So, not trying to be a jerk (well, maybe a little), but here is the conversation tech journalists and ex-X/Twitter folks should be having with the #Bluesky CEO.

Mastodon Migration

Interesting to know. But even if it were a perfect nirvana, just can't get past the threshold issue of defensibility from corporate capture.

Except for that Mrs Lincoln, let's discuss the play. Ummm, no.

Josh :everything_bagel:

@mastodonmigration I mean, who cares? If you don’t want to join Bluesky, don’t. I also don’t intend to. But clearly there are a lot of people who just want a nice, easy, well designed way to do what they were doing before on Twitter, and Mastodon simply isn’t that. Most people don’t give a shit about the ideology behind the technology they use, as long as it does what they want it to.

If it ends up turning to shit like X did in the future, so what? People will just move onto the next thing, like they did when Twitter became popular outside the tech community. I’m on my fourth Mastodon instance after the first one shut down, and the second decided to defederate entirely, and become a standalone community. I’ll stay on Mastodon as long as it’s more worthwhile than the next option, according to my own specific needs and likes, then I’ll move on.

There are still people out there using IRC and Usenet, which are basically just the precursors to Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky anyway.

Mastodon Migration

@josh0

The actual 'so what' is that most people now get their news and information from social media. When a corporation controls what news and information people get, they effectively have control over disinformation, and can get people to believe stupid things, like what has gotten us into this political mess. So, yes it is important.

Josh :everything_bagel:

@mastodonmigration there’s a whole lot of people believing stupid things on Mastodon, and far less ability to control disinformation here. We have generally unpaid, volunteer moderators, spread out across a multitude of instances, each with their own rules, ideals, and biases. It’s incredibly inefficient, often counterproductive, most likely unsustainable, and quite probably wholly unable to withstand any actually malicious attempts at misinformation. It’s already created an environment that is decidedly unfriendly to various minority groups.

There are many ways in which a decentralized, non-commercial model is better than a centralized, for-profit one, but controlling misinformation is absolutely not one of them.

Mastodon Migration

@josh0

Sorry, just because you say so doesn't make it so. Mastodon (or more properly the Fediverse) has many problems, like any broadly based and kind of disorganized ecosystem does, but deliberate directed control of misinformation by a single overarching controlling entity is not one of them. And this is the essential thing. It is, for all its faults, a defensible space.

Josh :everything_bagel:

@mastodonmigration right back at you. What makes Mastodon more resistant to misinformation than any other group of people?

Mastodon Migration

@josh0

Didn't ask you for a reply. Beginning to regard this as sealioning, and done with the conversation. Please let's move on.

Lee 🌏

@mastodonmigration
Yeh, I totally get why it's harder.
I work on UX/UI projects. I can see how even small bits of friction like this affect the choices people make. But it's a big world, and there are enough thoughtful people who, once they understand the Fediverse, will choose it over Bluesky.

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@MrLee

Yup.

Travis Newton :node:

@mastodonmigration What’s funny is over on BlueSky, people who “couldn’t get” Mastodon were confused by all the different federated servers. They didn’t understand or care to learn that just because you’re on one server, doesn’t mean you can’t interact with people on another. I saw others say they preferred it because the UI looks like Xitter and Mastodon’s looks outdated.

And it’s only a matter of time before the funds start to run dry over there. Servers aren’t free to run or host. As an IaaS provider, I know that first hand!

Mastodon Migration

@travis

Have always thought the real reason people bounce off Mastodon is not the multi-server thing, but the first impression from the interface.

Travis Newton :node:

@mastodonmigration I’m wondering if it was the folks who only used the app (or a third party app). I’ve also been hearing, so take it with a grain of salt, more people are using the BlueSky desktop website than the actual app. I don’t know how truthful it is, but it might hold some weight with those whose only complaint is UI/UX related.

Mastodon Migration

@travis

It's probably the total onboarding experience. One thing that tech companies understand very well is 'conversion'. This is curating the user experience from the moment the potential new user does a web search for the product until they are up and running. Mastodon, frankly gets an F, maybe a D- for conversion. The 'dated' UI is part of it, maybe the biggest part, but the lack of hand holding and marketing pizzazz through the new user process is a killer.