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> are all posting their updates on X - because, like the users, they have no choice, because no alternative exists. The fediverse is a viable alternative. But

by vaylian 22d ago

> are all posting their updates on X - because, like the users, they have no choice, because no alternative exists. The fediverse is a viable alternative. But most non-tech people don't know about it.

carlos22 22d ago
And it has much less users, I would say its max 1-5% of X users.
- vaylian 22d ago
  That doesn't mean that it's not viable for posting public announcements
- ben_w 21d ago
  In the context of: Firefighters who deal with forest fires, police, governments, rescue services (here in Spain) are all posting their updates on X - because, like the users, they have no choice, because no alternative exists. It simply does not matter how big Bluesky is relative to X. You put messages somewhere and tell your population about this, that's that. For comparison, I have NINA installed on my phone, a German government app for exactly this category: https://www.bbk.bund.de/DE/Warnung-Vorsorge/Warn-App-NINA/warn-app-nina_node.html https://www.bbk.bund.de/DE/Warnung-Vorsorge/Warn-App-NINA/wa... Number of users? Google play story says "10M+", same as the Bluesky app. 90% of an app like this (broadcast, one-way, no comments, no need for moderation system because only governments get to push content) was already for the most part a piece of piss to write before LLMs came along. The 10% part that's hard is going to be backup infrastructure that X also won't help much with, because the first two items in the list of hazards icons is "Attack on IT systems" then "Attack with nuclear weapons". (4 is "IT system outage", 6 is "Telephone line outage").
threetonesun 22d ago
Did websites and RSS stop working and I missed it? With more people doing AI searches a website is even more viable now, it's better for AI scraping than x.com.
- alightsoul 21d ago
  Yes, the average user has either never used a website, or migrated to social media.
  - chipotle_coyote 21d ago
    "The average user has never used a website"? Really? The average user has never once, ever, opened their browser and gone to a website? Never read a newspaper online? Gone to LinkedIn or Facebook, done banking, made a doctor's appointment, found an AC repair shop on the web rather than through an app? Because I don't know what your definition of "average user" is, but I know a bunch of non-technical folks in ages ranging from thirty-something to eighty-something who do that all the time. (Also, they sign up for mailing lists all the time, often whether they want to or not because everybody wants you to be on their damn mailing list. Email is absolutely still a viable broadcast medium, despite all the pundits declaring "email is dead" before they go back to, you know, checking their email.)
    - alightsoul 21d ago
      The average user has never once, ever, opened their browser and gone to a website? Never read a newspaper online? Gone to LinkedIn or Facebook, done banking, made a doctor's appointment, found an AC repair shop on the web rather than through an app? Yes exactly. The difference is that you live in the us where you grew up with the concept of an information superhighway in the 90s. In most of the world the internet as websites never existed, it arrived with smartphones and thus social media apps and by extension some other apps. The things you mention were all done in person or via messaging apps until other apps were introduced. Actually most of the world still does those things in person or via WhatsApp. Well of course not Facebook, LinkedIn or online banking because they arrived with smartphones too.
- johnnyanmac 22d ago
  I'm still honestly surprised that government entities didn't already solve this problem for themselves. We have means to mail, call, and even email our representatives, but technology seemingly stalled out 20 years ago and didn't keep up with the idea of having a digital forum. There are even multiple channels of verification to integrate, so such governmental forums could verify who is a constituent. But that's not the end results. Senators have youtube channels, representative posts tweets and even tiktoks to update people, and emergency broadcasts post on Facebook. I'm not opposed to the expanded reach, but when that's their only official channel, it feels like something failed. Recent years have only now made some non-US entities be pushed to start building away from this dependency, but it's a shame it had to get this far ingrained to begin with.
echelon 22d ago
> The fediverse is a viable alternative Bluesky attracted socialist progressives, furries, and kink-positive folks early on. I'm not making any value statements, and there's nothing wrong with the userbase, but this is what dominates the feed for new users. A lot of people are turned off by that when they see it as their first experience with the platform. Or they're actively turned away upon interaction. That's not how you build a big social network. Mastodon is the exact same. These platforms are also not winning people over by calling them "toots" and "skeets". It's like Gimp refusing to adopt a Photoshop style UI for years and not changing their name. Despite stated intentions, I think these platforms want to stay small and niche and non mainstream. If they wanted to grow big, they'd behave much differently. They'd try to get the Kardashians and would welcome posts about handbags and guns and sports.
- ageitgey 22d ago
  > Despite stated intentions, I think these platforms want to stay small and niche and non mainstream. I think that's essentially it, whether they are doing it intentionally or not. Running a social network is like curating a party or conference. Who you do and don't let participate, and who you do and don't promote above others, is essentially the product. And that is a lot of work. Open protocols don't solve any of these problems, and people who care about open protocols don't tend to be the same people interested in curating giant parties and conferences for a mass audience.
- shakna 22d ago
  Is that not precisely how Twitter built their original social network...?
- raverbashing 22d ago
  You're right I'd say Mastodon at this point is mostly people talking in a vacuum (even more than BlueSky) No mainstream discussion or debate comes from Mastodon, you don't see screenshots around (and you do see skeets around) As much as SpaceXAi lost audience, there's a lot of discussion still going around there
- RamblingCTO 22d ago

by vaylian 22d ago

carlos22 22d ago

And it has much less users, I would say its max 1-5% of X users.

