This phenomenon isn’t new. I used to have a GeoCities account back in the day. Eventually Yahoo! Bought them, and you know what happened with them. Had a Hotmail account too — and you know what happened to that. Had an ICQ and an AIM account too.
The problem now is that these more recent platforms worked to make themselves harder to replace, so when it came time to replace them, there was more resistance.
The problem now is that these more recent platforms worked to make themselves harder to replace, so when it came time to replace them, there was more resistance.
Things have become more centralized and people just want tech to work. So when things like the fediverse need patients while “stuff gets worked out” they are not used to it.
Yes and technology has gotten a lot better too. The younger generation has had technology that more or less “just works.” They didn’t have to learn how to troubleshoot just to be able to use it as intended like previous generations have had to.
I was thinking exactly this! At some point a long time ago, all of these centralized platforms were “cool” until “uncool” people started joining and sharing garbage content… now we’re in a bit of a renaissance as these platforms commit social suicide. The more intellectual individuals are both able and willing to jump ship to these “complex platforms”.
Will Grandma or crazy Uncle Bill ever join Mastodon on their own and understand federation? No, probably not. But that guy you went to University with who is now working as a Civil Engineer or Financial Advisor will probably figure it out and migrate when it gets bad enough.
Now I ask, who’s content would you rather see filling your feed? 🤣
I still have active Hotmail accounts. It isn’t like they went bad, they just changed over time.
Although email is probably a good example of what will happen even if you introduce a decentralized system. You still have a few main companies that run most email on the internet and their spam policies dictate who gains access to that user base. The free versions are run by ads, but there are paid versions that give more options to those who buy the service.
This phenomenon isn’t new. I used to have a GeoCities account back in the day. Eventually Yahoo! Bought them, and you know what happened with them. Had a Hotmail account too — and you know what happened to that. Had an ICQ and an AIM account too.
The problem now is that these more recent platforms worked to make themselves harder to replace, so when it came time to replace them, there was more resistance.
Things have become more centralized and people just want tech to work. So when things like the fediverse need patients while “stuff gets worked out” they are not used to it.
That’s because the main audience of the internet shifted from the tech literate to the tech illiterate, who can’t deal with issues
Yes and technology has gotten a lot better too. The younger generation has had technology that more or less “just works.” They didn’t have to learn how to troubleshoot just to be able to use it as intended like previous generations have had to.
Half the fun is using things for how they weren’t intended.
I was thinking exactly this! At some point a long time ago, all of these centralized platforms were “cool” until “uncool” people started joining and sharing garbage content… now we’re in a bit of a renaissance as these platforms commit social suicide. The more intellectual individuals are both able and willing to jump ship to these “complex platforms”.
Will Grandma or crazy Uncle Bill ever join Mastodon on their own and understand federation? No, probably not. But that guy you went to University with who is now working as a Civil Engineer or Financial Advisor will probably figure it out and migrate when it gets bad enough.
Now I ask, who’s content would you rather see filling your feed? 🤣
I still have active Hotmail accounts. It isn’t like they went bad, they just changed over time.
Although email is probably a good example of what will happen even if you introduce a decentralized system. You still have a few main companies that run most email on the internet and their spam policies dictate who gains access to that user base. The free versions are run by ads, but there are paid versions that give more options to those who buy the service.