Abandoned America
Judge me if you want, but I created a Threads account - mostly to prevent impersonation, but also a bit out of curiosity.
Millions of users or not, it is at least at the moment a pretty lousy alternative to the Fediverse. Aside from my hatred of Meta, the feed is utter trash with no way to manage it, I can't even set a profile photo, and replies inexplicably don't show up. These are really basic design and usability issues that, if not addressed, will tank longer term user numbers
Eugen Rochko
@waltbaldwin @AbandonedAmerica Not just there, the back button has the behaviour you want.
Walt Baldwin
in advanced ui, if you use back instead notifications button, it has the behavior you are looking for.
Abandoned America
Users complain about not seeing the people they follow on other Meta platforms but somehow it's worse on Threads - like, the feed is literally just a bunch of random influencers hollering substance-free Instagram platitudes. Idk, maybe that will work for some people but if all you're seeing is randos you're going to get bored really quickly. I think a lot of people signed up out of FOMO/curiosity and are going to stop using it if they can't manage their feed at all.
Abandoned America
I do think it's worthwhile to see the areas Threads has improved on the Fediverse but it's the same old stuff people always complain about - search functionality, QRTs, onboarding, difficulty finding content/friends if you're a new user.
Having said that, Threads also reinforces the frequent argument that the Fediverse doesn't have to be The Mainstream Platform to be successful. It reminds me of Twitter currently - no substance or depth, just hucksters. In other words, about what I expected.
Abandoned America
The Mastodon experience has its own major issues - being forced back to the top of my replies every time I comment on one is such a headache, the fact that on a desktop there's an almost comically bad keyboard lag (at least, for me), finding accounts to follow could be a lot easier, we need more content creators, etc.
But the lack of a dictatorial algorithm helps a lot. I'm hoping that long after Threads comes and goes the Fediverse will remain.
Abandoned America
I really do hate that my notifications tab on the app resets to the top if I look at a comment though, that makes it incredibly difficult to keep track of what I have replied to and what I have not. That keyboard lag makes it nearly impossible to use Mastodon on a desktop. Those are absolutely huge usability issues for me, between the two it is almost impossible to even reply to stuff any more
Abandoned America
@Gargron @waltbaldwin unfortunately when I use the back button in the app it still reloads my notifications and resets to the top of the feed.
By the way, while we're talking, thank you for your hard work. I would hate to be complainy about these issues without mentioning that I realize that you've put a lot of time and effort into Mastodon and I think what you've achieved with it is pretty astonishing. I am sure the amount of bugs you've squashed is far beyond my comprehension.
Hey Beth
@edlouwe @AbandonedAmerica @tom4okstate
Hmm...interesting.
I also read that Meta pushed it out to get a jump on Mozilla.
Whatever Zuckerberg's motives or thought processes are, he has further fragmented Twitter users. Each new platform or Musk- inflicted crisis results in a percentage of users leaving the site forever or decreasing their time on the site, which is also impacting engagement.
Professional accounts that stayed on Twitter and posted exclusively are finding themselves in a reactionary mode. It was one thing to be without a plan in November when the Muskifcation started, but now? They should be on every platform. They will never see all of their former followers in one place again unless Meta joins the fediverse AND they have a separate account to reach those on instances that blocked Meta.
Abandoned America
@tom4okstate I'm a little shocked too. It feels really, really half-assed for such a big platform
Echo Delta :vivaldi_blue:
@AbandonedAmerica @tom4okstate maybe that's the point? Make users think the Fediverse is trash to keep them from joining it? That would explain why they're so loud about ActivityPub with no obvious profit motive to use it 🤔🤔
tom4okstate
@AbandonedAmerica I can't believe they botched such obvious features before the roll out.
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