15 votes

Let's talk federated social media

I've been on mastodon for a bit now and I'm very much enjoying it. There's a few other options out there, with a variety of goals (pleroma/mastodon for microblogging, pixelfed for photos, hubzilla/diaspora for a more complete package).

I had some questions in mind (but feel free to discuss anything vaguely related): how do you think federated social media is doing? Do you use it? Do you try to get others to use it? What do you think some barriers to widespread adoptions would be?

14 comments

  1. [3]
    starchturrets
    Link
    No one uses it. With Facebook, I have to convince all my friends to move to Diaspora so I can talk to them there. With reddit --> tildes, I can talk to anyone about tech and privacy. No need to...

    What do you think some barriers to widespread adoptions would be?

    No one uses it. With Facebook, I have to convince all my friends to move to Diaspora so I can talk to them there. With reddit --> tildes, I can talk to anyone about tech and privacy. No need to try and bring the entirety of r/technology here.

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      Tenar
      Link Parent
      So do you think it's an issue of bringing over people who are worth talking to vs bringing over people who you want to talk to? i.e. friends vs people who are interesting?

      So do you think it's an issue of bringing over people who are worth talking to vs bringing over people who you want to talk to? i.e. friends vs people who are interesting?

      1 vote
  2. [2]
    kgz
    Link
    For my needs, it's great. The fediverse doesn't need to take over the world, just enough interesting people in my social circles.

    For my needs, it's great. The fediverse doesn't need to take over the world, just enough interesting people in my social circles.

    4 votes
    1. Tenar
      Link Parent
      I find the same way; I didn't use twitter (it asked for my phone # "because I might be a bot") but I use mastodon because there's interesting convo's

      I find the same way; I didn't use twitter (it asked for my phone # "because I might be a bot") but I use mastodon because there's interesting convo's

      1 vote
  3. treed
    Link
    I like the idea of Mastodon, but I feel like there's just barely enough interesting activity to justify my use for now. As with anything new, but especially with a federated model, discovery is...

    I like the idea of Mastodon, but I feel like there's just barely enough interesting activity to justify my use for now. As with anything new, but especially with a federated model, discovery is the hardest part.

    3 votes
  4. [4]
    666
    Link
    It keeps existing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't think it's going anywhere besides whatever niche it is currently keeping it alive. Very infrequently, I've been in Mastodon since it was created and before that...

    how do you think federated social media is doing?

    It keeps existing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I don't think it's going anywhere besides whatever niche it is currently keeping it alive.

    Do you use it?

    Very infrequently, I've been in Mastodon since it was created and before that I used some GNU Social websites. I don't use it often because I still can't understand what "necessity" Twitter and Twitter-like websites seem to cover.

    Do you try to get others to use it?

    Nope.

    What do you think some barriers to widespread adoptions would be?

    There seems to be little interest in it and if not many people use it, not many people will want to join. It's a vicious circle that can only be solved with good marketing. Also Twitter hasn't fucked up as big as reddit to give alternatives some space to grow. Edit: also most people don't want to run their own instance, they just want to join an already running one. There's little interest in the "federated" aspect.

    3 votes
    1. [3]
      Tenar
      Link Parent
      Interesting. I think that twitter has definitely fucked up, but against specific groups etc, which explains some of the subcultures. Like obviously more privacy-concerned people will want a...

      Interesting.

      Also Twitter hasn't fucked up as big as reddit to give alternatives some space to grow

      I think that twitter has definitely fucked up, but against specific groups etc, which explains some of the subcultures. Like obviously more privacy-concerned people will want a non-huge-corporation, but twitter fucked up a few times with LGBT people etc, and that's why there's quite some of them. (now if you can explain why there's so many french people, I'd be very interested)

      There's little interest in the "federated" aspect.

      I think initially, you're right, but I've seen a few people realise that it makes for a cozier, home-like feel.

      3 votes
      1. [2]
        666
        Link Parent
        Are you talking about French people in Mastodon or Twitter? I'm not a Twitter user so I can't explain much about it besides what I read on the news when it fucks up. I've seen quite a few French...

        Are you talking about French people in Mastodon or Twitter? I'm not a Twitter user so I can't explain much about it besides what I read on the news when it fucks up. I've seen quite a few French people on Mastodon, but not enough to call it "many".

        I agree with you that the federated aspect gives it a home-like feel, that's why I initially decided to give Mastodon a try.

        3 votes
        1. Tenar
          Link Parent
          I did mean on mastodon; I think there's a disproportionate amount of french speakers, in any case. Although of course the nature of bubbles and instances means if you don't know any you won't see any.

          I did mean on mastodon; I think there's a disproportionate amount of french speakers, in any case. Although of course the nature of bubbles and instances means if you don't know any you won't see any.

          2 votes
  5. [2]
    TrialAndFailure
    Link
    I think it would be awesome to host and run an isntance of Pleroma, but... I don't have any reason to. I don't have a community of people to lead.

    I think it would be awesome to host and run an isntance of Pleroma, but... I don't have any reason to. I don't have a community of people to lead.

    1 vote
    1. Tenar
      Link Parent
      There's quite some single-person instances, if you've already found some people you want to follow you can start hosting one just for you, and be secure in the knowledge there's no one else...

      There's quite some single-person instances, if you've already found some people you want to follow you can start hosting one just for you, and be secure in the knowledge there's no one else looking at your stuff

      1 vote