You ARE the starter pack

All of the folks helping people find others in the fedi are very appreciated

It will remain this way unless those recommendations pop up automatically in the default client.

Only nerds will read through wiki pages or the like to find lists.

The average user expects the client to display recommendations all by themselves.

There is no point in discussion here. It's just the way it is.

@FediFollows @dansup

p.s. The very first sentence on fedi.directory has been on there for years before bluesky and reads:

"This is a human-curated small selection of interesting accounts to help you get started on Mastodon and the Fediverse. "

How is that not a starter pack?

Fedi.Directory – Interesting accounts on Mastodon & the Fediverse

Interesting accounts to follow on Mastodon and the Fediverse

^{fedi.directory}

Thank you for your efforts in that regard.

What people mean, of course, is that they wish Mastodon made it easy, like Bsky does.

That innovation, along with block lists may well be what make Bluesky the predominant social. It's #2 right now behind FB.

First, thank you for your work on this! We all really appreciate it!

The problem with something that "people just need to ask around and discover" is that it requires effort and initiative on the part of the user. The reason why people seem to love those Starter Packs is that it requires no effort. This is another example where Mastodon / the fediverse requires more effort than their competition and it is one of the things that drive people away.

If there was a way to convert your curated accounts into public Lists that people could follow in one-click, that would be really great. Until then it just makes sense from a human point of view that people will prefer a "starter pack" to having to go to a separate website, look for a theme they like, then, copy paste individual account names into their mastodon app and click follow (*100 times or more). 😕

This. My #StarterPack to the Fediverse were you with @FediTips and your wonderful short guide!

I know there are many who criticise the fact that not everything is automatically served to you like in a pig trough. But that's exactly why Mastodon has done me so much good: I've become active again and am organising my own communication here.
People also forget that the Fediverse works on donations, not ads or billionaires.

Starter packs in bluesky feel mildly different, though. Since they’re hand curated lists that every individual user can make, it’s specially enticing if the starter pack is made by a user you like or “trust”.

I specially like that you can go in someone’s profile and the starter packs they’ve made are visible in their profile. It feels “personal” maybe?

Possibly an issue might be delivery and signposting.

Unless things have changed, which they might have, on sign-up and first dive into the Fediverse there is no initial message or screen to help folk find these sorts of fantastic resources and guidance on first steps, fediquette etc.

This may vary by instance.

That tool is very cool (adding myself rn), but it serves a different purpose:

"I think you might want to follow ME if you're into <topic>."

versus

"I think you might want to follow THESE ACCOUNTS if you're into <topic>."

Both approaches are valid, but they have different focus. ME vs THEM.

GamingOnLinux has made some great starter packs of BlueSky accounts by topic to follow, and it's easy to follow those accounts from your own, kickstarting new joiners.

building the lists is an important part (thank you!) but is just the beginning. Starter packs have critical UX improvements that make the lists discoverable and easy to action that Mastodon doesn’t have.

I think the infrastructure is there in the Lists feature, it just needs a better way to view the users on the list and to integrate those lists meaningfully throughout the onboarding experience to help folks find them.

FediThing, your work is amazing! The purpose is here is not to criticize, but rather to discuss how this work can be made more accessible.

It seems that the primary issue is the ease of use. When someone has to do the paste the address into their search box thing, that loses 95% of ordinary Mastodon users and 99% of potential newcomers.

So, the challenge has to be, how to give users clickable addresses given the technical constraints of the Fediverse?

1/n

@wir

Könnten wir nicht einige Links mit Guides an die Willkommens-Email anhängen, die jeder bekommt, wenn er sich auf f.s anmeldet ?

That's great for you.

However, I don't have a starter pack. And writing down a list of names on a Web page isn't really the kind of functionality people are asking for.

your work is absolutely invaluable and appreciated; but it would be even more effective if it was deeper integrated into fedi software.

Making it easier to make these lists would not detract from your work, but rather make it more engaged with and visible.

I point artists, other projects, and passers by to your resources so often in the feed, in blog links, in meetings.

Sorry to see your work slighted by complicit followers of "leaders" advancing clout silos. Respect to the classic fedi volunteers and friends making good things for humans despite being berated, ignored, costed, exhausted or bullied out of our spaces.

Solidarity friend.

Folks, support community first and human scaled inclusive growth and platforms after.

To be honest, the issue is not that it doesn't exist, but the discovery of tools isn't great. Not blaming you, as much as we shouldn't blame users
However, people on the Fediverse need to work with each other to expand awareness, building something and waiting for them to come is not viable, it's much easier for users to discover tools in a centralized platform

I built so many tools and I have worked hard to collaborate here but always found cold response so 🤷‍♀️

It would help if the search results made any kind of sense. For example, literally my first search on Fedi.Directory gave this result.

I appreciate the work being put into these kinds of initiatives, but scolding people for not recommending them in the face of this kind of test result seems a bit over the top.

These are amazing, thanks, didn't know about this resource 🙏

To be fair, though, this isn't what most people mean when they say "starter packs". This is at least intermediate.

Think of it as a cooking class; you don't show a bunch of people who don't know how to cook a warehouse full of ingredients & go "Get cooking!" - they'd be overwhelmed & bail, no matter how well-organized & high-quality the warehouse contents are. Show them how to make an easy, tasty dish first.

Perhaps the reason people are calling for starter packs, is because it gives the power to do this thing on your own, instead of being dependent on the good will of someone else.

For example, I've asked a few times now to be included, and I'm completely ignored.

Latest attempt: greennuclear.online/@collectif…

It seems to me that if these lists were also formatted as a csv, it'd be possible to bulk import them?

functional.cafe/@hungryjoe/113…

Do you know if that exists? or if not, if anyone's looked into that?

Joe

2024-11-16 23:45:23

I'm not saying this is good UX, but you can already kind of do this via "Settings => Import and Export => Import => Following list"

That's great. Thanks for the resources. To be fair, Mastodon *is* more work. It's part of the experience and not everyone is up for it but those who are find it rewarding and are comitted.

@FediFollows @dansup

@GhostOnTheHalfShell

#Fediverse
responsibility for your interactions are Your responsibility.

TV in the 80s raised children.

Your children (you children) aren't mine.

Grow, adapt, or fuck the fuck off.

I'm sick of this tripe conversation.

Or spoil up a nice if your own.

I'll wait for the flood of incompetence and arguments.

@elfin

#Fediverse
Grow the fuck up. Stop telling how The Internet has to wrap around you being a consumer. Fedi is just a part of 65,535 ports (x2) and really this conversation is fucking boring.

Sol up your own XMPP server (jitsi deploy, 90 seconds), IRC deploy, six seconds.

Aww, you can't Do That?

Funny tell me how to slap the bet around your little asses because you can't.

Not my fucking job.

Grow up.

I'm out of retirement because you're stupid.

And you can just check out the "Explore" page and follow all the people there.

Honestly, what is with people?

@tiamat271

1) You are amazing.
2) I think it’s the ease of simply tapping “follow all” as opposed to the individual following that is being praised.

If it makes you feel any better...

One of my exes moved to our small town from a much larger city. We were at the weekly summer concert out in our city center park. She turns to me and says, "I wish they had Large City Riverfest here."

I asked what that was. She said it was a weekly concert series during the summer, down by the river.

"Isn't that exactly what we are doing now?"

"No, it's completely different because Big City."

OK, whatever. One reason she is my ex.