and media. But they are moving in flocks to Bluesky, which may well end up as another X.

Show threadJon S. von TetzchnerNov 26, 2024

@albertcuesta

We have to keep pushing. Clearly they should have be learning something on the way. It is not only Facebook and Twitter. There is a lot of other social media companies that are no longer there. It is best to invest in your own, interconnected site.

Show threadGrassroots JoeNov 27, 2024

@jon @albertcuesta

I've started a very preliminary conversation with a progressive overtly political organization with a lot of prospective users focused on the risk of Bluesky becoming Twitter 2.0.

Maybe the risk is small, maybe it's large, but can progressive organizations afford even a small risk given the magnitude of the political ramifications if we face a similar situation in late 2027/early 2028?

We'll see how the conversation goes as I work my way up their management ladder.

Show threadJon S. von Tetzchner

@joeinwynnewood @albertcuesta

The point is really to include the Fediverse in your mix. I can understand the need to try out those other networks as well, but IMHO the Fediverse should be a focus for the future.

Nov 27, 2024 at 4:28amWeb
Show threadGrassroots JoeNov 27, 2024

@jon @albertcuesta

From what I've seen, they're not "trying out" other networks, they appear to be thinking Bluesky is where they and their members are going to end up doing a lot of organizing moving forward.

As I said that seems like an unacceptable risk from strictly a political organizing perspective in front of the 2026 and 2028 elections, the thing they exist to do.