Why are people preferring Blue Sky over Mastodon?
Why are people preferring Blue Sky over Mastodon?
Mastodon has been around since 2016 and has 804k MAU.
The platform has 57 third party apps.
The platform is decentralized and has community ran servers.
This article gives a good view from an average user's perspective.
The platform is decentralized and has community ran servers.
For most people that's a complication, not a bonus.
Because centralized services are easier to use.
This exactly. I didn't join Lemmy for a long time, because I would search for "Lemmy", get confused when I see a page asking me to "pick an instance" instead of seeing a front page, and then leave because I thought that they were all independent from each other.
It wasn't until reddit killed my favorite app that I finally decided to put in the effort to figure it out.
The people leaving Twitter right now want Twitter minus Elon. That's Bluesky. They've heard a couple of their Twitter follows mention it and they've gone to their app store where they find an app called Bluesky, install it and easily join and start using it. Once they do they are finding it pretty straightforward to find people they used to follow on Twitter.
That's all people want.
It's the path of least resistance to achieve Musklessness. The second two of the positives you listed are actually negatives to the average Joe. Choice paralysis, overwhelming number of apps and servers, these are things that put people off even trying, especially if there are easier-to-use alternatives that are familiar and instant.
Mastodon is great, but it's not quite there yet in terms of convenience. Too much copying and pasting and clicking through to different instances in order to read old posts etc. It needs to be more cohesive in a way that doesn't require constantly leaving your timeline or going into the settings.
It's also the case that the Twitter diaspora who are famous tend to choose BlueSky, and that brings a lot of people along with them.
And it's also the case that Mastodon doesn't have much of a marketing campaign outside of word-of-mouth, whereas BlueSky does.
Average users do not even remotely care about federated software and/or decentralisation. That is techno-babble to them and their eyes will glaze over if you try to market that to them.
That being said: Mastodon does a shit job at explaining how it works, how to use it, and what its advantages are. The Joinmastodon landing page just assumes you already know how a fair bit about instances work and what federated software is and does a very poor job explaining it. And even then, most users won't care either way. They just want to click a Join button and be done.
That's exactly what drove me into seeking out Lemmy instead. I hopped on Mastodon and it made me feel like I was being coralled into following some niche hobby forum exclusively, and I wasn't into that. It didn't explain that the instance itself was largely irrelevant and that the rest of the platform would open up to me after choosing one.
Lemmy still had a learning curve, but having experience with reddit I was able to pick it up easily enough.
You have to understand we are not normal users. Anyone even remotely interested in federated software are not normal users.
Bluesky may not have 57 third party apps and that’s why people are flocking to it. It’s easy. The signup process through the app involved no selecting of servers, no understanding of what it actually is under the hood, and users are greeted by a default algorithm that feels very much like old Twitter before Musk.
Basically, regular users do not care about the fediverse and just want a competent and polished app and site experience.
It's just easier. I have both but I almost never use Mastodon anymore. Federation there doesn't seem to work right. I didn't know what an instance was so I joined mastodon.social. Finding and following people in the app doesn't always seem to work right if they're on another instance. Doing it in a browser is even more painful.
The people I liked to follow and interact with on X, many tried Mastodon and abandoned it, and many more are now on Bluesky. This creates momentum to "follow the crowd" as it were.
Additionally, you only have one chance to make a first impression. A lot of us tried Mastodon earlier and it wasn't ready. Bluesky started as invite-only, which drummed up interest before catching this zeitgeist of people leaving X.
Lastly, and maybe it's just me, but the font sizing on the official Mastodon app on Android is generally too small and can't be changed. Bluesky allows me to change it and make it more comfortable to use.
To paraphrase my opinion from back then:
- Easier onboarding, and a familiar, easier UX
- customizable feeds you can subscribe to + starterpacks instantly give you full timelines and people to follow (and followers, if you're in many starter packs)
- better discoverability, and therefore higher engagement
- stacking moderation and excellent security features (e.g. detachable quote boosts, "the nuclear block")
- many users who tried Mastodon first had bad experiences with "HOA"-like behavior and over-enthusiastic mods
I'm dabbling in Bluesky atm. Having run my own Masto server for over a year at this point. Here's things I've found that Bluesky does just plain better - mostly cause it's not beholden to the whims of the ActivityPub protocol.
