For the amount of worldwide attention Mastodon is receiving, it’s baffling that there doesn’t seem to be a long line of great UX designers willing to volunteer some time to make the onboarding experience waaaaay better. It seems like Mastodon has “good bones” and I’m optimistic about it, though wish I could toggle on a basic algorithm to serve more interesting content.
Former Twitter people have been working on BlueSky (https://blueskyweb.org/) for awhile now, which presumably solves the identity piece (unlocking a true ability to move your “account” and all its content from server to server) and the algorithm choice piece (toggle on/off open source algorithms of your choosing). But they don’t have much to show for it yet and I kinda wish they’d just team up with Mastodon at this point.
Dave, I appreciate your assessments and found them helpful...thank you! I’ve been dipping my toe into Hive, and except for some technical glitches (and that significant temporary service interruption...it’s back up now) I’m enjoying it. Just a lighter, more chill vibe, and some folks I like already are there. (Emily Nussbaum is on Hive and she’s just as delightful there as on Twitter.) It’s sometimes slow, but the pace is actually compels to be a little more thoughtful and attentive to what I post instead of just mouthing off. I’m trying to patient given the micro-size of the staff, and hope they can scale up.
I’m on the wait list for Post (waiting and waiting) and haven’t gotten past my skepticism and resentment about the challenging if simply simply signing up.
Gotta say: I’m liking what’s going on here at Substack, as they add features that allow more interaction, and I’m following folks I greatly admire. The big caveat is I can only afford so many writers, critics, journalists, etc., with paid subscriptions, though I wish I could do more. Maybe some platform we haven’t even heard of will emerge eventually. (Christopher Bouzy of Bot Sentinel has been holding twitter spaces getting ideas from tweeps about what they’d like to see in a new app, so his efforts could be quite interesting.
Finally, what I’m seeing happen to twitter is just so sad to me. I’m still on there, and still finding some joy and fun and meaningful interactions, but it’s becoming much harder...it really does feel like the guardrails have come off, and the place is being run by the whims of EM. I understand why some folks are fleeing.
Thanks as always for your insights and observations. - @CDMatthew in Boston
I’ll chime in to say that I do think Mastodon has a future in a way that the other alternatives probably do not. Being open source and decentralized, it is fundamentally different than the others. First of all, it will never be another twitter, just like Linux can never replace Windows or Mac OS as a unified, curated experience. There will always be different instances running different variants with wildly varying politics and communities. That said, once the genie is out of the bottle, there is no way to put it back in. There are 8 million Mastodon users already, and Tumblr has committed to implementing support for it. Meaning that you’ll be able to follow Tumblr users from Mastodon and vice versa. As Mastodon grows, other social platforms may choose to do the same. At the same time, the problem of choosing an instance being the biggest hurdle right now is one that will sort itself out with time. Not only will people become more comfortable with the model, but most likely there will end up being a few large, stable instances that are easy to join for newcomers. To summarize, if I had to make a bet I would bet on Mastodon. Not as a new Twitter - nothing will be exactly that - but as a new platform with momentum. In my opinion, Hive and Post are both fundamentally flawed in ways that make them non-starters.
It is definitely not good enough at the moment. It also drives me nuts how overly complicated it is to follow people from other instances. Having to copy/paste URLs, posts don’t show up in any predictable way etc. But despite the flaws, I think there is a lot of potential.
I’m enjoying mastodon so far, and I think you’re right to be skeptical about its mainstream potential. I’ve seen the techies and journalists make the jump but not the comedians or sports live tweeters or pop culture commenters, and it’s a bummer.
I think the problem of picking a server will subside if word of mouth picks up. You’ll just join the one your friends are on rather than look at that list of servers you’re referring to. Eg right now most journalists are joining journa.host, and being on journa.host is kind of like having a verified badge on twitter, because they only accept journalists whose identities they’ve verified. I hope to see more things like that pop up.
My biggest worry is that a bunch of these smaller instances will go offline when people realize they don’t want to deal with being on call all the time or paying a hosting bill. Or that they’ll do a bad job of keeping the systems up-to-date as new mastodon releases are published, which could result in security issues or other bugs.
