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To be fair, if you want content on Mastodon, you have to actively go out, find people, and follow them. After you get past that Step 1 of signing up, your home page is empty. There's no algorithm that automatically deposits content on the main page. You have to do a little bit of work to get anything. As you say, doing this work is not that god damn hard, but sadly for about 80% of people (maybe more), this is an impassible barrier.
On the bright side, once you do get past this barrier, none of the Mastodon content that you are getting is from that bottom eighty percent.
Also the first barrier of picking a server (how it works, the rules of every instance, checking who they federate with) and an app (the will to test multiple apps, learning that to login you have to input the server url manually since most aren't listed in the apps), to the people who read all the things it's tedious but doable, for the rest it's "Which one is the RIGHT choice?" and just stay at the door.
Also servers with poorly written rules don't help (example: mstdn.mx says porn and politics are forbidden, but in reality they allow them as long as you tag then properly).
These kind of posts don't help either, because it makes people feel like they are too stupid to join and rather stick to the known services, but omit all the actual process that someone has to go through.
to the people who read all the things it’s tedious but doable, for the rest it’s “Which one is the RIGHT choice?” and just stay at the door
Exactly. I'm a programmer and I do server administration on a small scale, but when I went to sign up for Mastodon my first reaction was, "How the hell am I supposed to know what instance I want my account to be on?" and I left. After a couple of weeks of absorbing random bits of information about how federation works I went back and completed the account creation process, but I really doubt that the average user who just wants to sign up for a service and use it is going to get past that step.
Apps need to automatically assign users randomly to one of the non-controversial general instances, and letting them change it if they want.
Lemmy and other fediverse clients need to do this too imo
I agree. The information should be easily available if they are interested, but end users shouldn't be required to know about the underlying mechanics of the fediverse simply in order to create an account and browse.
Great thing about lemmy and most of the apps being open source is we users can add those features in ourselves. I'm sure they will be later, the fediverse is only now starting to grow after all.
Hmm, maybe if an app's creator hosted their own instance just for accounts (i.e. with no posts of its own). That way, a new user can download an app, set up an account on that app's dedicated accounts server, and start browsing all the other instances from there.
I really don't understand what's so difficult about picking an instance you like. Find an instance- Like the content? Rules look okay to you? Boom, done.
the will to test multiple apps, learning that to login you have to input the server url manually since most aren’t listed in the apps
I don't get why everything needs to be an app. Mastodon's (and Lemmy's) web UI works perfectly well in a mobile browser.
I disagree, majority of my interaction with Lemmy and Mastodon is on a app on my phone. The mobile site is just okay. Let people choose their interface on how they want their content.
sure, but they listed testing multiple apps as a step people have to take.
I find it hilarious to watch people struggling with doing things on their phone... while sitting in front of their desktop computer. My phone is for taking calls, sending texts, and playing solitaire. Anything else can wait until I have a real screen available to read it on.
I mean... That's certainly a take. A "real" screen? What on earth lol
I just mean a screen big enough to display a decent amount of information. Trying to browse websites on a phone when you can only see a little bit of text at a time, or you have to keep swiping to see different products because they can only show one image at a time... I honestly don't know how anyone deals with the incredible waste of time. You figure a typical computer screen is at least 2-4 times larger than a cell phone screen, and many of us are running two or more monitors on their computer, and using a cell phone screen starts to feel like looking at the world through a ten foot length of pipe.
Lots of people don't have much use or time for a computer. You use the small screen when you can - during work breaks, commuting, doing errands. Shit I used to be a geek and I don't even have a proper computer.
At the laziest level an app stores my login info.
So does a mobile browser?
Maybe handling multiple accounts is easier with an app but that's beyond basic use
Not if your browser is set to incognito and/or you close the tab.
"If I take deliberate steps to inconvenience myself, I feel inconvenienced! Grrrr I'm so angry at this thing that I used to inconvenience myself!"
If someone explaining why they use an app instead of a website (in a literal comment thread about why people would prefer an app to the mobile site) triggers you in such a way that your only response is to make up an irate strawman… it might be time to log off, step outside and practice interacting with people like an functioning adult.
But they were talking about setting their browser to incognito and/or closing their tab, both things which an app just don't have. Nevermind that closing a tab does not log you out of your account, both things are things that he just could... not do and are not entirely normal to do when using a browser, so he did actually go out of the way to inconvenience himself in the case of the browser, it is not a strawman.
Also, I'm not triggered. Idk how you arrived at that point. You're the one calling my statement irate and telling me to go outside and stuff. I was just being calm and slightly making fun of the comment.
The question was, why use an app. Answer was, because some people keep their browser in permanent incognito. Nobody was annoyed or irritated, it's a completely valid answer why people prefer to do something that way for their reason. Just take the answer and move on.
I'm beginning to get irritated.
I'll move on.
I think the trickiest part is finding people on other instances and needing to copy/paste their links in your home instance's search bar before you can follow or reblog, especially if you're following a link someone's shared elsewhere. It's a small nuisance, but it adds up over time, and it's already more work than most social media consumers want to bother with. For Mastodon to truly take off, that needs to be automated or hidden, because most people are going to give up before they even get an explanation.
I’ve been at soo many jobs where they change something like timesheets to have an extra click when filling out and it’s always “it’s jUsT oNe cLiCk”, and then they’re inevitably sending out a company wide email three months later all mad that people aren’t filling out their timesheets.
@seansand @vis4valentine Yeap first thing they do is say test or hello... And nothing. Then they wonder why there is no one, or why only 1 tab with news especially non English speakers are dumbfounded. I just look at live feed if in mood> see someone asking for help or test> explain # and how important to use them to find people or be found qnd how only # works in search bar. I don't blame them because not every top boosted post has # but a little proding, use # local language and voilà progress
It's not that bad though, lemmy is worse but at least with relays misskey and Mastadon etc are easier to aggregate a starting list of content
There are some ways to see some trending stuff but yes, it is slightly hidden away and still very different from the algorithmic recommendations we've become accustomed to.