I spent quite a bit of time on BlueSky for several months and found that if you’re a nobody there is close to no engagement.

@urlyman

I go back and forth in most places, as a random unknown. I'm not a very social person but I don't have anyone to talk to offline. So I really do need social media, or I'll lose my mind.

BS is absolute chaos, I never understand how to use it.

But here, every time without fail I can jump into a conversation on my first day, and people reply or fav (as read receipts) my words. And I don't have to think most of them are bots, so it makes me feel seen.

@urlyman I hop between Mastodon and Bluesky. Personally I find value in them both.

There are a lot more big accounts posting on Bluesky, but I enjoy the slower paced more community-based interactions of Mastodon. I also like that Mastodon allows for a lot more nuance with larger character limits even getting into more long form posts (such as the OP which is fairly long and would have been a lengthy thread on bsky) which makes for better discussions.

In my experience Bluesky is better for low-effort short posts and broadcasting from large accounts to a wider audience whereas Mastodon is better for nuanced discussions and has a more level playing field between large and small accounts.

@urlyman I was in BlueSky for a while too…. but it’s too political, and also quite discriminative of single fathers. If you have NO political opinion there, you’re a nobody, who nobody trusts. You’re considered a “red flag” if you don’t support the left. Other platforms consider you a “red flag “ if you don’t support the right.

I love the Fediverse! It gives the finger to both.

@urlyman Really? That's interesting, as I'm trying out Mastodon and coming from Bluesky, I interact with people frequently there. Yet, I only have 20-something followers, none of whom know me IRL.

@urlyman používám obojí, chce to jen čas...

@hydropsyche @urlyman
Considering myself as reply guy as I only get ideas from other messages rather than shouting in void. Personal note is not talked about a lot which also might mean people never use it which as you pointed out, can give first time warning for your future self how to deal with x person instead of relying on memory.

Never found twitter usefulness so never was attached personally myself, moved from reddit to Mastodon and then explored whole Fediverse and found it attractive.
Bluesky showing up late also was factor of "why bother, Fediverse not perfect but I like the appeal for growth".

What really concerning for me, that academic side didn't lean on Fediverse being in between closed spaces (twitter/Bluesky) and going anonymous comments. Self published blog with ActivityPub regardless of jankiness still a good opportunity to have people interact with your content while having history behind accounts, as well relieving burden of registration/holding account information/dealing with bot network registration and having semi anonymous data gathering.

We all part of algorithm be it twitter, Bluesky or google for independent blogs, so why bother with combination of social media+ Google when you can only appeal to Google + Fediverse instead?

@patrick_h_lauke @urlyman It's funny because I see it flipped on Bluesky. Everyone is calling Mastodon a Libertarian or Centrists hub while calling themselves Leftist, Socialists, or Anarchists. I don't have much to add for/against either line of thinking, but figured I'd bring it up as it's interesting.

@Lydie @urlyman

https://inaniludibrio.com/2024/02/13/mastodon-is-for-old-school-neophiles/

@Lydie @urlyman I really liked the idea of pluggable Open Source algorithms.

The problem isn't *an* algorithm, it's whether you have control of it. Even chronological display is an algorithm, it's just one that's well understood.

@urlyman My favorite part of Mastodon is that there are very few incentives for doing whatever it takes to build an audience. You kind of just put your circle together and that's it. Just like we wanted.

@gooba42 @urlyman True that

@urlyman I often post the same thing there and here and get no one responding to me there

@urlyman It looks to me like BS is the place to "build an audience", to perform as a big account, and to overhear conversations between "important" people. People doing single issue advocacy seem to get more of what they're personally looking for there. And they likely make more of an impact there than they would here.

I'm not looking for an audience, the big account path looks like a bad life to lead, and I'm not important. I do like chatting with people. This place is a good fit for me.

@maccruiskeen @urlyman

Came here to quote exactly this. The original is equally relevant.

I'm Nobody! Who are you?
Are you - Nobody - too?
Then there's a pair of us!
Dont tell! they'd banish us - you know!

How dreary - to be - Somebody!
How public - like a Frog -
To tell your name - the livelong June -
To an admiring Bog!

@urlyman
This is interesting, and matches something I think about sometimes.

I've never used BlueSky, but something I perceive as a source of conflict here on Mastodon is that it seems to work better when people seek symmetrical relationships. By this I mean a relationship where the amount of following/ followers is similar, and the posts by your followers are similarly valued as the posts you yourself write. Information transfer is expected to work both ways (from followers to you and from you to your followers).

Where I see most friction is when a single person tries to establish highly asymmetrical relations, with orders of magnitude more followers than what they follow, and perceives communication as a one-way thing where they broadcast and people passively receive (which is, I presume, what works well on Bluesky?).

(.. and yes, I can see how asymmetrical relations can feed an egotistical personality).

@urlyman @kathhayhoe “I was burned by this one place that changed the algorithm overnight, so my impact collapsed and I got thousands of hateful comments… So anyway, I found this new algorithmic place…”

‍️

@urlyman well I don’t always get a ton of engagement on here so I probably won’t get any there lol

@mycos @urlyman hah, made me chuckle, particularly considering that most celebs/actors/ICE are on bluesky as well. so anti-establishment

@urlyman I’ve gotten some climate change deniers here, but compared to the large amount of people I have interacted with, it’s quite few.

@urlyman 100% agree! My experience is on Twitter not Bluesky, but I quickly learned that follower counts don't matter much on the fedi. The higher (good faith) engagement is far more satisfying than a number going up, and you don't need to be a big account to attract that.

It's also great to see how even many big accounts here have adjusted to the different vibe, and aren't snooty about talking to those with low follower counts. Prominent figures are willing to be more generous with their time.