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by root_axis 95 days ago
> Anything short of that and we lose to big tech and govs in the long run.

This is not a software issue, it doesn't matter how good the tech is, the masses will always aggregate to big tech networks because decentralized networks will never have billion dollar marketing budgets.
2 comments
txrx0000 95 days ago
I don't think that's true. If there really was a good enough open-source Discord alternative, many would already switched. A big part of the problem is there isn't one. Matrix, Stoat, Telegram, etc are all missing something. That's why new ones are being built.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46949564

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pibaker 95 days ago
Non big tech solutions don't need billion dollar's worth of marketing. In fact I don't recall ever seeing an ad for tiktok and yet it is humongous.

Non big tech solutions need solid UI and UX that does not assume your average user can balance a binary tree, know what is a private key and how to safely back it up (other comments brought up this exact issue) or even knows what a "static website" means. Non big tech solutions need to give non technical users (read: the overwhelming majority of humanity) a good onboarding experience that does not involve learning ten new jargons and acronyms. Non big tech solutions need to know they have a limited strangeness budget [1] and should only spend it on places it matters. Non big tech solutions need to start actually cater to the unwashed masses before being befuddled by them choosing to stay on mark zuckerberg's platforms instead.

[1] https://steveklabnik.com/writing/the-language-strangeness-bu...

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root_axis 95 days ago
> In fact I don't recall ever seeing an ad for tiktok and yet it is humongous

Then maybe you're not the target audience, or you're just not noticing the ads, because TikTok is particularly notable for their aggressive marketing efforts during their growth phase.

> Non big tech solutions need solid UI and UX that does not assume your average user can balance a binary tree

Non big tech platforms don't need anything. They can never compete with billion dollar budgets and they shouldn't set that as a goal. Everyone enjoys a well designed UX, but billion dollar marketing budgets will always eclipse the alternatives.

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h4kor 95 days ago
> In fact I don't recall ever seeing an ad for tiktok and yet it is humongous.

For the first years of its existence I only new tiktok because they were advertising everywhere.

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