@lowqualityfacts i can't help but feel that you straight up copypasta'd that last part from an actual article lmfao.

@lowqualityfacts That moment when media are more elitist about some piece of software than software enthusiast communities

@lowqualityfacts Ah I didn't know that I have advanced degrees in computer science.

@lowqualityfacts
Mastodon is way too hard. The horror of of having to think about what to toot next. 😱😱😱

@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social Yeah but it requires the effort of finding an instance you like and that’s new and scary and super hard and totally not worth the trade off of having admins and mods who actually give a shit about making sure the community they’re creating is not overrun with Nazis. 🙄

@lowqualityfacts
"How will I *ever* choose which instance to join?"
Oh FFS just pick one you twat - there's a special one for journalists and everything.
And then there's this: columnist has light bulb moment, realising that Threads and Meta are the same fucking company. 🙄😡
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/17/threads-meta-bigger-facebook-scrutiny

@lowqualityfacts

I'm not sure whether to be flattered that I found Mastodon's interface easy and smooth, or I should be horrified at the ineptitude of the "journalists" that are left in the media, in this news age.

@lowqualityfacts honestly, the fact that journalists and the bunch of people who just didn’t want to give it a chance so they went back to Twitter ready to make Content™ about their experience tried to make themselves sound clever by describing Mastodon as so complicated almost scared me off. It’s so strange! Why do that! 👀

@lowqualityfacts It's the same for linux.

@lowqualityfacts

I keep meaning to unfollow because so many of these are so dumb. But then you make it all worth it with the best facts out there.

@lowqualityfacts 😮 😂🥳

@lowqualityfacts
Going to start applying for jobs based on this. No, I don't have any coding experience, but I use Mastodon, so... 🧐

@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social

Yeah I really don't understand why people think they have to learn
everything about mastodon to use it

Might be because there are a lot of really smart people on here

Or maybe they hear buzzwords or the words server and instance and get really confused

idk people confuse me

@lowqualityfacts
Didn't know my art degree counts as an advanced degree in computer science.

@lowqualityfacts should start posting "Can use Mastodon" on my resume since apparently it's such an advanced skill

@lowqualityfacts I should be worried that the people were supposed to rely on for keeping authority to account can't figure out something slightly more advanced than WordPress.

@lowqualityfacts I am not a tech person or very computer savvy at all but I have had no problem navigating Mastodon and even managed an instance change.

@lowqualityfacts
Lolz.
Before I signed up here in 2022, i searched for info on how to use. I found a great youtube vid that someone took the time to make. It was easy to follow, and i was able to pin the other timelines! It was great! Recently tho, someone changed the format and made my pinned tls hard to see. Still love this place! 🥰

@lowqualityfacts this feels more like an average quality fact.

But they probs don't understand mastodon cause of a lack of official onboarding.

@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social

Your quality is slipping upwards again, did you bump your head 🤕?

@lowqualityfacts And that's why nobody buys newspapers and more.

@lowqualityfacts literally heard an NPR reporter say “I tried to sign up for mastodon and I’m still not sure if I did or not.” Wtf mate.

@lowqualityfacts a good friend is a comp Sci guy, a professional software engineer, who "tried mastodon but didn't get it"

When pressed for more info, it turns out he had trouble siging in... because he forgot what server he signed up at.

I don't know how to help that.

@lowqualityfacts journalist have difficulties to compete the Cuphead tutorial, don't ask too much

@lowqualityfacts These guys have lower quality facts than you 🤣

@lowqualityfacts

Journalist 1st post after being booted from #Twitter: "Well, hello. Follow me here as this is my new online home"

* gets unbanned and quickly goes back

2nd post, two months later: "Hello, there"

* Followers: "glad you're back" :ablobsadpats:

3rd post, another two months later: "Hello, you can find me on #Threads "

@lowqualityfacts @siegi it is probably especially difficult for journalists to understand a social tool cautiously designed to avoid reaching too many people at once

@lowqualityfacts

And yet:

"Unlisted has a slightly complicated behaviour pattern in the Home timeline, and this isn’t officially documented for some reason. Here’s how it works:

Unlisted posts and replies from people you follow WILL appear in your Home timeline, unless they are a reply to someone you don’t follow. If they’re a reply to someone you don’t follow, they WILL NOT appear in your Home timeline."

@lowqualityfacts

😂 😂

@lowqualityfacts
Wow. Apple Basic, Pascal, and COBOL now constitute an advanced CS degree. Who knew?!

@lowqualityfacts So true, and I think it's because the media can't figure out how to buy followers on here.

@lowqualityfacts I agree that the onboarding is messier than, say, Threads, and you have to get used to the idea of picking a server (and possibly moving) and that takes knowledge... but jeez, the idea that once you're settled it'll be nothing but compiling a kernel every time you want to check your timeline...

@lowqualityfacts Their only skill is pushiness, and that's tragic.

@lowqualityfacts high quality facts

@lowqualityfacts

Journalists looking at Mastodon:

@lowqualityfacts

I'm 66. It took a LOT more attention and learning to master the home computer in 1988. Mastodon is not "hard." It just takes attention and intention. Algorithms have made people lazy about creating their own social media community and experience.

@lowqualityfacts It's like their billionaire masters are fearful of a social media platform they cannot control....

@lowqualityfacts also journalists: here are 278499 steps to use Threads in Europe, you will love it

@lowqualityfacts

"I suspect thousands of other Tooters (blech!) will soon do the same and Mastodon will lay down beside all other other fossilized social media platforms and fade from existence."

