Fediverse

I think it is something along those lines, the early adopters are quite fed up with Reddit and have the knowledge to explore new options. The fediverse is still strange and not so easy to understand for the casual user.

You caught me. I'm old, write software and regularly use Linux.

I certainly fit the bill at 46 and in a tech-related job (although I'm on a Mac, in part because my job is on the design end).

And I'm good with that. I hated getting into it with someone on Reddit and realizing I was arguing with a child. I felt like such a fool.

I'm over 30, but I'm tech stupid compared to everyone else here, but I can follow, and understand the jist ftmp of the conversation. Not my area of expertise. I grown up with the internet though obviously so I do know my way around.

If anything i'm probably just more open to new experiences than the average person, and I like learning stuff.

But in general I agree with your observations, and it seems natural for early adopters of a platform.

43 here. IT consultant. Have been on every social media platform since Myspace all the way back to Usenet if you want to consider that social media which is what is basically was. On the major platforms these days, I mostly lurk and DM with fam and friends along with small Discord groups. Since joining the fediverse, and more specifically Lemmy, I've been much more active commenting and posting then I've been in years. I actively encourage friends and fam to join, but the fact is the fediverse is young and isn't as user friendly. It has to reach a critical mass of ease of use and user adoption which is what's being driven up right now like all other platforms before it. The more people join, the more it will be streamlined, feeding back to usability so more people discover and join, etc. etc. This is how all platforms evolved except in the case of the fediverse, it isn't controlled by a single entity which has its pluses and minuses. I don't expect MetaThreadBook, Reddit, Twitter, et al to go anywhere anytime soon, but diversification and competition is always good. If we can reach critical mass with the fediverse, it will provide a good check against these monopolistic entities and hopefully result in better overall communities and interactions.

From what I see on Local we are

Trans Old Young Gay Straight Nerds Furries Porno addicts

All true for me... except I haven't booted into my Linux install in literal months.

Sub-30 yo but super-20 yo

STEM equal, just not tech

Windows user (although I have Linux installed on my PC)

Close, but rly close enough

There are a few things keeping users away - the perceived complexity and the sign up process and understanding how it all works, and the fact that it's a "new" site that is trying to replace reddit when many don't feel any need to leave reddit. That's the big one, and a big part of why the population here is made up of who it is.

The younger people that just use reddit as a meme site and for insta thots and porn either don't know or don't care about the API changes, didn't use a third party app so don't care that they're gone, and were oblivious to the whole protest. It's basically back to normal over on reddit now, so nothing changed for them and they don't have a reason to join here.

I'm 30+, a tech enthusiast dev, but I don't use Linux.

hey! i'll have you know i'm only 26. calling me out...

i also haven't used linux for a while but i'm currently procrastinating on setting it up on my laptop because windows modern standby hella sucks

im studying CS

im in the late 30s

i've been a tech enthusiast for a bit more than 30 years

i dont use linux though

More users will come. it's all about the memes and fun discussions though. Memes is what drew me towards reddit. i just wanted to "scroll" for some entertainment, when i first found the site.

and being able to google, and finding reddit links helps.

i've yet to find a link to lemmy, by googling anything - even if i include the word lemmy.

On reddit we had a ton of "general" hobby subreddits. houseplants, cast iron, woodworking etc

i've not been searching for specific communities (search doesnt work super well i think) but i've yet to randomyl spot any communities that fall in to that category. it's mostly.. tech related subreddits.

the "common folk" wants hobbies, sports, news, etc.

The youth have an innate pressure to follow trends and their peers. They need and crave social acceptance while still lacking the means to be independent and "go their own way", so it's not viable to expect younger users to form the bulk of pioneering users of an unproven platform like the fediverse.

Older user will generally be more confident and independent, especially when the craving for social approval is not as powerful as it was in younger users.

I'm neither cis male nor that old but I fit the other two demographics lmao

Might be that tech inrerested ppl are more inclined to switch to less used alternatives when they allow for a more free and open platform. Also the barrier of entry for those might be quite a bit lower than the average Redditor

Yep. Sounds about right, polls I’ve seen on mastodon also shows this: https://mastodon.art/@jsstaedtler/110668308409683502

Woah now, who said people over 30 are old? 😮

Anyway, your average internet user in 2023 wants to sign in to a platform with ease (preferably using one tap sign in with their Facebook/Google/whatever account).

They also want that one platform to have everything, in an easy to access and digest format, without having to learn complex rules about how a system works.

The days of needing to understand a bunch of stuff to use the latest social media service are gone, and if we build a website/service that requires us to know and understand more complex stuff, and add more barriers to entry, and MOST IMPORTANTLY if we split it up in to a thousand little corners instead of having it all in one place? People will shy away.

Another issue is consistency. People, myself included, want consistency and accountability. I want the people running the platform to be publicly known figures/companies that are accountable for the platform and how they run it, but with this fediverse stuff, it can be run by any anonymous person, who could be doing anything with the private data in our account back ends. And that could be the case hundreds of times over, with all sorts of groups, from all around the world.

There's no accountability, no way to ensure they're meeting requirements of our laws. It's all very untrustworthy and wild west.

That's fine for some people, but the majority of normal users? They want security, they want safety, they want simple ease of use.

• I'm under 30 (Under 20 too) X
• Tech enthusiast/comp sci student ✔️
• Linux User ✔️

30 years or older. Check.

Tech enthusiast/ worker.... check.

Linux users. Check.

Dammit

I'm an ageless, multi-planar being located outside of time. My New Deal policies benefited from it.

Young people don't even understand that the internet isn't only the 5 websites that have existed since before they were born lol

That's probably a big part of it. We kind of designed the internet to become an information super oligarchy, even if it wasn't intentional.

I'm 33 for the record so I guess I'm an older tech nerd. Nice. 😎

Hmm, not sure. But I’m in my 20s and I love to advocate for privacy and decentralization.

Older? It seems the general lemmy population is in their early 20s.