Some people say they don't want to join the Fediverse or Mastodon, because they think the UI sucks. As a front end developer, a designer-kind of a person who creates user interfaces, I agree. Most of the web clients on the Fedi are horrendous, even Mastodon by default. There's lots of room for improvement.
We should really focus on how to make it more pleasing to the eye, more modern and more pleasant. This should not be a nerd network, just for geeks to geek out. This is not IRC or BBS.
As long as Mastodon for instance looks like it's designed by a back end engineer, contains font-awesome icons, looks like 2010, and stuff like that, being open and free is not good reason enough for many. I'm not bashing it, Mastodon is not the worst out there, in fact in my honest opinion Mastodon user experience is far better than Akkoma or Calckey for example. It's also more accessible than many modern UIs, for example my visual impaired wife prefers the Vanilla Mastodon UI over my #BirdUI modifications, she has some small tiny improvements of her own like distinguishing the colors in the action buttons as they have no proper contrast in any of the default themes. But that's it. She likes it as it is. So it cannot be that bad. However, it could be better overall.
#OpenSource doesn't mean the product should look like it's created in a basement by a math teacher. For some people Mastodon UX is sufficient (it even is for me, I like it enough and it doesn't prevent me from using it), but it should be WORLD CLASS. I don't say the answer is #MastodonBirdUI but it should be something much more modern and minimal than the current default UI. Pixelfed's developer is a designer oriented, Pixelfed is indeed an example of an awesome Fediverse app experience throughout the web and apps. That is how it should be.
Point blank, a mass Fediblock isn't going to work with #Meta.
The cold truth is that people will use #Barcelona whether it federates or not. Even if it fails, Barcelona will probably have more users out of the gate than almost every project save Mastodon. Hell, it will probably eclipse #Bluesky too.
And even if you convince every server to defederate -- which you won't -- this will not be a PR coup for the Fediverse. Newspaper headlines won't blare "Fediverse successfully resists Meta." Instead, they will probably follow @gruber take with "Open source zealots complain that an open protocol is open."
Again, as I've said countless times, I'm not saying you should federate with Barcelona or any Meta-owned property. If you want, defederate. The joy of the Fediverse is freedom of association.
But a mass Fediblock doesn't solve a few important problems with Meta, and perhaps makes them worse.
The most critical problem is that Meta users need to migrate away from Meta-owned social networks. Until now, a migration path has simply been unfeasible to most. But when Barcelona gets launched, it is possible that many of them will become aware of a greater Fediverse.
How to build that awareness? By interacting with them through services beyond Barcelona.
This approach works. I've interacted with many Mastodon users through services beyond Mastodon, and this has resulted in adoption of other Fediverse software. #Calckey is a case in point.
However, there's a bigger problem concerning Meta: Fediverse replacements for Meta-owned social networks aren't getting mass adoption. And it's not because these apps aren't good.
#Pixelfed is an #Instagram replacement. It is also one of the slickest apps on the Fediverse. Yet, Pixelfed only has 150,000 registered accounts.
#Friendica is a #Facebook replacement. It's been around since 2010. It is a mature product that does many things very well, but Friendica only has 17,000 registered accounts.
The software is great but we are failing to effectively market the Fediverse beyond Mastodon. Now I'm trying my darnedest to change this, and so are many people. But facts are facts. Fediverse alternatives to Meta are a blip on the radar.
Refusing to federate with Barcelona won't change this. How do I know?
Because we don't federate now, and the status quo remains intact.
Meanwhile, Meta is practically gifting Pixelfed and Friendica an opportunity for federation, and it would be foolish to not consider broader implications.
How is it that more people aren't considering this opportunity?
Dare I say that most people -- including devs -- suffer from myopia concerning what the Fediverse is. The Fediverse is not Mastodon, and it is wrong to view the Fediverse solely through the eyes of Mastodon.
And I'll go further: by focusing Barcelona on text, I suspect that Meta is likewise making the same mistake of viewing the Fediverse as a "Twitter killer".
What they may not be considering is that the Fediverse might be a "Meta killer" too. And connecting Barcelona to the Fediverse is opening a can of worms Meta hasn't entirely considered yet.
If Barcelona is indeed text-based, what will happen when a Barcelona user encounters Pixelfed and asks, "Why does this post show reels? And why can't I do the same?"
Believe me, this is the kind of content that triggers migration.
We need to think bigger than Fediblock. Yes, for your own mental health and safety, you may not want to federate with Barcelona. However, there needs to also be a means for Barcelona users to encounter content outside Barcelona.