~ Lance Ulanoff
Mashable, 2017

https://mashable.com/article/mastodon-wont-survive

@lowqualityfacts I don't think journalists are OK. Someone should get them councilling on living in normal society.

@lowqualityfacts 🤣​ 👍​

@lowqualityfacts
They expect to just show up in their sort of sun god robes and immediately be surrounded by a thousand naked women throwing pickles at them

@lowqualityfacts It asks a question of which server you want to create your account on. Sometimes it gives you an error if the server you connect to is not available at that moment. That's about the biggest problem during the sign up process I've seen.

@lowqualityfacts "Crucially, it lacks an algorithmic feed which directs social media consumers to my Substack"

@lowqualityfacts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmzuRXLzqKk

@lowqualityfacts high quality fact tbh

@lowqualityfacts I’m not even that good with tech and I was able to figure out. It shouldn’t be hard for the average user

@lowqualityfacts please tell me someone actually said that word for word

@lowqualityfacts I'm technically inept in every way but even I managed to sign up. The instances are not that difficult of a concept. If I can do it so can others.

@lowqualityfacts @siegi Yeah, sure. Just choose an instance. Any instance. No, not that one, it’s too big. And make sure it’s moderated, otherwise it’s gonna be blocked by other instances. And make sure it blocks nazi instances too, for your safety. And instances that don’t block Facebook, otherwise it’s gonna get blocked too. But make sure the admins are not too quick on the block, because even if they change their mind, you lose your connections. >>

@lowqualityfacts 😂

@lowqualityfacts I was already in a state of hysteria. So there’s that.

@lowqualityfacts
1) Sign up (if you can’t decide instance just pick a general one)
2) make a profile
3) follow hashtags of things you are interested in and want to discuss.
4) participate and talk to people on there
5) follow people you enjoy talking too
6) understand there is no algorithm to populate your”feed”. No following and you will have a pretty empty feed outside of the local and federation views.
7) have fun and be civil.

@lowqualityfacts this I especially funny when you try to use bluesky, which currently requires you to spend several minutes muting and blocking every time you log on bc they refuse to moderate in any way, and where, if you want to get a "feed" with things you like you need to be able to code so you can program one

@lowqualityfacts “How do I make money from this thing?” Shakes cardboard box with ‘Mastodon’ written on it in crayon. “Why is it so confusing?” Starts hitting box with ruler. “ Stupid Mastodon. Dance.”

@lowqualityfacts You must be joking! What next? Eating fruits is easy!??

https://mastodon.social/@tomw/110718170102311517

@lowqualityfacts if you know how to send an email, you know how to use mastodon

@lowqualityfacts

If Mastodon is hard to understand I don't get how people learned to use web browsers.

All those URLs, bars, nonconsistant design of web pages, thinking about SSL and weird padlocks, so many settings. Only technical people can use it.

@lowqualityfacts You can just tell your friends "hey would you.like to join my instance?" And you've taken care of the first step (plus choice paralysis)

@lowqualityfacts

The news media's version of what it's like to use Mastodon really gives you perspective on the rest of their reporting.

@lowqualityfacts 😂😂😂 I love this damn account

@lowqualityfacts I see only 1 case of hysteria - "influencers" who used to fap on count of subscribers, likes, and "engagement" discover that Fediverse is not designed to be a source of profit. It is for genuine interaction and communities.

@lowqualityfacts I wanted to like, but then there is a whole media server on mastodon, so..journa.host

@lowqualityfacts If users report that a piece of software is too difficult to use, the response should be to make that software easier to use. The response from a lot of people on Mastodon seems to be pointing at them and going "hahaha thicky thicky noposts over here can't figure it out!"

@lowqualityfacts I am convinced that these articles stem from users who view social media as a broadcast medium - a way one person can reach thousands or millions.

Mastodon is geared towards human-scale interactions, which is great for community building, but not for creating a broadcast empire. Thus it's "insanely complicated" to someone trying to use it that way.

@lowqualityfacts BTW #MSM/“#journalists,” you know WE know it’s all BS and you cling to your billionaire-owned sites because a) you also are anti-#democracy/pro-#misinformation, elitist #whitesupremacists b) can’t give up your “valuable” brand/follower count (btw, we also know you know you’re largely just talking to other “journalists”/bots), and/or c) can’t give up those lazy RTs/embeds that by now you probably even think passes for reporting. Sad.

@lowqualityfacts

But... who will Mama Bird information, content, and opinions to me???

@lowqualityfacts Unfortunately, a Twitter friend repeated that last part back to me after trying Mastodon. It *is* a little more complex than your average walled garden but I had to learn how to use Twitter and Tumblr too. Just playing around a little will do the trick.

@lowqualityfacts tech journalists are like the worlds least techy people i swear to frank

@lowqualityfacts I found the onboarding and startup process considerably more difficult than say TikTok or Threads. I know people I’d have a hard time explaining it to.

@lowqualityfacts hahaha

@lowqualityfacts

Oh, the irony.

@lowqualityfacts I work for a University and I have emailed them to ask them to clarify their social media policy in the wake of the politicisation and security risks of using platforms owned by billionaires.
They didn't respond, so I have now embedded my request in a document that will go to all the Deans of Research across the University asking for a clear directive from senior management.
I'm just a half-time, casual worker, but I am doing my bit...

@lowqualityfacts i have an advanced degree in being Gay does that count?

@lowqualityfacts
not being able to create a Mastodon is a low entry requirement that keeps out the right people imo

@lowqualityfacts
Find me a journalist with an advanced degree in computer science who agrees with this bullshit. I’ll wait …