Apparently Lemmy.world and Beehaw having some beef at the moment. No idea what's going on. Just saw some posts about one defederating the other. What a nice way for all the reddit refugees to get introduced to Fediverse politics :ablobbonelightstick:
@JungleGeorge It depends on how the UI and UX works for an individual.
For example, for me #Lemmy feels “isolated”. It doesn't show you the wider #fediverse. But in #Kbin, it has a “Microblog” tab where you will be able to see what the rest of the fediverse are saying about your topic -- posts that don't appear as a “Thread”.
For other people, #Calckey's UI and UX are working well. Like me for example, I see the topics I want to see, and the communities around it, because I'm using Calckey's antenna feature combined with a Deck UI. I see discussions and communities I do not see from a Mastodon instance.
I also used to have a solo #Hubzilla instance and I can say the same for it, I can see the wider fediverse and the different communities surrounding the different topics I am interested in.
The thing with a fediverse account, first and foremost, it is what it is for you based on how you built your network. What you see, what you interact it, is your #ObservableFediverse.
Some people only follow groups/communities/magazines. They have few 1-to-1 “following”. If the instances these groups/communities/magazines goes offline… their “Observable Fediverse” will be cut a lot, and they might even feel isolated suddenly.
So, for me, my “Observable Fediverse” is wide and revolves around the topics I care about. Thus, I see the “community” in using Calckey and Hubzilla (and Kbin for that matter) far more than using Lemmy.
^_^
(PS I have accounts where its “Observable Fediverse” is purely reliant on groups/communities/magazines. It's a totally different Fediverse experience from those accounts.)
It’s so funny that people who sign up to mastodon these days have such a different experience than my normal experience with the same software. Imagine downloading Mastodon for iOS, automatically joining .social and not even being aware of a local timeline. All the best parts are hidden away and you have to build a network from scratch without any knowledge of how this world actually works.
Whenever I see negative feedback about the #fediverse, it is about:
being lonely
lacks discoverability
reach is poor
support for this and that is lacking
not welcoming for other people
All of the above, it has to do with what I've described in this quoted post, #ObservableFediverse. Meaning, one was only exposed to a very small part of the fediverse from that person's vantage point.
Let's take for example the #5 item. Is the fediverse not welcoming for certain groups of people, the minorities, the marginalised, those with disabilities, and often discriminated based on origin?
Have you seen those? More likely not. Why? “Observable fediverse.”
In #astronomy, an #ObservableUniverse is the part of the huge universe that we can observe from Earth. It is how far our current technology can reach.
It is the same in “observable fediverse”. What you see, what you are interacting with, is only what you currently have access to. Your “observable fediverse” relies on these factors:
The users in your instance.
The remote users and other servers your instance is aware of.
The people you are following (which include groups).
That is your “observable fediverse”.
Since you are not following a user who is following a Filipino, or is a member of an autistic group, there is very little chance you will see content from Filipinos and autistics.
Another reason of disappointment is misunderstanding what the “fediverse/global timeline” is. Here's the thing, it is just the public chatter.
Think of it as visiting a crowded public park. You'll hear all kinds of discussions. There are those that are offensive, and those that are not.
The “federated/global timeline” is also not the entirety of the fediverse. It is only what your instance/server is aware of. If what you most see are unwelcoming content, then don't look at it, or move to a new instance, or ask around. I'm sure your own instance will help you find like-minded individuals and groups.
That's your observable fediverse. The fediverse is not unwelcoming. My guesstimate is, no one account, no one server, have seen more than 1% of the entire fediverse. Just like how we haven't seen more than 1% of the entire universe.
In #astronomy, the phrase “observable universe” came into use to describe what we can see/observe from our vantage point.
The fediverse has grown so big since its humble beginnings in 2008. My guess is, we are only seeing 0.5% of what it is today. That is your “observable fediverse”, relative from your account.
The instances your instance are aware of.
The remote users your local instance natives are replying/boosting.
The remote users you, yourself is following.
And the remote users being boosted/replied to by the remote users you are following.
Those are the only ones in your #ObservableFediverse. My observable fediverse is different from your observable fediverse. I am seeing content you are not seeing, and vice versa.
Just like how improving our technologies help us expand our #ObservableUniverse. We need to grow our network to expand our relative observable fediverse.
The only difference between observable universe and observable fediverse is that, we still haven't found life on other planets; but in the fediverse, we already did (see: https://c.im/@youronlyone/110159720528061374).