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Does it feel like the fediverse is exclusively used by older tech nerds? (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago by gamer@lemm.ee to c/fediverse@lemmy.world

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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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[-] erasebegin@lemmy.fmhy.ml 133 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm new here, and new to federated applications (and fit OP's description perfectly). This federated stuff is going to remain niche unless somebody figures out a way to make it approachable.

Reddit first time:

> open app
> choose some things I like
> see all the things

Lemmy first time:

> open app
> ?????
> google how to use it
> choose a... server? 
> ?????

[-] RaoulDook@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

This perfectly illustrates the problem with the Internet as a whole in the age of smartphones.

Your idea of the "first step" is always "open app" but the Internet is not apps. The Internet is servers, and a web browser is the client app for most of it.

Since I know how to use the Internet, it was simple AF to get a Lemmy account going. I went to https://lemmy.world and signed up. Now I'm on Lemmy.

If all you know of the Internet is "open app" on your phone, you have a lot more to learn about the Internet as a whole.

[-] erasebegin@lemmy.fmhy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

I am a former senior web developer and head of a web-based software company, I know how to use the internet. That is not why I use apps. I use apps because they fit into my phone's ecosystem much better than websites. The flow I've illustrated is the most commonly adopted, as others in the reply thread have pointed out.

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this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023

1977 points (95.0% liked)