- Shows me all replies to any post I happen to come across.
- Lets me see all posts about things I happen to search/look for, including hashtags.
- I don't have to worry about being unable to see content I haven't personally blocked (not so much of an issue on a small/single server like mine though).
- I can repost things (not actually too bothered with this one but many people want it).
- I can set per post reply permissions to a very granular level (no-one, mentioned, followers, specific followers)
- It handles video in a way that works i.e. I can post them, and people can watch them with minimal buffering/waiting.
- Gives me access to community built collections/algorithms that expose the content I want to see.
- It defaults to providing an additional feed driven by what the people I'm following are liking/interacting with.
- Finally, a big one for new users, it provided a default feed of content when I first logged in so that I had something to look at.
The first two are huge on a small/single user server. By default we get nothing, following a single account will get us the content of just that account and the replies that they happen to reply to. A post may get 200 replies, but unless I go looking on the original server I will see a fraction of that. Technical solutions exist to help with this but the Fediverse's penchant for privacy and control (quite rightly) limits the effectiveness (Fedifetcher, GetMoarFedi).
3 is something most people won't think about. But if they become aware they're not seeing something they thought they'd be able to they then have to deep dive into who's defederating who and why.
Most all the other points just make the whole thing a much more seamless experience for your average user. Bootstrapping a list of people to follow on a small server is hard (I'd absolutely recommend creating a Fediverse account somewhere large first to build up some sort of list before migrating)
Because it pretends to be different to the centralised corporate social media platforms, whilst giving the cohesive experience of a centralised platform
Best answer yet IMO. The cohesive experience is essential to the branding, and low threshold for entry.
You want the bullshit "Mastodon is too complicated and hard to use!" answer or the real answer?
BlueSky has rich people behind it.
They're the same answer.
You need money to market applications to users. Bluesky is sold the same way that Twitter is, your favorite moron celebrity might hit like or retweet on your stuff.
They aren't really the same answer.
People suggest that Mastodon is too complicated for the average knuckle-dragging moron to use (and it might be, but frankly I consider that a pro, not a con) because it has "servers", as if the entire point of the internet wasn't to have a global network of communication across a multitude of clients and servers. Do these same people think the concept of websites and email are also too complex for the regular person? Maybe... But again, if the regular person is that fucking dumb do we really want have them in our community at all?
What's more, BlueSky is supposedly federated (or "will be"(tm)), and as such it'll have to deal with all of the same challenges around federation that Mastodon deals with, and people are kidding themselves if they think otherwise.
Otherwise I agree with your last sentence. Social media is about money and fame, first and foremost. The average person will always go where the most money and fame are concentrated.
Mastodon is a pain in the ass to get signed up for anyone under room temperature IQ, so, like, most of Twitter's users, even the ones smart enough to leave.
It's shiny, they advertise, put in a money to spread the word. And the onboarding process probably is way easier?! Also back when Mastodon was in the media, it wasn't yet the right time. Now, especially with Musk, it is. And the attention is on Bluesky since that is newer and what's hyped right now.
@hendrik do they advertise? Honest question :blobBone_dance:
I wouldn't know, I have a lot of adblockers etc. But it gets to me via word of mouth. And it's been in the media a lot this year. Due to their business decisions, new approach, novelty... That's something they did very well. They also took care building some hype and anticipation with their invite-only period. Mastodon has also been in the news. But that was yesterday's news and I suppose everyone forgets yesterday's news.
57 different 3rd party apps is probably a good start. Mastodon has to be easy to on-board and it isn’t for someone with no technical understanding what domains, servers or instances are. To that group Bluesky makes sense. You are signing up for Bluesky. Try to onboard that group to mastodon and they don’t understand if they are on mastodon.social or mastodon.world or any other instance.
Why would they be on one of those fringe services with less users than bluesky? That’s what a non expert understands
Sign up process is easier. No existential decisions to be made to get started.
Every platform and app I've seen does a piss poor job of explaining what federation is and how to sign up. "Wtf is mastodon.social?, Why is this one in German?, Why can't I login after signing up?" New users just get confused and give up.
What is with all these wall of text answers guys?
