As a software engineer, I found using Mastodon very confusing and nonintuitive.
I want it to work and be successful, but trying to think of is anything but a curiosity until it’s more user-friendly for non-techies is a pretty fair argument…
I want it to work and be successful, but trying to think of is anything but a curiosity until it’s more user-friendly for non-techies is a pretty fair argument…
Try explaining to your mom why she needs to sign up again on a different URL, its no walk in the park (especially if you want to keep your old ‘tweets’ via backups):
https://nerdschalk.com/how-to-switch-servers-on-mastodon-eve...
If Mastodon grows bigger and blacklists grow, it could easily Balkanize, and it will be clear it’s more of a competitor or add-on to existing niche forums/communities. Something not really in the spirit of public social networks like Twitter. Which is totally fine, just different.
…assuming they figure out the UX/UI issues to help it “cross the chasm” (which I’m skeptical will happen soon, that usually takes core leadership, good design is rarely tacked on afterwards). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm?wprov=sfti1
How different is this from explaining switching from AOL to GMail?
And asking your mom to switch email addresses/providers and learn a whole new interface is probably not the example you want to use... People clung to Hotmail/AOL for YEARS, sometimes a decade.
Maybe do a bit of research and don't sign up at shitty instances? The only reason I have seen for blocking instances if they're alt-right, racist, transphobic or harassing people