Tech so loves to repeat the same loops, and IMO I think it’s on us the fediverse for really failing to communicate the value of instances as well as making them easy.
(Number of people that have told me they think mastadon sounds like a good idea, but they don’t know how to pick the right instance). I try and smack them and say "it’s just like e-mail, you and your friends don’t have to choose gmail, your friend can be on yahoo, and you still talk to eachother. Whcih makes sense when explained, but it seems like few hear that kind of comparison.
So… we have a new platform, to replace twitter… yay!.. should we take counts on how long before either enshittification begins, flooding of ads or changes to be unusable), or it sells out to another already established billionare that abuses the power of media control etc…
Also no quote tweets. And many people are used to algorithms now. I love Mastodon but I have to say Bluesky is more polished. Mastodon can be weird about threads and replies to posts. Sometimes I see a reply before I see the post, especially in the “lists” view.
Chronological timeline is great but it has its own issues too. For example people living in different time zones will have their posts buried when everyone is asleep. The algorithm, for better or worse, shuffles things around which can work for you or against you. If you browse for 5 mins here and there, algorithm helps you see the most relevant posts in that widow. Having both chronological and algorthimic feeds would be so helpful to me in Mastodon. I know there a front end that does a “catch up” feature, but it’s a bit hacky
or it sells out to another already established billionare that abuses the power of media control etc…
This cannot be overstated. That’s exactly how Elon ended up with Twitter, and nobody should think for a second that there aren’t richer, more tactful billionaires who could keep people credulously swimming in the propaganda in order to make their power plays.
I give it four years before their first enshittifying changes are announced.
It’s not even that complicated: at some point the non-billionaire investors are going to want a return on their investment, and they’re going to push BlueSky, Inc. public and that’s the end of that.
An IPO is every bit as bad for independence as a nutjob buying your company, because you’re really just selling your company to every nutjob who puts up $10.
Tech so loves to repeat the same loops, and IMO I think it’s on us the fediverse for really failing to communicate the value of instances as well as making them easy.
(Number of people that have told me they think mastadon sounds like a good idea, but they don’t know how to pick the right instance). I try and smack them and say "it’s just like e-mail, you and your friends don’t have to choose gmail, your friend can be on yahoo, and you still talk to eachother. Whcih makes sense when explained, but it seems like few hear that kind of comparison.
So… we have a new platform, to replace twitter… yay!.. should we take counts on how long before either enshittification begins, flooding of ads or changes to be unusable), or it sells out to another already established billionare that abuses the power of media control etc…
A bunch of people came over to Mastodon when Elon bought Twitter, but they left because it was missing features. The big ones I saw were
Also no quote tweets. And many people are used to algorithms now. I love Mastodon but I have to say Bluesky is more polished. Mastodon can be weird about threads and replies to posts. Sometimes I see a reply before I see the post, especially in the “lists” view. Chronological timeline is great but it has its own issues too. For example people living in different time zones will have their posts buried when everyone is asleep. The algorithm, for better or worse, shuffles things around which can work for you or against you. If you browse for 5 mins here and there, algorithm helps you see the most relevant posts in that widow. Having both chronological and algorthimic feeds would be so helpful to me in Mastodon. I know there a front end that does a “catch up” feature, but it’s a bit hacky
A couple of those items have at least been addressed to varying degrees now.
There’s definitely a screen to show you “who to follow” now, and an Explore tab to show popular posts of the day.
Not saying that solves all the problems, but at least they have made some strides in the last couple of years.
This cannot be overstated. That’s exactly how Elon ended up with Twitter, and nobody should think for a second that there aren’t richer, more tactful billionaires who could keep people credulously swimming in the propaganda in order to make their power plays.
I give it four years before their first enshittifying changes are announced.
It’s not even that complicated: at some point the non-billionaire investors are going to want a return on their investment, and they’re going to push BlueSky, Inc. public and that’s the end of that.
An IPO is every bit as bad for independence as a nutjob buying your company, because you’re really just selling your company to every nutjob who puts up $10.