Gregory's ServerI really wish more people would try more Fediverse server software other than Mastodon.
It's easy to do, takes you just a few minutes of your time, and answers so many questions about what the Fediverse is capable of doing.
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42 comments
 @geordie No one stopping you from continuing to use Mastodon. I use Mastodon. I also try out the rest of the Fediverse. Seriously, why not give the rest of the Fediverse a try? @atomicpoet oh I do, I quite like Pixelfed. And WriteFreely. But it just seems weird how popular it is to see people enjoying something and loudly insist there’s more. I mean ok, there’s more. @atomicpoet @geordie because not many are like us, people who like trying out new software for fun. For many, the thought of doing that tires them out. That's what a few of my friends told me 😁 And I don't mean to be smug, but what's with the aversion to trying new things? It's almost as though everyone on Mastodon is playing out the plot of Green Eggs & Ham on a mass scale. You don't know if you're going to like something unless you try it. I'll be real. I've used Fediverse software with a UI/UX so horrendous, I wonder how it ever made it into production. Still, I learned something even from terrible software -- and I'm grateful that I tried it out.  @atomicpoet That's not exclusive of fediverse software. Many open source projects don't have any focus on UX/UI, and that's a factor of why many users reject open source. It's sad but I think that's one of the reasons.  Look, I’m not telling any of you to use other Fediverse software if you’re totally satisfied with your experience and lack any curiosity. But if you want a feature, and it exists elsewhere on the Fediverse… why not use the software that has those features? @atomicpoet Is there a "thing" where you can put your must haves, would likes, etcs and it points you at three or four you could check out? @atomicpoet I *like* toying with software. I like learning it, tweaking it, etc. etc. But most people don’t, so learning a new app is a barrier to what they actually want - doubly so in the open source world where #UX is an afterthought at best. So why try 5 platforms that may or may not offer a feature in a way you like, have terrible onboarding and are undoubtedly missing some aspect of #mastodon that you want? Who has that kind of time? @atomicpoet This reminds me of the era when people claimed that Linux On The Desktop was going to take over the world, but their standard response to “it doesn’t have basic feature X” was “sure it does, it’s just in this other ‘distro’, so you’ll have to install a new system to get it”. More generally, if I was ever tempted to publicly wish that users would put in more effort, I’d know it was time for me to take a break. @mpt Sorry, how is trying a new service anything like installing a new OS? And what am I supposed to be taking a break from?  @atomicpoet I think the switching costs for social software are higher for many people (just setting up an account doesn’t really test social software - you also need to have folks to talk with - and for many asking a network to join you on a new platform is a big ask. Or you have to follow and interact with mostly strangers (which is also a big ask for many). Or for example your posted image of the Bluesky feed wasn’t all in English - as a non-speaker I couldn’t understand the feed w/o tools  @atomicpoet Because for a lot of people, it was a hurdle to pick an instance. They just wanted to join something like Mastodon with a join, not look around and make a decision before they could sign up to Mastodon, but not really, just an instance of it. They don't need more than what they found, they don't want to have to learn about other stuff they really don't understand or want to understand. They are tired, busy, just wanted a substitute for the fascist site. ;) @CStamp Which is fine until people start asking, "Why can't I do X?" In which case, I have to say, "Well, you can -- just not on Mastodon." And then they ask me to explain it -- and I really, really just wish they would try it out and discover it for themselves. It would save so much time. @atomicpoet I find it quite funny that this attitude is so prevalent here considering a lot of the same people give others grief for not leaving twitter and coming over here. If they don’t want to try new things themselves, how can they be upset when others don’t want to uproot from their previous social media home and come here? @atomicpoet I endorse this attitude! however, the masses do not tick like that (much to our advantage) @atomicpoet for me, I try to keep my online footprint small and minimize creating accounts because they often can’t be deleted. That being said, PixelFed looks awesome. @atomicpoet This is a silly question but I was looking at  @atomicpoet have you played with the nextcloud fedi app yet? i haven't gotten it running yet but i need to re build my nextcloud first. ps. ubuntu dist upgrades can, in fact, do much damage and you can have trouble with out db backups  @atomicpoet Then send then here @atomicpoet Most of us will not venture far, but your messages are not wasted effort.  @atomicpoet I've tried Pixelfed yesterday. Took a full day from registration to successful login. @atomicpoet I am a passionate street photographer. It’s all I use IG for. The very simple blocker for shifting is username character limit. I want to keep the same handle so people know where to find me. But I can’t. Many other street photographers have the same issue. (I don’t use real name owing to nature of my work). @atomicpoet i think, based on examining my own hesitancy here, that for a lot of people it might not be about complexity, time, or confusion, but just a mental model that we've been trained into that a social network = 1 app. like there's perhaps a lack of belief that the fediverse is really federated. if i join calckey i'll miss out on what's happening with mastodon somehow. even though that's not really true. @winnie What's to lose? If you don't like Calckey, you can always delete your account or abandon it. You'll be no worse for wear. @atomicpoet i did that very thing! i made a calckey account, i liked it *better*, and then i went back to mastodon. trying to understand that. @winnie I mean, I use Mastodon too. This is a Mastodon account. There are creature comforts with Mastodon. That said, I bet you learned something about the Fediverse from Calckey 🙂 @atomicpoet I’m just using metatext to read all three timelines here. I’m not techy, and as long as that works I doubt I’ll be changing. @atomicpoet i have Hubzilla on my „tryout“ - list.  @atomicpoet Number one reason: I don’t want an extra identity for an extra app. That’s it. If I could do pixelfed AND mastodon on this identity I would be in business. I’m cool with instances and all that. I this it’s better in many many ways. But if i want to post retro computer stuff (and pets!) I need to build up a new set of followers and a new “grid” of people. I think it’s a big issue for a lot of people. No feature will make up for it I’m afraid. |
So many times when people ask me a question about Pixelfed or Akkoma or Calckey, I am really tempted to just say, "Why don't you give it a try?"
But I don't because it's hard enough to convince most of you that there's a Fediverse beyond Mastodon.