this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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Fediverse

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A community to talk about the Fediverse and all it's related services using ActivityPub (Mastodon, Lemmy, KBin, etc).

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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?

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[–] TrickyCamel@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

22 years old prospective CS student here.

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[–] XemokA@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago

Yep. Sounds about right, polls I’ve seen on mastodon also shows this: https://mastodon.art/@jsstaedtler/110668308409683502

[–] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

Follow #art on mastadon and you see how active that community is.

[–] Nioxic@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

im studying CS

im in the late 30s

i've been a tech enthusiast for a bit more than 30 years

i dont use linux though

More users will come. it's all about the memes and fun discussions though. Memes is what drew me towards reddit. i just wanted to "scroll" for some entertainment, when i first found the site.

and being able to google, and finding reddit links helps.

i've yet to find a link to lemmy, by googling anything - even if i include the word lemmy.

On reddit we had a ton of "general" hobby subreddits. houseplants, cast iron, woodworking etc

i've not been searching for specific communities (search doesnt work super well i think) but i've yet to randomyl spot any communities that fall in to that category. it's mostly.. tech related subreddits.

the "common folk" wants hobbies, sports, news, etc.

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[–] Jesse@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not EXCLUSIVELY... but kinda, but even though I'm only 1 (or maybe 2) out of the 3, and a bunch of programming jokes and jargon go over my head, I really don't mind. And... if you're going to start with a particular demographic as a core userbase, man oh man could you do worse these days.

[–] Resonosity@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Sub-30 yo but super-20 yo

STEM equal, just not tech

Windows user (although I have Linux installed on my PC)

Close, but rly close enough

[–] Pregnenolone@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Jeez I’m not that old

[–] Smokeydope@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

The average person is about as technologically literate as a rock and curious about learning new things as a weed. Only a small subset of intelligent, curious, principled people dare to think of using alternatives that require users to have more than two brain cells or an attention span of more than 30 seconds.

[–] taj@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I guess I'm all 3. I'm 39, tech enthusiast (tho I've long since given up on working in the industry), and have been using and occasionally contributing to the Linux community since the mid-90s.

My husband is afaik, still just on reddit. idk if he's moved to the official app on his phone (he was a rif guy for years) or what he's doing tbh. But, he's not really a geek 😁

[–] Edvin73@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Well, we (old farts) know shit, kids are brainwashed nowadays.

[–] drunnells@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Oh man, that's totally me! But I can't tell you why it is so appealing to my demographic. I don't know anyone IRL here and nothing about it seems like it would scare off everyone else...

BUT while we are all here:

  • Trapper Keepers
  • Garbage Pail Kids
  • Music on cassette tapes
  • Vim > Emacs
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[–] FranklinsBeard@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm an ageless, multi-planar being located outside of time. My New Deal policies benefited from it.

[–] XiELEd@lemmy.fmhy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

I'm literally less than a decade old and only own a phone and a shitty HP laptop

[–] sgtgig@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Avoiding corporate software companies and abandoning established communities on principle isn't something your average person does. Also, wrapping your head around the Fediverse, even if the sign-up process is as simple as other platforms, can be an obstacle for most people.

[–] tnomrom_haroj@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Me, me and me. Maybe I've finally found my people?

[–] breadcrumb@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

As many, I fit the description except for the age, but I hope this monoculture thing goes away. I don't want an entire social network to be a huge bubble. If I want a bubble I join one of the many communities populated by people similar to me, but I want to have the chance to look "for something completely different", getting in touch with world views completely opposte to mine.

[–] lemmonaut@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Yes - guilty! We understand what it is, and we have used the centralized systems long enough to remember how they started. It's so romantic to be at the beginning once more - until the next eternal September :)

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

… so you’re saying that my subscriber numbers are actual people and not mostly bots? I assumed they were bots. (I created an over 30 community).

[–] multicolorKnight@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yes, I'm one too. That's why I am here. The channels are generally relevant to me, and I can communicate with people, and not disappear in the mob, or deal constantly with low effort smart ass comments, trolls and bots.

What is it that you want to win? http://web.archive.org/web/20230707004346/https://ploum.net/2023-07-06-stop-trying-to-make-social-networks-succeed.html

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