this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2023
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They're different kinds of experiences.
Forum-type things like Slashdot, Reddit, Hacker news, Reddit, etc. put the focus on the topic or community.
Micro-blog type things like Twitter, Mastodon put the focus on individuals.
If you want to see what your favourite author is posting about, or what your favourite musician is working on, or maybe behind the scenes pictures from a sporting event, microblogging platforms are great for that. Journalists also loved them because they could follow specific other journalists or other key people in the area they cared about, and get direct info from that source.
OTOH, if what you care about is a certain topic (F1 racing, beebop jazz, etc.) then forum-style platforms are better because the focus is the topic rather than the individuals.
I didn't like Twitter for that reason. Often I'd follow someone because I saw some posts they made about something I'm interested in. Then suddenly they're flooding my feed with stuff I don't care about and often being really annoying while they do it.
I rarely find someone who I like all their posts. So it's like do I just put up with the furry porn retweets because this person is a genius who occasionally posts about really interesting hacks?
That's why I rarely ever followed random people on the microblogging platforms. IMO what it's good for is following journalists, who treat the platform professionally and mostly only talk about things related to their work, or say famous authors who do some self-promotion, but also sometimes talk about their creative process.
This is an important distinction. I follow people on Twitter, while I follow topics on Reddit. It's also the main reason why Mastodon will never succeed until it reaches the people I want to follow.
Good breakdown! I realized how foolish it is to wish any service be like anything else.
The fediverse is diverse, and the comparison is immature. We should be grateful these alternatives exist at all, because not too long ago it felt like world wide web had been irreversibly overrun by corporations, and resistance was hopeless.
Thank you for helping evolve my perspective!