this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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Thanks for the list! As someone who has never used any Twitter-like site before (I guess microblog is the right term...?), and recently made a profile on Bluesky only to support it (I have used it briefly ~3 times since joining): what are the pros of Mastodon that Bluesky doesn't have?
As far as I can tell, the advantages of Mastodon over Bluesky are:
Haha, thanks! I know it's quite important for a good bunch of people here (on a federated site), but I guess I'll stick with Bluesky then. Thanks for the insights! : )
It's important because, along with the ability to migrate accounts, it prevents/deters enshittification. In betting Bluesky will hit that wall in the next few years (I'm guessing they'll never properly implement federation).
Yeah I agree that we will probably happen, but the problem is using Mastodon is such a pain for the vast majority of people, it's not worth the hassle.
And I say that to someone who uses both platforms.
I know; as much as I love the concept, I can already see .world soaking up most of the users, which might not be the best thing for federation - but TBF when I came over from Reddit, my main goal was to find something decent and similar, and federation was secondary at best for me; so I'll see if it gets any worse, but for the moment, the first list definitely overweighs the second "list" for me.
Bluesky's main feed is totally algorithm free, it's just the people you follow's posts in chronological order, same as mastodon.
Starter kits are optional, but they allow you to get started in hours rather than months. For me, they made the difference between a vibrant and interesting feed well tailored towards my interests, and a very sparse feed that I didn't use on Mastodon. For me they were the difference between a useful social network and a non-useful one.
Main one is that it doesn't manipulate your feed with stuff "you might enjoy" so you can't be easily manipulated by the people setting the algorithm. Of course, this is exactly why people find it hard. People want to be fed stuff and told what to consume.
That's not really a fair description of what's going on.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a recommendation algorithm, can you imagine trying to use Netflix if it didn't tell you about any of the shows and you just have to guess and type in a film in order to see if it existed?
The problem with algorithms is when they're the only option, or when they are invisible and you think you are getting a timeline of people you've subscribed to, but really you're getting an algorithm optimizing retention. As long as it's just recommending stuff there's nothing wrong with it, in fact as a lot of people point out, it's kind of necessary.
The world functioned before recommendation algorithms. Even the internet did. Once upon a time, when Goggle worked, it didn't modify its results based on your history.
Netflix could operate fine with classifications, ratings good tagging and search. It doesn't need to monitor your viewing habits and recommend something based on them.
Yes but it would be more irritating to use than without which is my point.
The world function perfectly well without electricity but I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting that we go back to a pre-electrified age just because technically it's possible.
Bluesky also has the option of doing this, or not.
Do you refer to the "Following" Vs "Discover" feed?
Apparently it's very noticeable when a post hits the discover feed. The quality of responses dives off a cliff.
There's a new option available now for reply controls, you can limit it to just people who follow you. While it's a very low bar, it's enough of a threshold for most randoms to not bother following just to reply to you
And even without that, I still have felt that the quality of replies doesn't drop THAT much one it hits Discover - but it may be partly who I follow/am recommended, that block lists are doing a great job of eliminating trolls+spam, and I just automatically ignore any stupid/low effort stuff ("wow you are the best at that thing you posted about", "that js amazjng i have never seen a linux before" or whatever).
This option will only help, though.
This one is so important. After a year my mastodon feed is perfectly tailored for me. When I open it I enjoy my time there and the posts I see. I can leave whenever I want, and without a feel of rage or anxiety. But the most important part is that I don't feel the compulsive need to open it every other second. It's to liberating in contrast with the algorithm led manipulation.