I have complex thoughts about Mastodon but I'm extremely glad it's being built from the ground up as a _protocol_ rather than as a service. We need more protocols on the internet these days.
@aVernon It centres around the technical barrier to entry of a service like this. I would rather things be as accessible to all users as possible, but not at the expense of the flexibility of the protocol. Also, having a technical barrier selects for a technically minded user base which I find comfortable, but inhibits diversity of the community.
@ihorner Aside from making a centralised website like Twitter, which would of course be completely missing the point, what would fix this problem? A friendlier signup page? Advertising?
@aVernon I don't know if it is a problem to fix. The signup process is already extremely easy, and there are already apps. I think it's just early days?
@ihorner What kind of complex thoughts? As someone who barely uses this kind of service, I'd like to know what the issues are with Mastodon (and Twitter, aside from the whole harassment thing.)