[stonogo]

In the early days of social media, most people got an account on the nearest BBS. When it went mainstream in the 1990s, most people automatically got a Facebook account and a lot of older people still rely on that for social media. Then along came independent free social media services such as Twitter/Discord/TikTok...

It's exactly comparable, just a few years down the timeline from email.

[skissane]

> In the early days of social media, most people got an account on the nearest BBS.

The majority of people never used “the nearest BBS”, only a relatively small percentage of the population ever did. Even in their heyday, they were mainly popular with computer enthusiasts, who have always been a minority of the population. Many computer enthusiasts find technical complexity intriguing, the average person finds it off-putting

> When it went mainstream in the 1990s, most people automatically got a Facebook account and a lot of older people still rely on that for social media.

Who “automatically” got a Facebook account? The vast majority of users had to go to Facebook.com and sign up. People got an email given to them by their work/school/ISP, I’ve never heard of someone being given a Facebook account by any of those (Workplace doesn’t really count.) And unlike Mastodon, Facebook never asked its users to “choose an instance”

> Then along came independent free social media services such as Twitter/Discord/TikTok...

All of which are big commercial services, and none make you “choose an instance” in the way that Mastodon does when you sign up for them

> It's exactly comparable, just a few years down the timeline from email.

It’s completely different; it’s only “exactly comparable” if you ignore many key details

[stonogo]

You say that only a relatively small percentage of the population ever used BBSes, and that's true, but what is also true is that only a relatively small percentage of the population ever used a social microblogging service, whether it was Twitter or not.

You're really leaning in to 'choose an instance', which has only really been a problem for tech experts. Everyone I know on Mastodon just clicked one of the listed instances on joinmastodon.org and never thought about it again.

And no, most people didn't have to go anywhere to sign up for Facebook. For an extremely long time, there was a LinkedIn-like email invitation system, and when you made your account it suggested "people you may know" and generally guessed right. Literally all you needed to do to get a Facebook account was make up a password. I'm not familiar with whatever the current growth hacks are.

Anyway, it's easy to make comparisons by ignoring many key details. You did it too, you just described those key details as "obscure exceptions" or saying they don't "really count." I'm not sure what anyone is supposed to get from your text except that you're really stumped about decentralization.

To this day people have to "choose an instance" to sign up for email, because people use email before they get jobs and they can't hang onto primary-school accounts after they leave school. Sure, most people sign up for GMail or Apple mail, because their phones tell them to. That's still choosing an instance, and Microsoft, Yahoo, Fastmail, and other providers continue to exist and turn profits, even though their users had to battle the indominitable hellscape of having to choose an instance.

[t-writescode]

There is a meaningful difference. Right now, we have Twitter. This is more like using a bulletin board now that Reddit exists. Sure some people do; but it’s far more niche than just having a Reddit account.

The friction that prospective Mastadon users have experience is the knowledge that an easier option exists.