That “choose a server” page really is the worst... but my guess is that it’s a throw-back to just a couple of months ago when most people would have asked, “Masto-what?” Another TV critic/commentator I follow posted an invite link to the server he was on and, boom, I was in. About a week later I found one I liked better (and was more relevant to me) and moved easily. So yes, a little glitchy, but I quickly found my way around it.
I agree that a large corporate/institutional backer would defeat the whole purpose... but what would be great is a directory, searchable by, say, hashtags (to get us all warmed up!). Trunk is helpful, but the focus is on people, not servers. Maybe one has popped up in the past few weeks - if so , I’d love to know about it.
I tried Hive and deactivated/deleted after they shut down for the security issues. I’m not opposed to giving it another try, but don’t see how they’ll realistically be able to scale. The thing I’m unclear about re: Mastadon is if there’s a way to combine all my interests there. I use Twitter to keep up with news, for both work and personal purposes, but i have pretty disparate subcultures I stay connected with there too. For now I’m following some of the writers I like best here, which is nice because it reminds me of the good old days of blogs and I’m enjoying the longer-form, often more personal content here, but has the same drawback as those days--it’s largely one-way.
My biggest issue with trying to figure out Mastodon is that I can’t see who my friends are following if they are on another server or if the servers don’t talk well to each other. It limits being able to network significantly. Also it seems snobbish (not sure I care but it just does).
I deleted Hive since it clearly has broken and while I loved the interface it was clear the hamster running on the wheel was not going to make it.
I just joined Post so have to figure it out. Fingers crossed.
Hey Dave, how have you been able to stop *going* to twitter just to lurk? I see you haven't fully deleted. Personally, I must be some sort of addict or glutton for punishment, because I can't stop dropping in.
I like Hive a lot, because of it's similarity to Twitter, but the issues you highlighted frustrate me. Fellow creatives seem to like post.news, but it appears to have a waiting list. Mastodon is okay for now, but I think that is due to my not playing with it enough.
For the amount of worldwide attention Mastodon is receiving, it’s baffling that there doesn’t seem to be a long line of great UX designers willing to volunteer some time to make the onboarding experience waaaaay better. It seems like Mastodon has “good bones” and I’m optimistic about it, though wish I could toggle on a basic algorithm to serve more interesting content.
Former Twitter people have been working on BlueSky (https://blueskyweb.org/) for awhile now, which presumably solves the identity piece (unlocking a true ability to move your “account” and all its content from server to server) and the algorithm choice piece (toggle on/off open source algorithms of your choosing). But they don’t have much to show for it yet and I kinda wish they’d just team up with Mastodon at this point.
Dave, I appreciate your assessments and found them helpful...thank you! I’ve been dipping my toe into Hive, and except for some technical glitches (and that significant temporary service interruption...it’s back up now) I’m enjoying it. Just a lighter, more chill vibe, and some folks I like already are there. (Emily Nussbaum is on Hive and she’s just as delightful there as on Twitter.) It’s sometimes slow, but the pace is actually compels to be a little more thoughtful and attentive to what I post instead of just mouthing off. I’m trying to patient given the micro-size of the staff, and hope they can scale up.
I’m on the wait list for Post (waiting and waiting) and haven’t gotten past my skepticism and resentment about the challenging if simply simply signing up.
Gotta say: I’m liking what’s going on here at Substack, as they add features that allow more interaction, and I’m following folks I greatly admire. The big caveat is I can only afford so many writers, critics, journalists, etc., with paid subscriptions, though I wish I could do more. Maybe some platform we haven’t even heard of will emerge eventually. (Christopher Bouzy of Bot Sentinel has been holding twitter spaces getting ideas from tweeps about what they’d like to see in a new app, so his efforts could be quite interesting.
Finally, what I’m seeing happen to twitter is just so sad to me. I’m still on there, and still finding some joy and fun and meaningful interactions, but it’s becoming much harder...it really does feel like the guardrails have come off, and the place is being run by the whims of EM. I understand why some folks are fleeing.
