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?
aka: early tech adopters!
these folk are always the ones trying new things, especially anti-corporate things. They aren’t keeping people away. this is just how the bleeding edge of new technology. The communities natural grow out over time as more people show up and start to outnumber them. But it’s thanks to them that niche new stuff gets supported in the first place while it builds up it’s audience (and reduces the friction to joining)
In reddit’s early days, it was exactly like this. I remember that it felt like a Linux user forum, but with some conspiracy theorists. I actually feel that lemmy is a little more diverse than that.
Hmm, not sure. But I’m in my 20s and I love to advocate for privacy and decentralization.
Yep :p
I’m Gen Z, don’t use Linux, don’t know the first thing about programming (I know how to use file explorer though), and never intend to learn, and I’m here because I don’t wanna use the official Reddit app and because I’m convinced that the Fediverse is likely to become big in the future and I wanna be able to say I was here when it all began.
I know how to use file explorer though
What are the kids being taught that this is worth mentioning???
Idk I just heard that apparently knowing how to use file explorer is considered impressive in modern CS classes
What in the actual fuck
Unfortunately, computer literacy seems surprisingly rare in the younger generations…
According to what I have heard, other elite hacker skills that are at risk of getting lost in the younger generations include searching on Google and using e-mail.
This is me as well. gen z, hate that trillion dollar corporations run our social media. The fediverse is the future.
Older? It seems the general lemmy population is in their early 20s.
Old tech nerd here. Is this the meeting spot?
Younger folks have been raised on apps and other polished devices with oodles of effort put into UX design.
Older folks grew up learning DOS commands, memorizing the IRQ of their sound card, and other clunky shenanigans.
In their current state Lemmy, Mastodon and other services are too complicated for most young folks to bother with. Not all, but most, especially the filthy casuals.
I use Ivory for browsing Mastodon, and I’d bet that the app is more polished than any other first-party social media app.
The problem with Mastodon (and Lemmy to some extent) is that the onboarding process is not as straightforward, thus causing some friction for the less tech-savvy users.
Couldn’t agree more
We are used to Comfort and once you are used to it (or even never experienced else) its hard to lay it off for other benefits
Word! I feel active learning and feeding off one’s brain curiosity diminished for younger folx.
With that comes laziness to “set things up”. “OMG, it’s too complicated for me. I’m having a headache. I can’t, I just can’t.”
I’m 26, probably among the oldest of gen z. I love lemmy. The quality is higher here because the community is smaller. There are much less reports than there used to be on reddit.
Yeah Im like one of the youngest with an age of 14.But thats okay because lemmy is just awesome for me.
I mean, Reddit killed off ‘polished UX’ and that’s what drove me here. All the great 3PAs are on the Fediverse, after all!
This is the answer. I’m 26 and most of my peers didn’t really use the internet beyond the occasional usage of the school library computers until Apple released the first iPhone. By that time places like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit were up and running.
That’s all their experience with the internet is. Polished experiences through dedicated apps on extremely popular platforms. Now those people have had kids and all those kids know is the same thing. It’s all apps on phones and tablets.
Lemmy: A) Is too complicated in it’s current form for those types of people to effectively understand and use.
B) Lemmy is currently emulating a type of early internet experience that only nostalgic older millennials nerds crave. General users tend to prefer bigger platforms.
Lemmy is nostalgic? Lemmy is novelty for me. Looks and feels so modern. Simplistic, yet modern. Am I weird?
yeah, too modern. perhaps they’re using a third party client?
Hello,
Are you aware you are replying to a year old comment?
Also, for less modern: https://old.lemmy.world/
i am also using a third party client
No I feel the same way. I think it’s because it’s part of an ecosystem of concepts built with all its predecessors mistakes in mind. There’s still learning to do but the foundation is simple but is also modern.
My Soundblaster used IRQ 7. Why do I still know this.
Ahh, the great modem connection sounds, letting you know that the internet was only just (roughly) 2 minutes away. Or longer.
56k4life
Because when the great reset happens and VHS is hot shit again, you’ll be ready.
Oh c’mon, 30s is not
older.Young people don’t even understand that the internet isn’t only the 5 websites that have existed since before they were born lol
That’s probably a big part of it. We kind of designed the internet to become an information super oligarchy, even if it wasn’t intentional.
I’m 33 for the record so I guess I’m an older tech nerd. Nice. 😎
There’s always a group on the forefront, it makes sense that it’s tech interested people Fediverse being based on open source software and all about sharing means it’s right p Linux user’s alley.
The 30+ demographic not sure, maybe just people a bit grown up and now under as much peer pressure to be on the more popular corporate platforms.
● under 30
● i mean im getting there in terms of tech interests
● Yeah ok i use linux
I’m called out, although I’m not quite in my 30s yet.
Also… Reddit started out in the same way, mostly as a forum for programmers and nerds
Op too young to realize who made Reddit popular to begin with.
Also why Reddit used to be better
Good. I don’t want to see some teenagers doing some dumb dance or whatever is on normie platforms.
What do people have against dancing? Life is soul sucking enough - let people do their silly little dances without judgement.
Oh I have nothing against it at all, I just have no interest in watching them lol
But then how will we know if our drip is bussin’?
fr no tomorrow our drip is mid no cap
- ~30 years old or older
- tech enthusiasts/workers
- linux users
- hates Elon Musk
- hates capitalism
- loves free software but somehow hates free markets
