This is great, I just cross-posted it to !fedibridge@lemmy.dbzer0.com hopefully someone can post it to Reddit. It's really nice to see a intro to the concept of the fediverse that doesn't get bogged down with technical details.
Not liking someone is not a good reason to root against decentralized platforms, IMO. The entire point of decentralization is that nobody gets to control the experience and who is/isn't allowed to participate.
There are many platforms in the Fediverse. The fact that the network can survive the collapse of one platform is a strength of decentralization. The Lemmy/mbin/piefed universe can only ever be exactly as big as we, the users, want it to be.
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.
If an instance has a lot of spam, admins tend to notice and block it. In the future it's likely admins will have more tools too, but for now the system works pretty well.
People are talking about privacy but the big reason is that it gives you, the owner, control over everything quickly without ads or other uneeded stuff. We are so used to apps being optomized for revenue and not being interoperable with other services that it's easy to forget the single biggest advantage of computers which is that programs and apps can work together quickly and quietly and in the background. Companies provide products, self-hosting provides tools.
I'm very familliar with the "Year of the Linux Desktop" joke but I also can't remember a time previously when Linux was getting this level of mainstream attention.
Yes absolutely, and that's why I don't think commercial social media will die. But I do think it will come to more be associated with activities gambling or vaping.
This is great, I just cross-posted it to !fedibridge@lemmy.dbzer0.com hopefully someone can post it to Reddit. It's really nice to see a intro to the concept of the fediverse that doesn't get bogged down with technical details.