The mastodon and lemmy content I’m seeing feels like 90% of it comes from people who are:
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~30 years old or older
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tech enthusiasts/workers
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linux users
There’s nothing wrong with that particular demographic or anything, but it doesn’t feel like a win to me if the entire fediverse is just one big monoculture.
I wonder what it is that is keeping more diverse users away? Is picking a server/federation too complicated? Or is it that they don’t see any content that they like?
Thoughts?
Is picking a server/federation too complicated?
Apparently anything beyond filling out a registration form is too complicated for a lot of people. Heck, even that seems to be too much for some people, hence the popularity of login with Facebook or Google features. Personally I’m happy to be away from people who can’t figure out simple concepts. But, I’m the exact person you described in your post, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’d say it’s not picking a server which is complicated. I think people don’t really get the concept of federalized social networks. Honestly, I myself had some minor issues understanding how this works and I was studying software engineering in university. Hopefully this concept lifts off hard in the following years, because I think it’s a future of the internet.
I feel like it’s more convenience than simplicity that’s the issue. Though, I’d argue that the whole federation thing is way more complicated than what most people would likely tolerate. I tried to explain it to my husband, and it was even hard to explain succinctly. Like, I’m sure someone has come up with a way to say it, but it’s not as straightforward as you make it sound. At least, I don’t think it is.
I always use the email analogy - you and a friend can be signed up with different providers but still communicate with each other. It’s helped me explain the concept to a few people.
I like Mario Galaxy as an analogy. Facebook, Reddit, etc. aree all like big planets. The difference with the fediverse is that we can make all the small planets we want, and each of those planets has its own communities, and it’s easy to hop around to different places.
But I know not everyone plays Mario Galaxy, so maybe it’s like The Little Prince?
I really don’t think it’s complicated, people just don’t have a clear analogy to work with because it’s something new.
