There is a lot of disdain here on #Mastodon and the #Fediverse for those who have chosen to stay on #X / #Twitter and other social media platforms. And I think that this is not helpful.
I mean, sure, in the case of governments, political leaders, and major news organizations, disdain away. But many activists and small-time business owners depend on having a large reach and good networking for their activities, and this reach might simply not be feasible on the Fediverse - especially if their primary focus is on a demographic underrepresented around here (as the Fediverse skews heavily towards white Europeans and North Americans).
Hating on these people accomplishes nothing useful - and worse, it contributes to the Fediverse’s well-deserved reputation for snobbery, which has driven a lot of people away.
So instead try empathy. Understand why such people make the choice to stay on other social media platforms, despite their problems. And instead of berating them for it, emphasize that these platforms will almost certainly get worse over time, due to the Enshittification cycle that all tech businesses touched by Silicon Valley venture capitalists must inevitably go through.
Suggest that developing a Fediverse presence is a useful “Plan B” for their social media efforts - and that among social media platforms, the Fediverse alone has the potential to develop into something better over time.
@juergen_hubert@thefolklore.cafe @oldladyplays@wargamers.social I think if you want to build the off ramp, then it’s in small community groups where you persuade amd shepherd people in.
Twitter grew at first because of word of mouth. I joined in 2009 and I left in 2022. I only joined because others were using it as a communications medium.
People often stay on their first network, there’s more inertia to move.
In the past two years Musk has been mask off. There’s no excuse for staying on other than “numbers” and “reach”
@onepict@chaos.social @oldladyplays@wargamers.social
Unfortunately, “reach” can be pretty important.
Let’s say you are a user in, for example, #Pakistan. How many Pakistani Mastodon instances are there? One? Two? For a country of 240 million people?
When almost no one in your country uses the #Fediverse , using Mastodon exclusively means you have effectively isolated yourself from your community.
I was able to do a clean break from Twitter when it got bought by Elon Musk, but that was because I was in a relatively privileged position. There are plenty of people around here who are interested in folklore and table-top RPGs, and share similar backgrounds. I miss some people from Twitter, but not enough to remain active there.
Others do not have this privilege, and we should acknowledge that.
@juergen_hubert@thefolklore.cafe @oldladyplays@wargamers.social are we sure the reach is still there though?
I’m not. I looked at the APC.org twitter account. The numbers are small.
You also can’t read threads if you’re not logged in.
So that reach is extremely limited. The Fediverse is small true. Plus it’s in us privileged folks to make the bridge, but then leave.
Then reward those folks who do come here and interact with them, buy stuff from them.
Their lively hood is under threat from a whim of Musk.