Twitter people like Twitter and Twitter man for making it. Twitter now not Twitter is now X and no more Twitter man. Twitter people not like TeslaSpace man. Twitter man make BlueSky.
No elephant needed to make this story work. Remember: twitter brain cannot handle too many characters.
It has an algorithm that puts content in front of you, unlike Mastodon where it only puts what you ask for in your feed. I'm convinced that if Mastodon populated people with low following count's feed with random posts it wouldn't have bled as many users as it did.
it's been better marketed, and people struggle with the concept of federation and picking a server. and I guess the invite-only, artificial exclusivity strat has actually paid off for them initially, unlike for Google+.
also, a matter of culture. I've seen many newcomers complain about how some long time users act as HOA, reminding everyone to act according to the long-standing rules. many people of colour have experience many forms of racist behaviour, too, which has driven some communities away.
oh, and the federation/defederation business sometimes gets way too messy, which [cynic mode on] makes it difficult for people who want their Personal Brand™ to gain as many followers as possible over the entire network.
people struggle with the concept of federation and picking a server
This is a HUGE reason. I didn't know when I first signed up for Lemmy that I was on what is essentially a tankie instance. I didn't know when I signed up for Pixelfed that I wasn't going to be able to see shit because the first server I signed up for wasn't really federated with anyone and I've mostly given up on it. I still can't see a bunch of stuff on Mastodon without switching through several accounts with no rhyme or reason.
I've said before that I obviously like it here because I'm using the services, but it's not easy. Most people don't know about the fediverse, and most of those that do want to be passive about maintaining their social media. Most of the fediverse is built for nerds.
Language filter in bluesky is much better than Mastodon as well
Mastodon relies on users setting the language their post is in manually, so if someone posts in two languages and forgets to switch between them, they don't get filtered out. I know there are some other pieces of software that switch it automatically, I'm fairly sure Calckey automatically recognized the language you were writing in.
Unpopular opinion here, but: as opposed to other twitter clones like Hive Social and such, that also look sleek and are simple, but didn't go anywhere, Bluesky did manage to attract a sizeable crowd of creative and talented open source indie devs that are passionate about it and build cool stuff on atproto. Whether it's custom feeds or star sign labelers or alternative clients that add more features or entirely new appviews like the oekaki board PinkSea, you get the feeling it is a pretty vibrant ecosystem and this has sustained it all these months.
While this is true for the Fediverse as well, I think it's fair to say that there have been rumblings here about lack of direction and proper stewardship of the Fediverse and if you want this place to succeed you can't just sweep it under the rug, shrug your shoulders and say "well, people who pick Bluesky over Mastodon are just stupid".
People want to leave X, but they still want the same old, rather than new stuff to make things better as a whole. They don't want to have to do this "pick a server" thing, they want to have an algorithm spoonfeed them popular content, and it would be best for them to have to put in zero extra effort. In Masto you have to put in the hashtags to get found, and search for and follow people and hashtags to find stuff you want, and essentially DIY-ing your feed seems to be too much work for people.
@Sunshine I've shared my thoughts a couple times in similar threads 1 and 2, but to summarize:
One reason is because I think other protocols have some advantages. AT is better end user ease of use wise, and plans to let you control your account via a keypair (already possible with your own PDS). Nostr is more heavily decentralized and considerably more flexible than the other two. That can siphon off existing users or have new users drawn to those spaces. Not to say that ActivityPub doesn't also have its own advantages too, but everybody has different preferences and there's now more choice.
There's also some Activity Pub specific toxicity issues. Too aggressive defederation leads to a point where you can't communicate with most people, and there's some opinions in the space that have turned some people away.
But of course things go up and down, and are never a strait line. I'm guessing all three big protocols will continue to grow, and as they get more interconnected everybody wins, and even if Activity Pub has hit a slump the ecosystem of people you can talk to using it has grown 10x+.
Outside if summarizing my previous takes, there have been some new(ish) things I've seen that don't quite sit right. Things from the top down like the social web director refusing to go to conferences that people from other protocols will be present and encouraging people to not even talk about other protocols. Or - anicdotally - seeing random users happy that the influxes are going to others because they don't want 'normies' on Activity Pub or declaring anybody still using Twitter/X a Nazi sympathizer if not an outright Nazi. If the Activity Pub scene is getting really protectionist it could start also having a negative effect.
