Fediverse

Most people are older than 30.

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.

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

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

I fit the profile

Gosh I feel like this guy called me out.

But then I saw the user name.

Hmmm.....

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.

Get off my lawn.

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

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.

we are the kind to early adopt new stuff

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.

"You must be new here"

We're always the first adopters.

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.

I think that might be because most people who go through the hurdles of setting up an account and figuring out the entire frediverse are people who are much more interested in the tech and it's applications rather than your average social media consumer who can just get all they want in a single location with a easy to understand concept

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.

It's funny if so - I was so old on Reddit. But this means I'm old enough to remember Usenet so this platform is comfortable for me.

I don't think it was difficult at all to sign up though, doesn't seem like a barrier to entry.

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.

I don't use Linux, but other than that...

I think most people don't go to a platform because of how it is implemented but rather what content and what communities already exist there.

People on the fediverse now are using it not because of the content already here but more because of the promise of a platform designed in a different way that will ultimately enable a better internet experience. I think part of the reason why it's mostly techy people is that the sales pitch is complicated enough that mostly techy people will be able to appreciate it. Not to say that non-techy people are too stupid to get it, it's just that it requires a kind of abstract thinking that techy people are more used to.

It feels like lemmy seems to have a sense of nostalgia for old reddit in some ways, so I imagine that a lot of people on here where also on reddit maybe 5-15 years ago, which means that you are probably going to be older than the average reditor as well as techy. Can't speak for mastodon, honestly I find the culture on most instances I've seen to be kinda weird and unappealing but yes it seems to be older techy people as well there.

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

Right now, the fediverse is not very user-friendly for non-tech people.

I mean, there's instances de-federating from each other, weird federation sync anomalies still going on between instances, users have to create and maintain multiple user accounts on multiple instances if those instances have defederated each other, even the 'official' jerboa app for lemmy shits itself if you try and connect in to an instance that's one sub-dot version lower than what it was built for - plus it crashes on 1/3 of my android devices, some of the best lemmy apps have been removed from app stores due to non-compliance with app store terms and have to be installed manually from github. It's all still very DIY right now instead of plug-and-play....and if lemmy is to appeal to anyone other than tech nerds, it needs to become much more user friendly and much more plug-and-play.

I tried explaining it all to my wife (who is still a Reddit user) and she argues that lemmy on fediverse sounds way too complicated...and she's not wrong.

sure. but i also can't help but feel like when history looks back on the fediverse it's more likely to be in the geocities and anglefire category than some seismic shift in social media.

I hope for the later, but realistically feel it will be the former.