For all that it did right, Mastodon made a massive unforced error not realizing that the key to social media propagation was keeping journalists happy. Instead, it alienated 90% of them with grievances and brow beatings about how they were pesky interlopers. BlueSky and Threads merely had to toss them a handful of candy, and promise them others, and it was like flipping a switch that sucked them out of here like runaway ShopVac. But I am convinced that many can be brought back.
as seen in the comments here, many don't want what you (and I) seem to want. the culture was shaped by people who didn't want the standard social media experience. they want small communities where nothing upsets them. they wanted to escape the public forum with people they don't agree with.
it's the best tech to allow everyone to interact freely and the best info, arguments and art to go viral. but for the most invested users here, letting that happen would amount to gentrification.
@wjmaggos All true, but it’s sort of like college protestors. They may not have had a serious demand or a realistic path to a preferred outcome, but just the expressions of need have had meaningful consequence. They are right to want smaller, safer communities, for those who want that. But if they also want ANY connectivity with everyone else, they must compromise. I believe we can find a happy medium.
@shoq are you sure Bluesky is doing any better in this regard. It seems like lots of journalist accounts have gone dormant there as well when the initial hype died down.
Meanwhile Threads has probably been the most successful despite them at times seemingly working actively against the news media. I think it might be just a case of journalists following the big numbers.
@vetehinen That is absolutely all it is, which is why I’ve said for months that Threads would draw them in. Despite their self image, very few journalists have the moral fortitude to sacrifice career considerations for a larger public good. (Most people are the same). Being scolded for their self-interest (by a small number of their peers) has absolutely no effect.
What if I told you I don't care if Mastodon (or, really, the #Fediverse) does anything to keep anyone happy. What if I told you most people get #SocialMedia wrong because they want to do it at scale and replicate the failed power law experience of Twitter?
What if I told you the best way to do social media is the same way you do other social things: in the small scale where you can have a conversation instead of treating it like a broadcast medium?
You’re rightfully condemning the most obvious manifestations of the MSM’s bias toward techno-capitalism and it’s billionaires. But I think a hybridization is likely, just as there was with Linux. Profit, nonprofit and mixed networks can co-exist, but they need better defined lanes.
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