Does it feel like the fediverse is exclusively used by older tech nerds?

The mastodon and lemmy content I’m seeing feels like 90% of it comes from people who are:

  • ~30 years old or older
  • tech enthusiasts/workers
  • linux users

There’s nothing wrong with that particular demographic or anything, but it doesn’t feel like a win to me if the entire fediverse is just one big monoculture.

I wonder what it is that is keeping more diverse users away? Is picking a server/federation too complicated? Or is it that they don’t see any content that they like?

Thoughts?

potkulautapaprika,

Yes.

Yaztromo,

I started back in the Wild West BBS days on the 80s; graduated to USENET in the 90s, website forums in the Web 1.0 days, /., Reddit, and now Lemmy. Yeah, I’ve been around. Been “Yaztromo” all that time too.

I don’t mind that “Eternal September” hasn’t infected this space yet — that’s a feature, not a bug!

Secret300,

Well it’s new open source tech that can be self hosted by the 30+ tech nerds that have the money and interest in it.

chraebsli,
@chraebsli@programming.dev avatar

as a young IT with friends who dont know much about IT i have to say that most around 20 use reddit, instagram, … cause its the only thing they know. everyone they know uses them and many of them want likes, …

if they would join the fediverse:

  1. they wouldnt understand how it works. what is a server? why choose an instance? its just too complicated
  2. all their friends dont use the fediverse. they would be alone and have nobody who they can share things to
  3. they would mostly see tech stuff and less in categories they are interested in
  4. none of the people they follow on instagram are here. the cant follow their celebrities, … and see their content
  5. the fediverse still has to less users to be successful worldwide. its growing. and just like facebook in its first years, its growing slow.

=> give it a few more years and get your friends, family & collegues on here and see the fediverse grow

Nonbinary_Sahrah,

● under 30

● i mean im getting there in terms of tech interests

● Yeah ok i use linux

THEMASTERMIND,

Because ipad kids are happy with instagram,tiktok and other shit and doesn’t give a fuck about privacy.

kool_newt,

There’s always a group on the forefront, it makes sense that it’s tech interested people Fediverse being based on open source software and all about sharing means it’s right p Linux user’s alley.

The 30+ demographic not sure, maybe just people a bit grown up and now under as much peer pressure to be on the more popular corporate platforms.

silencioso,
  • ~30 years old or older
  • tech enthusiasts/workers
  • linux users
  • hates Elon Musk
  • hates capitalism
  • loves free software but somehow hates free markets
pewgar_seemsimandroid,

heh

qaz,

Currently interning as software engineer and typing this from a Linux machine. I’m Gen Z though.

tinkermind,

Yep :p

theKalash,

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

khoi,

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

obinice,
@obinice@lemmy.world avatar

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.

Die4Ever,
@Die4Ever@programming.dev avatar

(preferably using one tap sign in with their Facebook/Google/whatever account).

Kbin can actually do this, so no reason why Lemmy couldn’t

EliYeet,
@EliYeet@lemmy.world avatar

My 15 yo ass

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • fediverse@lemmy.world
  • DreamBathrooms
  • magazineikmin
  • everett
  • InstantRegret
  • rosin
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • love
  • khanakhh
  • kavyap
  • tacticalgear
  • GTA5RPClips
  • thenastyranch
  • modclub
  • megavids
  • mdbf
  • normalnudes
  • Durango
  • ethstaker
  • osvaldo12
  • cubers
  • ngwrru68w68
  • tester
  • anitta
  • cisconetworking
  • Leos
  • provamag3
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •