this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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The mastodon and lemmy content I’m seeing feels like 90% of it comes from people who are:

  • ~30 years old or older

  • tech enthusiasts/workers

  • linux users

There’s nothing wrong with that particular demographic or anything, but it doesn’t feel like a win to me if the entire fediverse is just one big monoculture.

I wonder what it is that is keeping more diverse users away? Is picking a server/federation too complicated? Or is it that they don’t see any content that they like?

Thoughts?

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[–] theKalash@feddit.ch 3 points 2 years ago

Older? It seems the general lemmy population is in their early 20s.

[–] Djangofett@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 years ago

I've been saying this since I joined as a Reddit refugee. This place is great!

[–] khoi@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 years ago

Hmm, not sure. But I’m in my 20s and I love to advocate for privacy and decentralization.

[–] EliYeet@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

My 15 yo ass

[–] zerkrazus@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

There just needs to be automatic instance assignment for new users with registration time opt-out for those who want to choose. Pick whichever one is the most populated. If that's down at that particular moment in time, pick the next most populated and so on. Take the instance picking out of the equation for people who don't care about that. People who do care can still pick their own.

That being said, it's difficult to grow a new website in general unless it's already got established backing from other source (i.e. a large corporation, celebrity, etc.), It's not like old days in the 90s when there were far fewer websites in general.

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[–] wolfcatreader@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

Trash culture, TikTok and the likes. The gen z folx I know don't seem to prioritize privacy and quality content. Some know it and don't seem to care even after getting hacked/scammed.

Living vicariously through influencers, likes, and whatnot. Being cool, blending in...

[–] Hikiru@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

im 16. probably in the 0.1% of fediverse users. i dont really use mastodon though, too boring for me

[–] vd1n@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago (4 children)

I fit the description. I like it, the regular social media life drains me.

Eli5...How can I get into mastadon? I just signed up for Lemmy. Can I download any mastadon app and just log in and use it?

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[–] HungryKoala@feddit.de 3 points 2 years ago

Not yet 30 and can't be bothered with Linux on desktop

[–] yogo@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago

Yep that’s me

[–] Grant_M@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 years ago
[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I tick all those boxes 😂

[–] FinalBoy1975@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I'm almost 48. My profession: foreign languages and literature. I have had a computer since I was 7 years old. I know how to use Linux and I have played video games all my life. I know a little code. I'm good with computers. A lot of people my age in my profession are not all that good with computers. They think they are because they can make a PowerPoint presentation or took a class on how to use a spread sheet as a grade book. So, I don't know, I don't think everyone on here are older tech nerds, so it's not exclusive to them. They could be the majority, though. Am I a nerd? Yes. But a different type of nerd. I speak three languages and read six. I can diagram a sentence and correct peoples' grammar and vocabulary in my sleep. I know all about literature from the 16th and 17th centuries. I play video games and I like technology enough, but it does not consume my life. Are there lots of people on here like me? I don't know. I DO know that I've interacted with a lot of younger people on here. To understand how to use this new type of social media you have to understand technology pretty well. It isn't for people who just want to tap or click on stuff that "just works." You need a basic understanding of how decentralized social networks function to be able to navigate it and you have to have patience with things that might slow down or do strange things every once in a while. There are lots of people my age that would not have the patience to learn how to use this space on the internet. In a lot of ways, they are very similar to the stereotypes of "average twenty-somethings" I've seen mentioned in this thread. No worries about privacy. In some cases, perfectly happy with their privacy being invaded because they want to see ads related to products they would buy. I also enjoy shopping. It's fun. I don't like ads, though.

[–] gapbetweenus@feddit.de 3 points 2 years ago

Almost got me!

[–] gruf@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

have been around on mastodon for years (was one of the first few thousands accounts). it really depends where you look. i'm under 30 and the majority of people i see + interact with are under 30 too.

the "professionals" side of mastodon absolutely does skew more to that age range, but the more shitposty social groups skew way younger, and with a lot of them existing on other instances.

lemmy also has a mix and again depends where you look.

tl;dr i'm not sure i'd totally agree with that 90% statistic

[–] Janus67@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

I gall into most of those categories.

That said, I still have a hard time dropping reddit until a network effect happens here or the multi-feddit stuff can start combining same-named subs across the fediverse.

I spent most of my time on Reddit looking at: various sports,cooking, finance (pf, investing, bogleheads), IT (sysadmin, vmware, homelab), gaming (console and PC and specific game subs), and PC hardware subs. (Plus some for sale places).

I wasn't really one to do much OC, but would participate in comment threads fairly often. I think lemmy/fed has potential, but it's going to need to be simpler for the average person to get logged in and just see the content they want with out jumping through a bunch of searches and hoops.

[–] hitagi@ani.social 2 points 2 years ago

I'm far from 30, am a tech enthusiast but I'm taking a degree in a different field, and I do use Linux.

But yeah, it's hard to get other people to use media platforms like this one. I think it will naturally grow though but it's hard to compete with corporate media platforms.

[–] trouser_mouse@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

I think that tends to be the starting point, but the user base is expanding quickly and is becoming way more diverse. There are already plenty of users who don't fit in that category, and I suspect it will continue to grow.

[–] fugepe@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago
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