Fediverse

Yep that’s me

I'm almost 48. My profession: foreign languages and literature. I have had a computer since I was 7 years old. I know how to use Linux and I have played video games all my life. I know a little code. I'm good with computers. A lot of people my age in my profession are not all that good with computers. They think they are because they can make a PowerPoint presentation or took a class on how to use a spread sheet as a grade book. So, I don't know, I don't think everyone on here are older tech nerds, so it's not exclusive to them. They could be the majority, though. Am I a nerd? Yes. But a different type of nerd. I speak three languages and read six. I can diagram a sentence and correct peoples' grammar and vocabulary in my sleep. I know all about literature from the 16th and 17th centuries. I play video games and I like technology enough, but it does not consume my life. Are there lots of people on here like me? I don't know. I DO know that I've interacted with a lot of younger people on here. To understand how to use this new type of social media you have to understand technology pretty well. It isn't for people who just want to tap or click on stuff that "just works." You need a basic understanding of how decentralized social networks function to be able to navigate it and you have to have patience with things that might slow down or do strange things every once in a while. There are lots of people my age that would not have the patience to learn how to use this space on the internet. In a lot of ways, they are very similar to the stereotypes of "average twenty-somethings" I've seen mentioned in this thread. No worries about privacy. In some cases, perfectly happy with their privacy being invaded because they want to see ads related to products they would buy. I also enjoy shopping. It's fun. I don't like ads, though.

I feel seen by this post.

There is natural overlap in ideology between the fediverse and FOSS (Free and Open Source Software so including Linux). The same principles apply like building something together without big corporations*. But that does lead to a rather narrow demography I'm afraid.

* I know a lot of big corporations ARE involved in the Linux kernel but I'm talking about the various distros in case of Linux.

Trash culture, TikTok and the likes. The gen z folx I know don't seem to prioritize privacy and quality content. Some know it and don't seem to care even after getting hacked/scammed.

Living vicariously through influencers, likes, and whatnot. Being cool, blending in...

Yes, and I'm loving it.

Yes.

There just needs to be automatic instance assignment for new users with registration time opt-out for those who want to choose. Pick whichever one is the most populated. If that's down at that particular moment in time, pick the next most populated and so on. Take the instance picking out of the equation for people who don't care about that. People who do care can still pick their own.

That being said, it's difficult to grow a new website in general unless it's already got established backing from other source (i.e. a large corporation, celebrity, etc.), It's not like old days in the 90s when there were far fewer websites in general.

Have you not seen the hundreds of nsfw and furry categories created immediately upon accessing the fediverse? I don't think tech nerds over 30 are the lion's share of adopters. It's the fucking weird and critically horny.

Yeah... We rule... :-)

I was going to say I don't use Linux, but I just noticed I have a Linux partition on my window 10 machine - and I have no idea how it got there.

I fit the description. I like it, the regular social media life drains me.

Eli5...How can I get into mastadon? I just signed up for Lemmy. Can I download any mastadon app and just log in and use it?

The fediverse is mostly full of FOSS enthusiasts, which happens to heavily include linux users.

That's what attracted me to the fediverse in the first place, all the linux people.

The old people are people who grew up before Facebook and corporate social media, as such have no loyalty to said platforms.

Not exactly but I feel like those are my people nevertheless

I've just blocked the linux communities. I quite liked Linux when I still had reason to use it, but it's just not something I care to see so frequently when scrolling the FP. Just keep blocking the /c/ you don't want and eventually you'll have a curated list of posts you want to see. But maybe i'm just old, ya young bastard. :p

I do not think that it is complicated to join or use.

But many do not care about privacy and centralization and hence will not leave mainstream platforms. Also the network effect is strong.

Hey! I'm all three of those 🤓

Well heck, that looks like me. I was thinking about running back to Fidonet.

frick, I check all three boxes (36, software developer and currently a KDE Neon user)

Is picking a server/federation too complicated?

Yes, but because 90% of the fediverse is older tech nerds, good luck getting them to acknowledge it.

• In 10 years
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I feel not nearly as much on Lemmy, but for Mastodon 100% yes. It's actually exhausting talking to them lol, they're so boring.

I would like to get more crafting content on here but tbh most of my friends from that stuff still use Facebook, never mind anything newer. They'll be ready for Fedi by about 2045 if we're lucky.

In the meantime getting to hang out with a load of likeminded nerds does in fact feel to me like a win.

I think it’s only older people who remember what the internet was like before everything became corporate controlled or SEO optimized.

I'm a bit under 24, have the limit of my tech skills being the ability to install and sometimes troubleshoot minecraft and Skyrim mods, and have never used Linux (I've thought about it admittedly, but ultimately didn't switch to it as it doesn't look to be compatible with my vr system.)

So there are some of us here that don't fit that demographic. From talking to some of my friends though, even the idea of having to pick an instance understanding federation/defederation has been hard to explain to some, doable but they generally prefer things that are self explanatory enough to not have to be talked through them. I've tried the whole email analogy but to be honest most of them don't use email that often anyway.