2023-05-03 09:49:45
2023-05-02 16:42:58
2023-05-02 16:42:58
14156623
An analogy we often use on the fediverse with respect to its decentralized nature is email. You didn't get an account on "The Email" you got an account on an email server which knew how to talk to other email servers. It is a great analogy. I've fallen into the trap of extending that to think that people used to get decentralized systems and it wasn't a barrier to entry but now they don't thanks to big tech changing expectations. While there is some of that a lot of that perception is rose colored glasses. The problem here goes back to the analysis paralysis of having to pick a server rather than there being some automatic default that "just works". "Didn't we do that with email?" Did we? Most people's first email accounts were from their ISP. Most places didn't have much selection of ISPs so you got "the internet" and "your email address" came along with it. If their first address wasn't a personal one at home it was one from work. Work made the decision for them. Even in the peak days of dialup many people's first internet experience was actually AOL not the raw internet. AOL came with an internet email address that "just worked". The aversion to extra inertia of having to choose servers or services at sign up time may be a bit higher than it was before FAANG took over the internet but it's still back to the same problem: human nature. #FAANG #fediverse #SocialMedia #commentary
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Sampath Pāṇini ®
in reply to Hank G ☑️ • • •Discounting (or aggressively ignoring human nature) or - even worse - applying one’s own problems to the roadmap is the cardinal sin of (any) product management.
Thinking “all users are like me” is a ubiquitous, problematic, and toxic phenomenon.
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Scott Bronson
in reply to Hank G ☑️ • • •100% agree, and this issue is made even worse by Mastodon making your home server so important to some core features! Want to search, or see likes, or see a more local timeline? Then you better have chosen well.
And I've switched servers... it's confusing, surprisingly unreliable, and it doesn't even preserve your posts or interactions. People saying "don't worry, you can just switch" are being ridiculously optimistic.
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Scott Bronson
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Hank G ☑️
in reply to Scott Bronson • •Noah Cook
in reply to Hank G ☑️ • • •A metaphor I like is comparing Mastodon, or the Fediverse, to entering a cafeteria and looking for a table (instance) to sit at. You can still have conversations with people at nearby tables, walk back and forth, even switch tables. And for some people, it may not make much of a difference.
But for a lot of people, whether they sit down at a fun table or not can make a huge difference in their experience, and especially their first impression.