And incidentally, as long as we're talking about PR. Let me clue you into something. Practically nobody in the "real world" knows what the "Fediverse" is. The ones who have heard this word probably think it's a bank somewhere.
By this time at least a significant number of people know what #Mastodon is, and it frequently shows up in discussions of other social media platforms. But "Fediverse" just draws blank stares, and there's NOTHING to be gained by fostering confusion by didactically insisting that people should refer to the Fediverse rather than Mastodon.
@lauren agreed, Mastodon often evinces some vague recollection or understanding from people, fediverse is met with total lack of understanding from others unless I am speaking with hackers.
@lauren When I do band mailings and identify socials, I go Fediverse (Mastodon). Not that it matters, all the stations are staying at the ex-place. And I’m not looking for a pat on the back or chiding here. Just doing what I think makes sense.
On your larger point, it’s sort of a GNU/Linux thing isn’t it? I never called it that as it seemed pointless in the context of my conversations.
@pomCountyIrregs My point is just use the term that the most people will recognize, even if it's not "technically" the best. As for GNU/Linux ... I have more than once received emails from RMS complaining about my use of the term Linux. Yep.
@lauren@pomCountyIrregs There is a sense in which the distinction could be useful, despite RMS making things obnoxious. Linux is the kernel. An Android device has no GNU software anywhere in it, but a typical server in a data center or an Ubuntu laptop has a ton of GNU stuff in /usr/bin and /usr/lib.; the bulk of what makes the system POSIX compatible comes from GNU. So it would only make sense to apply GNU/Linux to the last category of system.
@lauren So "Mastodon" should also include all of the forks? I shouldn't bother to differentiate instances which use different code bases?
Next you are going to suggest that I do not need to explain the differences between Mastodon, IceCubes, and Ivory to journalists when they ask about Mastodon on IOS.
I would hardly recognize the Fediverse without all of the pedantic rants about instances and clients.
@jonahstein The point is that all those forks and rants are irrelevant to public perception. If one wants to dilute the presence of them all, sure, refer to them all. If one wants to build exposure, use the term Mastodon as an umbrella since it's already the known term, and let interested parties delve into the Fediverse world. Mastodon is both a system and effectively a "brand".
@lauren Sorry, I was actually agreeing with you using irony and sarcasm. Both my true nature and 13 years of training on the dead bird site.
My background is marketing/messaging and while I think the Fediverse is much more interesting and a much better brand, "consumers" are not looking for a concept or a network, we want a product or brand that we can interact with.
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