this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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Fediverse

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A community to talk about the Fediverse and all it's related services using ActivityPub (Mastodon, Lemmy, KBin, etc).

If you wanted to get help with moderating your own community then head over to !moderators@lemmy.world!

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The mastodon and lemmy content I’m seeing feels like 90% of it comes from people who are:

  • ~30 years old or older

  • tech enthusiasts/workers

  • linux users

There’s nothing wrong with that particular demographic or anything, but it doesn’t feel like a win to me if the entire fediverse is just one big monoculture.

I wonder what it is that is keeping more diverse users away? Is picking a server/federation too complicated? Or is it that they don’t see any content that they like?

Thoughts?

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[–] AlaskaMan@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I’m 36 but a tech potato.

I can build a computer and do basic troubleshooting. That’s about it.

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[–] Crudman@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'm normier than the listed demographics and find the Fediverse and it's associated jargon to be inline with 4 dimensional crochet in terms of ease of use

[–] Crudman@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

To make myself clear I'd rather be confused about lemmy servers than ever, ever use Discord as a wiki

[–] Sentinian@lemmy.one 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Working aged zoomer here, it's amazing how much my generation doesn't know about computers in some aspects and how much they know in others. It seems I was born in a sweet spot when things still difficult but not completely dumbed down.

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[–] I_AnoN_I@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

23 year old electrician here. I'm pretty interested in dectralized tech. My first was Bitcoin

[–] AVeryCleverName@lemmy.one 7 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I spent most of my time on Reddit in the learn programming subs, so I'm glad at least that demographic has moved here. I'm almost 34, don't work in tech but want to, don't use Linux but want to (and if the rumors of windows adding ads to the OS are true I will switch to Linux full time except for gaming). I wasn't really that invested in the reddit API changes but I liked reddit when it was more under ground and wild west. I used to spend a lot of time on rcsources (those days are behind me regardless, though). So I wanted to see if there was still room on the internet for the outlaw tech cowboy shtick, and Lemmy stepped up to the plate.

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[–] EGirlEnthusiast@lemmy.fmhy.ml 7 points 2 years ago (6 children)

I'm a 20 year old. I may be the only one in this thread unable to drink legally lol

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[–] MonsieurArchi@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Branding is also another factor that comes into play here. Most regular users are used to having a more polished app. Simplicity is the driving force behind apps like tiktok and Instagram. They build on top of each other rather than reinventing the wheel. So it's just a transfer of skills and patterns. With the fediverse, regular users have relearn those patterns and skills, which most people just aren't going to do.

One way to solve this problem is to just abstract the idea of the fediverse. Rather than saying "join the fediverse, we're decentralised" we could say "we're a multiverse of internet communities".

I also dont think regular users care about whether a post is from another server or not. This can be abstracted as well by only showing the community not the server. What I'm trying to say is, even though the fediverse is a decentralised network, we need to treat is as a centralized one.

[–] ichigo@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I feel it's complicated for the non-tech users but interestingly I have started to see some folks coming to Lemmy because I (a tech friend) started using it and advertising to them. I think it's these early adopters who play a major role in bringing the non-tech folks and people from other diverse culture.

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[–] Squids@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Yes. I have yet to run across 💀💀💀 or 🔥🔥🔥 in any reply thread as well as popular slang. Also AITA posts with some of the worst advice known to humankind. Thank god it’s over!

Reddit evolved into in something unrecognizable over the last 5 years as it’s popularity exploded.

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[–] samokosik@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

I am around 20 and use lemmy, but I agree my friends need instagram

[–] theacta@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

I think that might be because most people who go through the hurdles of setting up an account and figuring out the entire frediverse are people who are much more interested in the tech and it's applications rather than your average social media consumer who can just get all they want in a single location with a easy to understand concept

[–] dr_doomscroller@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

sure. but i also can't help but feel like when history looks back on the fediverse it's more likely to be in the geocities and anglefire category than some seismic shift in social media.

I hope for the later, but realistically feel it will be the former.

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[–] krayj@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

Right now, the fediverse is not very user-friendly for non-tech people.

I mean, there's instances de-federating from each other, weird federation sync anomalies still going on between instances, users have to create and maintain multiple user accounts on multiple instances if those instances have defederated each other, even the 'official' jerboa app for lemmy shits itself if you try and connect in to an instance that's one sub-dot version lower than what it was built for - plus it crashes on 1/3 of my android devices, some of the best lemmy apps have been removed from app stores due to non-compliance with app store terms and have to be installed manually from github. It's all still very DIY right now instead of plug-and-play....and if lemmy is to appeal to anyone other than tech nerds, it needs to become much more user friendly and much more plug-and-play.

I tried explaining it all to my wife (who is still a Reddit user) and she argues that lemmy on fediverse sounds way too complicated...and she's not wrong.

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[–] GRiMtox@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I don't use Linux, but other than that...

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[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (4 children)

It's funny if so - I was so old on Reddit. But this means I'm old enough to remember Usenet so this platform is comfortable for me.

I don't think it was difficult at all to sign up though, doesn't seem like a barrier to entry.

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[–] LordAdamH@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I kind of fit the description so I certainly can't argue with you.

I think a big part of the reason you're so spot on is because of the timing. Painting with broad strokes here, but the group you mentioned is kind of the group you need for something like Lemmy to be built in the first place. And I fully appreciate Lemmy had been around for awhile now, but let's be honest, it's only recently become 'popular' thanks to u/spez.

I hope the username will expand as more people find out about Lemmy. I think with that will come feature changes (more likle9in the form of third party apps) as a more diverse group of people start using Lemmy.

[–] Malzod@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Definitely the server federation thing is overwhelming. I don't even know what that is. I was told Lemmy.world is the alternative Reddit.

[–] dysseus@monero.town 7 points 2 years ago

Most people are older than 30.

[–] zikk_transport2@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

2* y.o. Linux user & sysadmin/sre/devops/younameit checking in.

I am still gonna use reddit for porn only, using patched Reddit app (by Revanced manager). 😂

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[–] joolez@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 2 years ago

If 'getting in' would be more mass compatible we would have a more realistic view about society. That would bei great but the society is of douchebags and this is what mass social media is suffering from in my mind.

[–] jflorez@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 years ago

This is me 46 *nix user, nerd

[–] wwaxwork@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

There are a many people over the age of 30 on Reddit as under. People like us make up 50% of reddit users.

[–] ripjackie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 years ago (3 children)

24 yr old tech worker / Linux user checking in! I'm not old yet but I've got the spirit!

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[–] BilboBargains@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

I don't mind a monoculture if it keeps morons away, that's a price worth paying. The reason I started using Reddit in 2009 was to escape the comment section of YouTube. Erik from Internet Comment Etiquette has been doing sterling work educating the Mongol Hoardes but they're still not ready.

[–] myself@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Absolutely It's really nice how this affects the tech related serious communities but damn is it heartbreaking how bad the memes here are

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[–] Magiwarriorx@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Only 1 for 3 there myself, but I get the point.

One thing I have noticed is a big chunk of the memes posted earlier in June were very dated, ~2010-era Facebook style. Made me wonder if the crowd on here didn't at least initially skew older.

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