vaylian 22d ago
That doesn't mean that it's not viable for posting public announcements
ben_w 21d ago
In the context of: Firefighters who deal with forest fires, police, governments, rescue services (here in Spain) are all posting their updates on X - because, like the users, they have no choice, because no alternative exists. It simply does not matter how big Bluesky is relative to X. You put messages somewhere and tell your population about this, that's that. For comparison, I have NINA installed on my phone, a German government app for exactly this category: https://www.bbk.bund.de/DE/Warnung-Vorsorge/Warn-App-NINA/warn-app-nina_node.html https://www.bbk.bund.de/DE/Warnung-Vorsorge/Warn-App-NINA/wa... Number of users? Google play story says "10M+", same as the Bluesky app. 90% of an app like this (broadcast, one-way, no comments, no need for moderation system because only governments get to push content) was already for the most part a piece of piss to write before LLMs came along. The 10% part that's hard is going to be backup infrastructure that X also won't help much with, because the first two items in the list of hazards icons is "Attack on IT systems" then "Attack with nuclear weapons". (4 is "IT system outage", 6 is "Telephone line outage").

threetonesun 22d ago

Did websites and RSS stop working and I missed it? With more people doing AI searches a website is even more viable now, it's better for AI scraping than x.com.

alightsoul 21d ago
Yes, the average user has either never used a website, or migrated to social media.
- chipotle_coyote 21d ago
  "The average user has never used a website"? Really? The average user has never once, ever, opened their browser and gone to a website? Never read a newspaper online? Gone to LinkedIn or Facebook, done banking, made a doctor's appointment, found an AC repair shop on the web rather than through an app? Because I don't know what your definition of "average user" is, but I know a bunch of non-technical folks in ages ranging from thirty-something to eighty-something who do that all the time. (Also, they sign up for mailing lists all the time, often whether they want to or not because everybody wants you to be on their damn mailing list. Email is absolutely still a viable broadcast medium, despite all the pundits declaring "email is dead" before they go back to, you know, checking their email.)
  - alightsoul 21d ago
    The average user has never once, ever, opened their browser and gone to a website? Never read a newspaper online? Gone to LinkedIn or Facebook, done banking, made a doctor's appointment, found an AC repair shop on the web rather than through an app? Yes exactly. The difference is that you live in the us where you grew up with the concept of an information superhighway in the 90s. In most of the world the internet as websites never existed, it arrived with smartphones and thus social media apps and by extension some other apps. The things you mention were all done in person or via messaging apps until other apps were introduced. Actually most of the world still does those things in person or via WhatsApp. Well of course not Facebook, LinkedIn or online banking because they arrived with smartphones too.
johnnyanmac 22d ago
I'm still honestly surprised that government entities didn't already solve this problem for themselves. We have means to mail, call, and even email our representatives, but technology seemingly stalled out 20 years ago and didn't keep up with the idea of having a digital forum. There are even multiple channels of verification to integrate, so such governmental forums could verify who is a constituent. But that's not the end results. Senators have youtube channels, representative posts tweets and even tiktoks to update people, and emergency broadcasts post on Facebook. I'm not opposed to the expanded reach, but when that's their only official channel, it feels like something failed. Recent years have only now made some non-US entities be pushed to start building away from this dependency, but it's a shame it had to get this far ingrained to begin with.

echelon 22d ago

> The fediverse is a viable alternative Bluesky attracted socialist progressives, furries, and kink-positive folks early on. I'm not making any value statements, and there's nothing wrong with the userbase, but this is what dominates the feed for new users. A lot of people are turned off by that when they see it as their first experience with the platform. Or they're actively turned away upon interaction. That's not how you build a big social network. Mastodon is the exact same. These platforms are also not winning people over by calling them "toots" and "skeets". It's like Gimp refusing to adopt a Photoshop style UI for years and not changing their name. Despite stated intentions, I think these platforms want to stay small and niche and non mainstream. If they wanted to grow big, they'd behave much differently. They'd try to get the Kardashians and would welcome posts about handbags and guns and sports.

ageitgey 22d ago
> Despite stated intentions, I think these platforms want to stay small and niche and non mainstream. I think that's essentially it, whether they are doing it intentionally or not. Running a social network is like curating a party or conference. Who you do and don't let participate, and who you do and don't promote above others, is essentially the product. And that is a lot of work. Open protocols don't solve any of these problems, and people who care about open protocols don't tend to be the same people interested in curating giant parties and conferences for a mass audience.
shakna 22d ago
Is that not precisely how Twitter built their original social network...?
raverbashing 22d ago
You're right I'd say Mastodon at this point is mostly people talking in a vacuum (even more than BlueSky) No mainstream discussion or debate comes from Mastodon, you don't see screenshots around (and you do see skeets around) As much as SpaceXAi lost audience, there's a lot of discussion still going around there
RamblingCTO 22d ago