[peterlk]

Bluesky, threads, mastodon, and everything else built on activitypub AT, etc. are still there. You can leave X behind; the only thing stopping you is the other people who could also leave X but are still there because you’re there. There are real problems with the fediverse, but they are solvable and the biggest problem is the social connections/stickiness. So start with that!

[TFNA]

I’d argue that microblogging inherently trends towards social pathologies, since there is little room for nuance in such short-form text. Not to mention that those other platforms already have their own established cultures and shibboleths, where not everyone coming from a competing network will feel comfortable. If someone manages to shake off an X addiction, they might be better off giving up microblogging entirely.

[kccqzy]

Microblogging in the fediverse somehow does not trend towards social pathologies. I just don’t ever feel the need to shorten my posts because the word limit is generally generous enough for significant nuance. It’s like HN: comments tend to be short just because of the medium, but longer comments with significant nuance are possible.

[TFNA]

> Microblogging in the fediverse somehow does not trend towards social pathologies.

The fediverse, too, trends towards social pathologies; something or some things is causing craziness on all the mentioned platforms, even if the exact manifestations vary. For example, well into 2023, almost daily among the top-ranking posts on Mastodon was one advocating for harsh anti-Covid measures: e.g. that live music and theatre should never have been permitted again, insisting on masking in public at all times, etc. This was after countries lauded for their responsible Covid response had already returned to normality. The fact that posts like these could get such a welcome reception, sending them to the top, says something about how highly online and out of touch a significant portion of fediverse users are.

[krapp]

Mastodon isn't a single web platform like Reddit. The phrase "among the top-ranking posts on Mastodon" is meaningless. There is no "the top" of Mastodon.

[dlcarrier]

It's a federated communication protocol, like email and SMS. There's very much a culture for each, regardless of whether or not it's hosted on a single server. Most users don't even know whether or not a communication system is federated, they just know they can use it to send messages and that there are social protocols around using it.

[TFNA]

I’m obviously talking about the main Mastodon instance and its Trending view [0]. The main instance has cultural prestige for the other instances that form the fediverse as people here normally define it and is regarded as exemplifying its values. But we’ve seen you disingenuously try to downplay issues here with the fediverse before.

[0] https://mastodon.social/explore

[krapp]

You know there are tens of thousands of instances yet you chose to use language that implied that you were speaking about "Mastodon" as a whole, and then you chose to make judgements about fediverse users as a whole, based on a description of a single post on a single instance some unknown number of years ago. That is at best disingenuous, and at worse intentionally deceptive.

>But we’ve seen you disingenuously try to downplay issues here with the fediverse before.

Who is "we?" Jumping immediately into the defensive and accusatory personal attack? I don't know what caused you to harbor this sort of grudge against the fediverse and people who use it but get over it. Just let people have their space, and find your own.

[kccqzy]

> almost daily among the top-ranking posts

Why would you even care about the top-ranking posts when it doesn’t even have an algorithmic timeline? It’s not like an algorithm will push such top-ranking posts onto your timeline. Your timeline remains under your control, with sophisticated muting and blocking capabilities.

[TFNA]

Mastodon developers have repeatedly stated that the fediverse is not just a protocol but a distinct culture and values, and federating with their servers means accepting that culture and values. So, even if one’s timeline doesn’t show those posts, the posts are still normative for the overall culture.

[anigbrowl]

This isn't a good argument. I did move most of my social activity off X on to other platforms, but despite months of effort I had little luck persuading other people to do the same.

It's not because they love Musk, the network effects are just too strong. Media companies mostly set up Bluesky accounts, for example, but they get a fraction of the traffic there. Many elected officials just stayed on X, or if they set up accounts on other platforms they underused or abandoned those which did not get a lot of traffic. World leaders are all still on X. I think it's foolish to blame individual users for 'not leaving hard enough' when all but a very few of them have too little influence to overcome the 'gravity' of the market leader.

[nitwit005]

If you're actually creating content or running a business of some sort, it's hard to drop a platform, but for your average user it's fairly easy.

It's hard to tell how many people have left, but it's clearly significant.

[spiderfarmer]

Nobody I know personally uses X. If you want real network effects, try Whatsapp. X can be ignored without missing anything.

[anigbrowl]

I just told you why the network effects are so strong and you responded with anecdata about your personal social circle. You're ignoring the fact that X remains the platform where countries and many other official entities post official statements of policy first, and much other news breaks there first.

[watwut]

I left X after it became a wastland. Most of what was in my feed were accounts I did not followed and really really did not wanted to follow.

[chadgpt3]

People tend to think there's a demand for a Twitter-like platform, so if they make a new Twitter-like platform they can compete with it.

There isn't. There's demand for Twitter, specifically. Just like you wouldn't "switch" from HN to a hypothetical clone site, people don't switch from Twitter to Blue Sky. Blue Sky and Fediverse are separate platforms with separate identities and cultures and their surface resemblance to Twitter doesn't really mean anything. Twitter could be just as well "replaced" by anything else from Usenet to SMF to a literal megaphone.

[kgwxd]

I've tried the fediverse but beef and coconut aren't there, so there's just no point.

[Imustaskforhelp]

Yea, I really want bluesky,mastodon to succeed in the sense of actually having people who are talking about things that I am interested in and more connections in general.

I would also wish to point out lemmy is an interesting project too.

I don't really use twitter anyway but I was frequent on bluesky but didn't really get any responses whatsoever sometimes so I ended up not using it either.

Hackernews and some other forums are honestly just about it for me at a certain point but I do wish to relook at bluesky and mastodon

[umpalumpaaa]

My main reason for not switching to mastodon:

Direct messages are a UX and privacy nightmare IMHO.

[chadgpt3]

Are they more private on X?

[mnky9800n]

LinkedIn is good. It’s not addictive. All your friends have one already. You can post whatever you want but nobody does because they think it’s work related. If you do post whatever you want you will begin to filter who is real and who is ai slop. You can’t spend more than like ten minutes a day looking at it because most of it is too boring to care. Friend me on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmaiken

[operatingthetan]

>LinkedIn is good.

No, it's really not. It's full of the most vapid posts imaginable increasingly written by AI.

[jerlam]

I think that's the joke. Linkedin content is so terrible you'll never get addicted to it.

[operatingthetan]

Them posting their own profile made me think it was serious, but I'm coming around to your point.

[poulpy123]

I would say it's the most obvious part of the joke

[operatingthetan]

Poe's law etc.

[Marsymars]

Linkedin won't let me log in to my 15-year-old account without sharing government ID to Persona.