@paulwicks @mastodonmigration I hear you, I really do. I did the exact same thing, except that in my case I literally went dumpster diving behind office parks to find discarded peripherals.
That life experience motivates the work that I've been doing here. I know, first-hand, that what we consider "easy" is tremendously difficult for many without the means. Buying a domain and setting up a `rel-me` takes me/you <10 min. Some non-profits would require 10 weeks.
@DataDrivenMD @paulwicks In going over articles earlier this week I saw many like this (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/mastodon-social-media-twitter-rcna56288):
"Rob Schäfer, a military historian, said he stopped using Mastodon after 15 minutes.
“I write all day, I do a large amount of research and so on; I can’t spend hours learning to handle a simple social media app,” said Schäfer, who described Mastodon as “clunky” and “unusable.”
It is true the multiple server thing has to be explained more clearly and onboarding has to be simpler.
@mastodonmigration @DataDrivenMD @paulwicks I think the problem comes from approaching Mastodon with the attitude that it's a gadget that you hear about on the news and then go try out. Mastodon is designed to reflect human social networks, not capitalist marketing. It's something you join because someone invites your, or tells you that they are having great conversations. If you do it that way, you immediately have a guide and a network to tap into. But if you just try to drop in on Mastodon, there's a good chance you'll be lost and alone, just as you would if you dropped into a new city with no connections and no spare change burning a hole in your pocket.
