Because famous figures or organizations are the primary draw for the mainstream audience over random users. And many use it because they themselves hope to use the huge platform to promote or try to become an influencer.
I’d bet most of the people on theads aren’t looking for a “Twitter alternative” they just clicked on the button in the Instagram app. The rest are lost journos and clout chasers.
Threads was able to be pushed through other large commercial platforms, and onboarding was trivial for anyone coming through the portal.
Mastodon lacks that kind of exposure and the onboarding process of choosing an instance makes it feel more confusing.
As a result, Threads starts off with a network effect that is quite a bit more advanced than Mastodon’s. It has more high profile users that maintain an active account. It also claims to want to join the fediverse, which makes users think that they can easily onboard with Mastodon in the near future.
I don’t get it
If people want a twitter alternative, why don’t they just go to mastodon instead of threads?
Because famous figures or organizations are the primary draw for the mainstream audience over random users. And many use it because they themselves hope to use the huge platform to promote or try to become an influencer.
Mastodon seems to be more confusing than Threads or Bluesky for most users
I’d bet most of the people on theads aren’t looking for a “Twitter alternative” they just clicked on the button in the Instagram app. The rest are lost journos and clout chasers.
Very easy start and algorithmic feed, I think.
I’d guess there’s a few reasons.
Threads was able to be pushed through other large commercial platforms, and onboarding was trivial for anyone coming through the portal.
Mastodon lacks that kind of exposure and the onboarding process of choosing an instance makes it feel more confusing.
As a result, Threads starts off with a network effect that is quite a bit more advanced than Mastodon’s. It has more high profile users that maintain an active account. It also claims to want to join the fediverse, which makes users think that they can easily onboard with Mastodon in the near future.