Z
@juergen_hubert > we should really have a website that serves as an introduction to the Fediverse which has been focus-tested with a group of teenagers.
That sounds like a good idea. I may try making one, actually. If you (or anyone else) has websites I could use for inspiration, I'd love to see them, and maybe I could show it to a couple of my friends.
But also, like I said with my edit, most of them don't really care about text-based media. I'm willing to give it a shot though.
@juergen_hubert Oh hello, I'm a teen! I honestly spend most of my social media time on the fediverse already. Most of my friends aren't interested though; their current social media is enough for them and they don't really care to try other things.
At one point our school shut down Google Chat, so I managed to get them all on Matrix[0], but we kinda abandoned that after a while. I still use it, but no longer with them.
As for getting them to spend time here - that's hard, they have no reason to. Most of them haven't realized how addicted they are to social media, haven't learnt about cybersecurity, data privacy, or any of the other things that bring most people here.
They also wouldn't care that there's no algorithm. The algorithm is what appeals to them on most platforms. It's why they're there.
The Fediverse is also more difficult to join and figure out. For instagram or TikTok, all you need to do is download the app, enter a username, email, password, and you're done. Here, you have to choose your instance, oftentimes apply for your account, and then set it up fully yourself, without an algorithm showing you things. On top of that, you can then choose the app you use (I'm writing this from Elk Canary[1]), and so it becomes overwhelming.
If you have ideas for simplifying it and making it easier, I'm open to hearing them. I'd love if some of my friends joined the Fediverse but it's hard to explain to people what it is, let alone convince them to sign up.
0: https://matrix.org
1: https://main.elk.zone
EDIT: I completely forgot to mention this, but most people my age don't care about text based media. Their short-form video content is enough for them. None of them have Twitter accounts, either, just Instagram and TikTok. Maybe a few of them would join the Fediverse, but most of them don't even care for text content.