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?

  • Phegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    741·
    1 year ago

    That profile is very much the early adopters of any new platform or technology. If you described the early users of the internet as a whole, it would be very similar.

    I don’t think anything particular is keeping other users away, it’s early. We need evangelist, I suspect that most normies don’t even know the fediverse exists, let alone are considering using it.

    We just need to continue to grow the reach of the fediverse, don’t give up if it seems a bit bare and give everyone else a reason to join us

    • Wolf_359@lemmy.worldEnglish
      24·
      1 year ago

      I actually like where the Fediverse is now. And I think a long trajectory of slow growth will be very good for it.

      Reddit is a great example of the “enshitification” process at work. A community grows way too big, way too fast. People don’t adopt the norms, the norms change. That’s why the front page of Reddit is full of “Am I ugly?” Posts when it used to be (more) high quality discussions with a bunch of nerds. Hacker news is a good example of a slow-growing community which has mostly maintained an environment of intellectual curiosity.

      Excellent blog post about this here: https://www.marginalia.nu/log/82_killing_community/

      • Phegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        Really good points here. I want the best of both worlds, a thriving community with quality content but also not a platform on the verge of enshittifucation. Unsure if it’s possible, but I can dream

    • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      I’m mid 20s, not really into tech, and in the medical field. I’m sure the demographic skews towards the “older” tech-focused group but there’s others on Lemmy too. It’s a pretty small learning curve to get signed up and active imo. Especially with the recent explosion of apps that offer a familiar mobile browsing experience

      • Phegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        I hope my comment didn’t come across as gatekeepy, if so, I apologize. With that said, glad to have anyone here, glad to have more voices

        • BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          Not at all! It just got me thinking and figured I’d add a perspective from someone that isn’t in tech on getting set up/user experience

          • Phegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            1 year ago

            Okay good! I am trying my best to keep a positive tone on here so that we don’t descend into toxicity like reddit.