You can see it if you check https://fedidb.org/. Monthly active users have gone from just a hair under one million to somewhere around 1.4 million and still growing. How do we think this will go? How do we feel about this influx of new users? Has PixelFed done something different that Mastodon hasn’t?
I feel like I didn’t really recognize having different “platforms” like Mastodon, PixelFed, etc would give multiple opportunities for the fediverse to make a “first” impression with people.
On this topic I just want to point out the microblog format with twitter even BEFORE musk bought it had gotten very cold, harsh and toxic.
As a result the most positive thing you can say about people’s feelings about microblogging is that they are bored of it (in terms of it having inspiring potential) even if they use it daily themselves and like it.
I don’t think that is fair to mastodon or microblogging, it is just how the ships happened to sink as they crashed into the reef.
I say this all to emphasize that it is ok for mastodon not to get hit by massive hypecycles. Mastodon is useful and awesome, if people see it is as boring I say let that be a compliment because that means people are beginning to slowly trust the medium again.
Twitter/musk made people REALLY sad about microblogging and it is going to take time for people to get excited about it again like they do for the 'grams and the 'toks.
Bluesky is doing well though.
Bluesky has a serious marketing budget and a virtual “get out of having to back up unrealistic promises” pass for tech in interviews (everyone just accepts they are going to decentralize when it makes zero sense from a business perspective).