Again, overall I expect it to continue trending upwards, and there's a plethora of factors that are unrelated to anything negative regarding Activity Pub's community, but the above (and previous two posts) are the stuff I figured worth bringing up and potentially factors in why ActivityPub has seen weaker adoption compared to the other two big ones more recently.
People like simple and easy to use.
Bluesky got that, fediverse in general don't have that.
Bluesky is federated
Yeah that's why I said fediverse in general.
It's because of the connotation with an overrated metal band of the same name.
/s for the overly serious
I have a friend who has had a mastodon instance since it was gnu social, and there are two reasons I stopped using it.
First, the UI sucks. He installed 3 or 4 different skins and they were all barely usable. I don't want or need something flashy, xfce is my favorite windows manager, but it needs to at least work and not be confusing.
Second, the people suck. It went from being okay to by the time I left I don't think I was seeing any exchanges that didn't have antisemitism or racism.
Because no one made a droolproof guide to migrating to Mastodon and Bluesky put money into it.
For people who can't remember their password, it's preferable.
I can only assume BlueSky feels more familiar.
Mastodon requires a bit of effort, lacking an algorithm to drive content toward users, so you have to do a bit more yourself.
Americans love to pretend they are cowboys. In reality they love centralised power and bureaucracy. They are deeply afraid of each other so they flock to platforms that pretend to be for freedom, but is actually highly regulated by centralised power. That’s why they love tech-oligarchs that pretend to be self made geniuses. It allows them to fantasise about freedom to succeed and submit to power at the same time.
People hated him because he spoke the truth.
Can you guys help explain it to someone completely inexperienced?
I had Twitter but only used it for following music venues to see upcoming events and bars for happy hour updates. I have a Mastodon account but only played with it for a few minutes because i didn't really get it. I don't understand following a person. What can one person have to say that i would care enough about to download an app. What am i missing?
It isn't one person that people go onto a micro blogging service for, but a variety of people.
Imagine if there were two twitters, and you only sign up for one but you can read and comment on posts for both.
Now imagine if anybody can install their own Twitter, and anybody else can sign up on either one, and they can all talk to each other like that.
It wasn't why Mastodon. It was why Twitter or twitter-like apps.
Simplicity.
I think it’s much more difficult to find people to follow. I personally struggle a lot, and will likely either gave up the micro-blogging system or try another platform. It was great on Twitter before Musk bought it, but since I left, I have yet to find an alternative.
Star power. High production values. Less complex (appears to be more centralized, immediately easy to conceptualize as "twitter but not right wing")
I wrote an article on this last night.
Since bluesky is mit licensed, what's to stop a fork if something goes wrong?
what's to stop a activitypub and atproto compatibility?
Mastodon has been around since 2016 and has 804k MAU.
The platform has 57 third party apps.
The platform is decentralized and has community ran servers.
Are you asking about "people" or "nerds"? People prefer Bluesky due to its simplicity and momentum. There are more popular outlets using it. If you're assuming that People would prefer the complexity of the Fediverse and instances, if you think People know what a decentralized community run server is, you're a "nerd" (for lack of a better term, I'm sorry).
The battle has always been the same: Windows v. Apple, Android v. iOS, SMS Twitter v. App Twitter. Some people prefer flexibility and investing time in making things work the way they want (Nerds). Some people want an out of the box product that's well designed and efficient (People).
Fifty Seven Third Party Apps is not a selling point - that's called anxiety inducing fragmentation. Some people want to walk down the grocery store aisle and choose between 57 options for toilet paper and some people just want "good", "better", "best". The reality is that most people just want to be told what to do. They have too much shit going on in their lives to care about "decentralization".
Mastodon will never challenge well financed closed or semi-open platforms. As it's designed, it's apparent it never intended to. It will continue to grow at a slow rate as an alternative. Hopefully, the fediverse is realized and you can choose to host your own server and gain access to other social platforms.
The reality is that this stuff costs money. In the near future, you'll have the same three choices with social media as we do with other services: ad-subsidized, subscription, self-hosted. Anything with ads is going to have an algorithm. Anything with a subscription is going to have a board of directors. Selfhosting comes with a steep learning curve.