Perhaps there needs to be "lobby" servers that help Barcelona users enter the greater Fediverse -- helping them make the switch beyond Meta.
Meta joining the Fediverse is like AOL joining the internet: something that will bring a mass amount of people in, create some friction, but ultimately make the net better as more people federating on #Mastodon, #kbin, #lemmy, #pixelfed and other parts of the Fediverse make open protocols that much stronger.
Instagram explore page with #joinpixelfedorg a non-existent hashtag
Instagram explore page with #pixelfed showing posts as expected, we'd expect either of the previous images for the #joinpixelfed hashtag
Hvad er pixelfed? Det er fediverset svar på Instagram - lige som Mastodon er for Twitter/X - du kan endda følge folk, kommentere, like, mm mellem Mastodon og Pixelfed 🥳 f.eks. er min (kedelige) pixelfed konto @jippi
YSK: When making posts on Lemmy/Kbin always put at the end some hashtags related to your post topic.
So users from Mastodon and Pixelfed can interact with your post without even need to use their Lemmy/Kbin account or learn about "how to use the ActivityPub".
This also helps to have more content avaliable across the Fediverse due to better discoverability.
Hallo Fediverse! Bitte um Rückmeldung + Ergänzungen: Übersichts-Tabelle mit Fediverse-Diensten, Vergleichsdiensten und Funktionen
Ich schreibe einen Artikel über den #FediverseFachtag und in dem Rahmen natürlich auch über das #Fediverse . Zielgruppe sind Leute, die wahrscheinlich zum Großteil noch gar nix vom Fediverse gehört haben.
Dazu bin ich dabei, eine Tabelle zu erstellen, in der einige Fedi-Dienste sowie deren Haupt-/ besondere Funktionen aufgeführt werden sollen.
Das ist der derzeitige Entwurf:
"ähnlich wie..."
Ein Vergleich mit kommerziellen Plattformen ist natürlich immer nur zum Teil passend. Ich kenne auch keinen der kommerziellen Dienste aus eigener Erfahrung, aber für die avisierte Zielgruppe kann so ein Vergleich vielleicht trotzdem eine hilfreiche Orientierung sein. Vielleicht gibt es da aber auch Vergleiche, die passender sind. Einige Dienste (bspw. Medium, Podigee) kannte ich auch noch nicht mal vom Namen her, sondern habe das nur aus ähnlichen Vergleichstabellen übernommen.
Zu den "besonderen Funktionen":
Insbesondere Friendica, Firefish und v.a. Hubzilla haben so viele Funktionen, dass diese im Rahmen der Tabelle nur exemplarisch aufgeführt werden können und die Auswahl ist subjektiv. Hier wäre die Frage, ob das eine passende Auswahl ist, ob besonders wichtige fehlen oder ob andere Funktionen wichtiger oder besonderer sind.
Wenn Ihr also Anregungen oder Ergänzungen habt, gerne her damit! Danke!
I would like to endorse other minor web apps in the #Fediverse, but most of them are full of UI glitches, are incomplete and downright buggy looking odd things.
From my designer point of view #Mastodon and #Pixelfed are the only effective ones, because they speak to people who are used to proper visual design language (read: Non-nerds, non-engineers, the regular people and design oriented people).
Things like #BookWyrm, #Lemmy, #Friendica and newer niche apps cause reactions like: "What is this?", they look like back end is fine but nobody is in charge of the design and the UI has no direction whatsoever. It's the general culprit in the programming world: A back end developer thinks everything is fine when we add a CSS framework and that's that.
If we just get the UI right everywhere, we get more people to the #Fediverse. I just wish there was more #CSS/design people willing to contribute. #UI#UIDesign
Edit / Update: Thank you for the tremendous outpouring of support. 🙌
I have set up a new home on Mastodon: @RiversideBryan
I'd be thrilled if you considered following me there as well. 🙏
In any case, be on the lookout for other folks trying to reconnect with their lost friends. Boost their toots to help them reach the full Fediverse while they rebuild. 🫂🥰
da das #Fediverse immer noch am wachsen ist und es jetzt wohl gerade größere Wanderungsbewegungen weg von #Reddit zu #Lemmy und dem Fork #kbin gibt, hier mal ein aktualisiertes Übersichtsdiagramm um zu zeigen, dass das Fediverse nicht nur aus #Mastodon besteht.
Erst mal vielen Dank an @kuketzblog und @imke für das erstellen des Diagramms.
Dann gibt es natürlich auch noch ein paar Links zu Seiten auf denen man sich einen Überblick über das Fediverse verschaffen kann:
Pixelfed is adding a Sign In with Mastodon option