Recently I’ve dove a little deeper into the Fediverse. I began with Mastodon like many others and I’m ready to move on. Mastodon as a software in comparison to similar services in the Fediverse like Calckey/Firefish, Friendica, Misskey, etc. just isn’t as good and the only thing it has going for it is an established user base and simplicity/lack of feature creep I guess. I’ve also had major difficulty finding any sort of conversation or getting followers, although that could just be because of me just not being really active on social media in general and being disinterested in discussing the most popular topics like politics.
I’ve been looking at another microblogging/Twitter type service to switch over to since I just like the concept of the Fediverse (I credit Kbin for being a great 2nd impression) but its been a struggle. It seems like in the microblogging space of the Fediverse, there are just a bunch of different platforms that do the same thing while trying to one up each other in some aspect. I’m not sure if there are large features that separate them besides UI, but this is just how it appears. If there is, please let me know.
This fragmentation is making it difficult to choose a platform, and I can’t imagine it’d be any easier for anyone new the Fediverse. Once I choose a platform, I have to choose an instance as well of course. I was going to join calckey.social/firefish.social but I’m a little hesitant now because mastodon.art defederated with it, and I follow multiple accounts from that instance. The drama that always surrounds defederation is a fundamental design flaw in the Fediverse, but I try to choose servers that don’t have these issues as I would rather not self-host right now. The Mastodon instance I have an account on has a great admin that lets the users decide when it came to a large move such as defederating with Threads.
I’m really beginning to see how the Fediverse can be complicated for new users, even if they understand the underlying technology. Unfortunately, these seem to just be deep problems with the Fediverse in general rather than just things to adjust to.
Anyway, enough ranting and back the question: which of these microblogging platforms should I even choose? Its making my head spin. Seems like Calckey would be the best for my needs at the moment.
The fediverse is just the internet as it was designed to be. A network, not a broadcasting medium. A place for connecting people, not just consumers and corporations.
Choice means responsibility. It’s a feature, not a bug. But sure, it’s also paradoxical.
In answer to your question, I’d say just slow down a bit. Forget about self-hosting. Just pick a mainstream instance like this one and jump in. That’s what I did. You can make changes later as appropriate. That was impossible where you were before.
Well explained. Before the big corporations driving the online social conversations, the internet felt messier (in a good way) and more diverse in its offerings. Granted, those offerings were always there, but the louder facebook, instagram, tiktok bullshit drowned them and put them in the background.
Now it’s back to basics, and I’m loving it!
Honestly, while I love the ideology behind the Fediverse and Activity Pub, it seems like fragmentation is just getting worse and worse as it grows. The defederation drama and the forks upon forks of Misskey for instance is getting a little nuts. Maybe its just a transition period especially with the implosion of Reddit and Twitter, but its a concerning trend that is holding the system back in my opinion. I agree about the fediverse being more like internet as it should be though.
As I have learned more about the Fediverse, and begun exploring all its depths, I have similarly thought about that paradox between, as @[email protected] mentioned,
It sucks, but as I see it it’s just kinda like the “growing pains” as we shift towards Web 3.0 and Decentralization, away from corporate overlords, figuring it all out communally, the balance between ourselves being monetized like the whole “If something is free, you are the product.” line gets at