@ai6yr @tante

Honestly it was the "voluntary downsize" comment that got me.

Nobody wants to follow my hot takes and brilliant insights? Clearly, then, Mastodon must be what's pushing them away.

@jrconlin @ai6yr @tante fwiw

https://mas.to/@carnage4life/116351978261689682

@ai6yr @jrconlin @tante here's the thing, what if he's not?

What if he's a mainstream technology observer, and what if Mastodon is in the process of divorcing themselves from the mainstream?

That's where I'm putting my bet for what it's worth.

@buckfiftyseven @ai6yr @tante

Or, what if, you know, AI isn't the mainstream that folk want to believe it is?

There are plenty of folk here that have strong following who are up-front about AI. (https://fedi.simonwillison.net/@simon comes to mind, but there are lots of others.) The thing is that the fediverse lives by recommendation. If folk aren't following what you're doing, it's because you're not finding your audience, where before someone else essentially did the marketing for you.

What cracks me up is that these folk are presuming that they are so special that folk would seek them out, and are surprised and whiny when that doesn't happen. If anything, I'd say that Mastodon reflects reality probably a fair bit more than the other platforms because you have to work to build your audience rather than have one farmed out to you.

(This probably also explains why Doritos doesn't set up stands at local farmers markets.)

@jrconlin @ai6yr @tante If Mastodon was in any kind of growth phase I think that might be a stronger argument.

But if the platform is shrinking at the same time as people are putting out purity requirements, maybe not.

The top post I replied to is obviously a purity test.

@buckfiftyseven @ai6yr @tante

I know, right? How will Mastodon ever be profitable and return positive value for it's shareholders.

( Sorry, I promise I'll stop laughing soon. )