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by iamnothere 2601 days ago
As a modestly funded project, Mastodon is never going to achieve "hockey stick" growth, and it would probably be overwhelmed if this happened. It's better for them to pursue a strategy of gradual, steady growth. Mastodon is continuing to grow steadily, and it does so in the face of established players who can outspend and outrun them. 2 million users is pretty damn good for an open source project that doesn't have a marketing budget to speak of.

In addition, it's time to drop the notion that every platform has to serve every type of user. As demonstrated by the problems facing Twitter, it is probably better to have many different platforms serving different audiences. Mass media inevitably reaches for the lowest common denominator.
1 comments
jamesrcole 2601 days ago
The terminology is still going to seriously hinder uptake. All of what you said can be true and better terminology would still be better for them.
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iamnothere 2601 days ago
I guess I'm a cynic, but:

> Breaking news. In a series of explosive toots...

> The foreign minister was forced to resign after a number of offensive toots...

> Everyone's talking about what J K Rowling tooted today...

If the age of tweet-reporting ends because of "toots" then I am all for it. As for your other examples, you have a decent point.

> OMG, your toots are so funny!...

> I can't believe you tooted that!...

I can see how this might feel weird for some people, at least in the English-speaking world. But people thought "tweeting" was ridiculous, and they made fun of it relentlessly. In the end it doesn't matter all that much.

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jamesrcole 2601 days ago
> But people thought "tweeting" was ridiculous, and they made fun of it relentlessly.

I don't think the terms "tweeting" and "tooting" are in the same ballpark in terms of how ridiculous they sound to people.

> In the end it doesn't matter all that much.

But naming does matter, which is why companies spend huge sums on it each year.

(Btw I removed those examples from my earlier comment as I felt they weren't relevant to the topic we were originally discussing, which was the name Madstodon)

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prophesi 2601 days ago
Honestly, the name doesn't matter once the network effect kicks in.
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jamesrcole 2600 days ago
But the naming (especially "toot", less so "Mastodon") will likely stop the network effect kicking in IMO. I think it's that bad.
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gsich 2601 days ago
Just your opinion.
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