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[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

That's the exact problem, people think about emails. You know, addresses and inbox and CC. They don't focus on or know or understand the technical comparison. They've never had to think about it before. It's the exact wrong way to try to introduce them to fediverse. Don't even say fediverse, just say Lemmy or whatever else.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 3 points 4 months ago

The fediverse is like how you can send an email from your work to your personal account because the two email servers have a way to talk to each other. It isn't like Facebook or Instagram where you can only send messages to people on the same platform.

How is that not a good analogy?

[-] FinishingDutch@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

The analogy certainly worked for me when I first read up on it. “Oh, different servers speaking the same language so they can communicate even though they’re separate entities”.

I imagine the only people who are really confused by it are the ones who simply cannot grasp analogies in general.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

There sure are a lot of people who are focused on everything except the actual comparison.

If someone said that Diet Coke and Diet Sprite tasted awful because they both have artificial sweetners they would just argue that the comparison is confusing because Coke is a dark color and Sprite is clear!

[-] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 4 months ago

Those are both carbonated sodas though, they perform largely the same function. Unlike email vs social media, which perform entirely different roles.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 0 points 4 months ago

OMG, you can't just compare two colors of soda!

[-] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 months ago

Because it explains the stuff regular users don't care about.

Why would they care which server has the content they want to see? They don't do so now. They just want the content.

Call it a free social media with no ads or algorithms. And you will get a much better response.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Ok I've explained this twice, so this will be my last attempt. Because people hear the word "email" and upon hearing the word "email" they, wait for it, think it's email. You know, the email they've used for 20 years. Once they hear the word "email" they stop hearing anything else. They heard the word "email" and have automatically filled in the rest with their experiences of typing "dear madam blah blah blah best regards" and CC this person so they can see it. They have filled it in with their user experience. They have never thought about the inner workings of email with servers or intercommunication.

People do not need to know about the inner workings of email or lemmy in order to use them. Trying to explain the inner workings before they even start is entirely unnecessary. And trying to explain with a different service like email is even worse, well because of what I wrote above. It confuses them.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 2 points 4 months ago

A comparison isn't bad just because some people have trouble with listening to the end of a sentence.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

The broad explanation is bad. When you lead people into things that you really should know they will automatically fill in with their prior experiences.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 0 points 4 months ago

That is true of absolutely every comparison.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Compare it social media and they will fill it in with their experiences with social media. Infinitely better and more accurate than email for the user experience. Alright I think I'm out.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 1 points 4 months ago

Except social media platforms don't communicate with each other, which is the reason for the email comparison.

Congratulations on coming out!

[-] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 4 months ago

You are one of the most stubbornly dense people I've ever come across. Lemmy is nothing like email.

[-] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee -2 points 4 months ago

Because you're not sending messages to other people, you're posting on an open forum. The user experience is totally different to email.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 4 points 4 months ago

Focus on everything except the actual comparison challenge successful!

[-] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 4 months ago

A lot of people in this thread have never had to explain some piece of tech to someone who doesn't really get technology, and it shows. Your explanation would just confuse most people.

[-] snooggums@midwest.social 1 points 4 months ago

So don't explain anything at all ever. Gotcha.

[-] Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 0 points 4 months ago

Interesting takeaway, but in your case possibly the right one.

this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2024
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