Thanks as always for your insights and observations. - @CDMatthew in Boston
I’ll chime in to say that I do think Mastodon has a future in a way that the other alternatives probably do not. Being open source and decentralized, it is fundamentally different than the others. First of all, it will never be another twitter, just like Linux can never replace Windows or Mac OS as a unified, curated experience. There will always be different instances running different variants with wildly varying politics and communities. That said, once the genie is out of the bottle, there is no way to put it back in. There are 8 million Mastodon users already, and Tumblr has committed to implementing support for it. Meaning that you’ll be able to follow Tumblr users from Mastodon and vice versa. As Mastodon grows, other social platforms may choose to do the same. At the same time, the problem of choosing an instance being the biggest hurdle right now is one that will sort itself out with time. Not only will people become more comfortable with the model, but most likely there will end up being a few large, stable instances that are easy to join for newcomers. To summarize, if I had to make a bet I would bet on Mastodon. Not as a new Twitter - nothing will be exactly that - but as a new platform with momentum. In my opinion, Hive and Post are both fundamentally flawed in ways that make them non-starters.
If/when the sign up process can be improved, I think Mastodon has a real chance for longevity.
It is definitely not good enough at the moment. It also drives me nuts how overly complicated it is to follow people from other instances. Having to copy/paste URLs, posts don’t show up in any predictable way etc. But despite the flaws, I think there is a lot of potential.
Great recap!!
I’m enjoying mastodon so far, and I think you’re right to be skeptical about its mainstream potential. I’ve seen the techies and journalists make the jump but not the comedians or sports live tweeters or pop culture commenters, and it’s a bummer.
I think the problem of picking a server will subside if word of mouth picks up. You’ll just join the one your friends are on rather than look at that list of servers you’re referring to. Eg right now most journalists are joining journa.host, and being on journa.host is kind of like having a verified badge on twitter, because they only accept journalists whose identities they’ve verified. I hope to see more things like that pop up.
My biggest worry is that a bunch of these smaller instances will go offline when people realize they don’t want to deal with being on call all the time or paying a hosting bill. Or that they’ll do a bad job of keeping the systems up-to-date as new mastodon releases are published, which could result in security issues or other bugs.
+1 to all of this.
— Haven't tried Hive (and based on your description, I won't)
— Mastodon still feels like Mars?
— I like Post.news but I can't use it in the way I use Twitter (research, booking interviews, etc.) until all the podcast people get over there....
Trying to be patient but still feeling pretty devastated about what Elon did to the Twitter!
Same!
That “choose a server” page really is the worst... but my guess is that it’s a throw-back to just a couple of months ago when most people would have asked, “Masto-what?” Another TV critic/commentator I follow posted an invite link to the server he was on and, boom, I was in. About a week later I found one I liked better (and was more relevant to me) and moved easily. So yes, a little glitchy, but I quickly found my way around it.
I agree that a large corporate/institutional backer would defeat the whole purpose... but what would be great is a directory, searchable by, say, hashtags (to get us all warmed up!). Trunk is helpful, but the focus is on people, not servers. Maybe one has popped up in the past few weeks - if so , I’d love to know about it.
I tried Hive and deactivated/deleted after they shut down for the security issues. I’m not opposed to giving it another try, but don’t see how they’ll realistically be able to scale. The thing I’m unclear about re: Mastadon is if there’s a way to combine all my interests there. I use Twitter to keep up with news, for both work and personal purposes, but i have pretty disparate subcultures I stay connected with there too. For now I’m following some of the writers I like best here, which is nice because it reminds me of the good old days of blogs and I’m enjoying the longer-form, often more personal content here, but has the same drawback as those days--it’s largely one-way.
My biggest issue with trying to figure out Mastodon is that I can’t see who my friends are following if they are on another server or if the servers don’t talk well to each other. It limits being able to network significantly. Also it seems snobbish (not sure I care but it just does).
I deleted Hive since it clearly has broken and while I loved the interface it was clear the hamster running on the wheel was not going to make it.
I just joined Post so have to figure it out. Fingers crossed.
Hey Dave, how have you been able to stop *going* to twitter just to lurk? I see you haven't fully deleted. Personally, I must be some sort of addict or glutton for punishment, because I can't stop dropping in.
I like Hive a lot, because of it's similarity to Twitter, but the issues you highlighted frustrate me. Fellow creatives seem to like post.news, but it appears to have a waiting list. Mastodon is okay for now, but I think that is due to my not playing with it enough.