Did somebody tell you it's too confusing?

I think this is the way we should communicate, when presented with the question on how to get on Mastodon:

Copy paste from the link:

How do I use Mastodon?

  • Download the Mastodon app from the Apple app store or Play store.

  • Create an account (just like Twitter or any other social media)

  • Follow people, and get posting.

Why do tech journalists say it’s too confusing to catch on?

I have no fucking idea.

EDIT for clarification, don’t take this too seriously:

This “guide” is a bit of a joke made out of frustration. If you actually want to know more, including why I feel it has potential to free us from the dystopian hellscape that is modern social media, here is the “real” guide to Mastodon. It still uses simple language (and has lots of pictures!):

Please share widely

    • James R Kirk@startrek.websiteEnglish
      6·
      2 days ago

      When using the official Mastodon app (as suggested in the guide) “instances” are not a factor at all (unless the user specifically goes out of their way). A new user could have never even heard of the term “instance” and the above steps would work fine.

      You don’t just download the app, create an account, and go.

      Actually with Mastodon this is literally how it works.

      EDIT: I should say this is how it works now, it didn’t always used to be this way. The official Mastodon app used to ask the user to pick an instance, but for a number of years now it defaults every new account to mastodon.social unless they opt out. There was a big brouhah about centralization but the Mastodon devs felt it made for easier on boarding.

    • Nima@leminal.spaceEnglish
      61·
      2 days ago

      exactly. and trying to downplay potential users as stupid before they’ve even used a social media platform isn’t going to exactly make them want to stay. or even try in the first place.

      just makes mastodon look like a place where nerds reign free and normal folks won’t be able to participate effectively.

      if you want to make mastodon a destination and not a niche corner to be avoided, this is not the way.

      i agree with you completely.

      edit: I should clarify, the “guide” above is the thing insulting users. the guide is inaccurate.

      • Ofiuco@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        just makes mastodon look like a place where nerds reign free and normal folks won’t be able to participate effectively.

        I gotta say… that’s what the fediverse is (for now), there have been a couple of posts on Lemmy about things being too niche or too nerd oriented (more recently people were talking about the lack of sports), same thing happens on mastodon, if you aren’t from a country with enough users, there’s basically nothing and it gets worse if you are a normie since most of the current users will be nerds who only talk about linux, their job, inside jokes and memes, some games, keyboard-activism and FOSS

        mexican ranting

        … and propaganda-users who benefits from the lack of real users from a country to spread their shit and mass-downvote the rest (like lemmy and 🇲🇽)

        So whenever a normie searches for something (yes, even the so suggested hashtags) they won’t find anything and whatever they post will get buried and ignored, quickly driving them away from it (at least that’s what I’ve observed when it comes to the mexican experience).

        And that’s without talking about the terrible browsing experience that mastodon provides (ex: wish I could explore another instance’s local posts while being logged in from mine).

      • Luffy@lemmy.mlEnglish
        22·
        1 day ago

        and trying to downplay potential users as stupid

        Because they are

        When I was frickin‘ 14, I managed to grasp the Idea of an Instance and managed to find an instance I liked and register there

        And if some 25 y o goddamn Tech Journalists is dumber than a dude in 7th grade with a phone, maybe you should start thinking about if we are really all Albert Einsteins prodogy or if the bar is just set way too low for considering whats „Normal Intelligence“

    • Randomgal@lemmy.caEnglish
      32·
      2 days ago

      Thanks for the honesty!

      It used to blow my mind that the “omg how can the vote for Trump are they blind fanatics!n!?” would be the same “Omg how do you not see how easy this is!!?” people, but now I realize it’s just people being loyal to their team, whatever it is.

    • ikt@aussie.zoneEnglish
      43·
      2 days ago

      then you need to decide your instance

      Just use mastodon.social

      If you feel like you want to join a more specific community then you can

        • lgsp@feddit.it@feddit.itOPEnglish
          81·
          2 days ago

          We both know that is not how this should work. If everybody joins the same instance

          But this doesn’t happen. Mastodon.social is far from 90%, and the former CEO made the choice of letting control go to an entity that is no-profit, I think it’s the right choice.

          • The casual user joins mastodon.social (default highlighted choice). He can enjoy the Fediverse and discover its complexity with experience, not by understanding everything in advance.
            • He can the move to another instance if he feels so, after undetstanding what this actually means
          • The more advanced user probably already knows the instance thing, and maybe doesn’t even use the offical app
        • manxu@piefed.socialEnglish
          3·
          2 days ago

          I think it’s the “basically” part in basically right back where we started that makes the difference. Even if 100% of Fediverse users were on a single instance, once that instance starts pulling Musk moves, the users can move somewhere else.

          Only if that instance defederates from everyone else do we get the Twitter situation again. Or, since that’s actually what happened, Truth Social, which I think is just a slightly modified Mastodon instance with federation disabled/deactivated.