this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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Fediverse

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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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[–] rickdg 9 points 2 years ago

To be fair, the most diversity I'm seeing in an userbase right now is the one on tiktok. That's definitely a plus, but at what cost? There are trade-offs in every platform.

[–] spaceduck 9 points 2 years ago

Early 20s here.

[–] acrobaticpenguin23 8 points 2 years ago (4 children)

Probably so. But then why are Android and Android Apps struggling for engagement? But more randoms, casuals, just a wider overall demographic will be needed for niche communities to become viable.

The communities I mainly communicated in on Reddit either don't exist, or have paltry engagement here.

This is why I am keeping my Reddit account active to make posts in these forums to invite others over here to build engagement.

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[–] [email protected] 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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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

This is also me: I'm a 39 year old Ubuntu user who has been excited about the Internet since the day I first learned what a modem does, in maybe like, 1990?

So far I think Lemmy's a bit too technical for regular people to get started with the Fediverse and to figure out how to find the right communities to join in order to have content show up in their feed comparable to what they're already getting at a commercial service, which takes no effort at all to continue to scroll. Why would a normal person want to use alpha release software? We're still in the early days, we're the early adopters.

[–] ted_pikul 8 points 2 years ago

I fit the profile

[–] mycroft 8 points 2 years ago

"You must be new here"

We're always the first adopters.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

Most people are older than 30.

[–] chakan2 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Picking a server is complicated... And I still don't get how to get content from other servers into my main feed.

But the other thing is monitization. If you build up a decent filling on TikTock for example, they pay you. My kids friends are all chasing that.

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[–] tobier 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)

Honestly wouldn't mind Lemmy being a 30+ monoculture. Let the kids stay on their TikBooks and SnapFaces where they make porn or whatever else kids do these days.

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[–] GAMER 8 points 2 years ago

Gosh I feel like this guy called me out.

But then I saw the user name.

Hmmm.....

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

You just described the demographics of the average early tech adopter.

Old enough to understand the importance of privacy and to care about the federation aspect of the fediverse, tech savvy and nerdy enough to not be discouraged by an unfamiliar interface and still developing environment. And apparently we like Linux too.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

Bah, I'm three raccoons in an overcoat.
Who.. have a steady IT job.. dang it.

[–] Sandakada 8 points 2 years ago

Reddit began in a similar fashion, so its a positive trait for sure

[–] I_AnoN_I 8 points 2 years ago

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

[–] joel_feila 8 points 2 years ago

we are the kind to early adopt new stuff

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

Hah, I fit the description perfectly. Not too sure how to take that. ☹️

[–] [email protected] 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

[–] [email protected] 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

[–] [email protected] 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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[–] [email protected] 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.

[–] LordAdamH 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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

This is me 46 *nix user, nerd

[–] MonsieurArchi 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.

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