Fediverse

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It's more closely related to the initial intentions of the internet than most other social platforms. Ideally it could get things going back in the right direction again iif nothing else!

Absolutely yes, better than the others.

Probably not replace, but certainly it could be a viable and thriving part of the picture. I don't think there's anything wrong with having options.

No. Fediverse is great by design, but is too complicated at the moment (maybe it's just how platforms are set up at the moment).

The design is not too intuitive in looking at other posts from different instances/servers.

For example going to this post:

• Clicking [!freemediaheckyeah@lemmy.fmhy.ml](/c/freemediaheckyeah@lemmy.fmhy.ml)
  in the sidebar directs me to
  lemmy.fmhy.ml/c/freemediaheckyeah
  (different instance)
• Clicking FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH@lemmy.fmhy.ml
  at the top of the post directs me to
  lemmy.ml/c/freemediaheckyeah@lemmy.fmhy.ml
  (same instance)

For me personally it can. Not sure about everyone else.

For most of the users currently online it's extremely difficult to understand the concept of federation and how everything works, so I doubt it'll ever be as prevalent as "the big social media platforms", but for technically-inclined users, it'll definitely have at least moderate success.

since there isn't any strong way to collect data or advertise it will always be an underdog compared to big business.

that being said, the fediverse could outlast a few mainstream networks and build lasting strength with that. I'm an ideal setting it could become a defacto network over time.

can we get young people coming here though? that's how we get the tides to turn

in long term, yes

but we will have to improve it a lot before it becomes so easy that even the most smoothbrained individuals can use it

Yes, I think so. It could. Is it likely to happen? No!

I see a distributed architecture central to have a “public space” online that works in the long term. The communication infrastructure shouldn't be controlled by any single party.

However the way people work and the way capitalism works, it's utterly difficult for something like ActivityPub to become the standard. F**book joining in frightens and encourages me at the same time.

I don’t want it to. I enjoyed reddit the most when it was mainly a techier and generally thoughtful crowd, large enough to always be interesting but not so big as to be a gluttonous mass of nonsense. The ever-so-slightly higher barrier to entry to the Fediverse compared to other platforms (which spooks mainstream users even though it’s really not that hard) gives me hope that the Fediverse will keep its character for a good while.

Unlikely. When users left Digg for Reddit the internet was smaller and the users more technically minded. And even then it was essentially just creating a new account. You need an one stop solution for users to migrate and federation by definition isn't that. As a result discovery (and growth) is still hard even for Mastodon that's been around for a while and it's a relatively mature platform.

You have to remember that the vast majority of people are, for lack of a better word, pretty dumb. You say the word “fediverse” and their eyes cross.

I don’t think it will replace it, but I do think that it will create a place for a niche group of conscious folks to build a community without the capitalistic aspects of life that have ruined a vast portion of the internet.

We just need to be sure to keep perspective and be ready to support and our server admins/developers. The lack of big tech funding is what could potentially hurt us here in the fediverse. Nothing is free and it’s on us to pay our own way before advertising starts to creep in.

I don't think so. I think corporations will always want their hand in a pot and will have their things. I think we've seen there's always going to be people who don't want anything to do with that - digg to reddit, twitter to mastedon, reddit to here. And I wouldn't be surprised in a few years if this platform and similar ones face a crisis of identity like that. Small, independent communities are great and can gain value as more people join. But once enough people join other interests can overtake the original goal. What we've learned is that no platform or protocol is forever.

I really doubt it; the corp stuff is here to stay as long as they can make money off of it. But at least now, people are aware of how vast the Internet can be-- and there are options besides the corp stuff.

I think its going to split and fracture, at least for the forseeable future. Just like how people who want too be free from corporate influence moved permanently from twitter to mastodon, so to will users who want to be free from corporate influence be drawn here. Those who don't care, or who buy into corporate propaganda will stay until and unless they can't tolerate it anymore, and even then they may just move to a different corporate platform.

As long as a hardware will be sold with microsoft/google/twitter/facebook by default, no chance fediverse replace all these well-established applications. BUT it's not a problem for me : i use what i like, open-source, and i let other use what they want.

I expect good and insightful conversations to be moved here.

Reddit is about to become like twitter and facebook where it's ad-ridden, toxicity cesspool.

People will leave to keep having the actual forum experience and will eventually move here as it looks like a very good alternative.

It looks like they're going to merge

https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754304/instagram-meta-twitter-competitor-threads-activitypub

No. While it's not that complicated it is still more complicated than current social media. People won't like that.

I think it could replace reddit in the long term but the others I'm not so sure about. Twitter and YouTube still mostly function so people won't leave but without 3rd party tools and the lack of trust users have in reddit to develop those tools on their own that leaves them in a very bad position.

There is a powerful network effect to overcome here, and I don't think "being federated" is enough to overcome it for most people. Reddit and tumblr and discord offered us "what if all your forums/blogs/chatrooms were in one place" which is massively convenient, and why people flocked to those platforms. Thats a transformative user experience. being federated is transformative, but the change to the user experience -- beyond a larger barrier to entry -- is minimal. The point of mastodon is that its functionally equivalent to twitter without being centralized. But there are no decentralized places left on the internet, beyond those holdouts who are either very attached to their old technology or want to maintain their unilateral control over their platform, and who are unlikely to federate.

I doubt it, not just because current social media sites are insanely popular, but also because there's a learning curve to using the Fediverse, and most people would likely find it complicated.

Fediverse will go through what Linux went through. Be seen by businesses as an existential threat. Then face FUD and EEE campaign.

One day, likely earlier than Linux witnessed the rise of RedHat, Google, Facebook as prominent businesses that became poster children for Linux, new or existing businesses could be built around and/or on fediverse. They may as well come together to form an ActivityPub foundation similar to the Linux Foundation for all we know.

Email went through similar trajectory too. SMTP, IMAP, pop are are open protocols. Yet we have a sort of oligopoly on email.

Similar to how Windows did not die away because Linux came along, existing social networks may remain in existence. The availability of fediverse as an alternative would keep them busy

Not sure if it's the solution, but definitely a viable alternative to social media, not just for privacy enthusiasts.

Could it? Of course, absolutely.

Will it? Well, that's a much more complicated question, with a much more pessimistic answer.