Yea, I keep thinking this. Once there’s an app on Android and iOS, one that can explain the fediverse simply and is well designed, many of the Apollo, RIF, and Sync users will jump over.
The average user has poor tech literacy. I mean, the pandemic began over 3 years ago and still people have trouble managing Zoom. “How do I share a screen? Where is the calendar invite? Oh woops, I didn’t realize I was unmuted!”. These are otherwise smart people. That’s why the best apps are super simple and idiot-proof.
I strongly believe that a good Lemmy does not need to explain the federation.
It should not use the word ‘instance’, ‘server’ or any of that jargon outside of advanced settings. All that’ll do is scare away new users.
All the app needs to do is say, “Hey, you want to connect with communities sharing memes, news and fun stories? Well - download this app!”. Let the app point them to a list of communities they might like and keep it at that.
The user doesn’t need to know they’re commenting on Beehaw or lemmy.world. All they need to know is they’re chatting about a cute kitten or whatever.
This is exactly right. People who know their stuff and want to dig around advanced settings should be able to do so, but everybody else needs a simple app that works without any learning curve.
Yea, I keep thinking this. Once there’s an app on Android and iOS, one that can explain the fediverse simply and is well designed, many of the Apollo, RIF, and Sync users will jump over.
The average user has poor tech literacy. I mean, the pandemic began over 3 years ago and still people have trouble managing Zoom. “How do I share a screen? Where is the calendar invite? Oh woops, I didn’t realize I was unmuted!”. These are otherwise smart people. That’s why the best apps are super simple and idiot-proof.
I strongly believe that a good Lemmy does not need to explain the federation.
It should not use the word ‘instance’, ‘server’ or any of that jargon outside of advanced settings. All that’ll do is scare away new users.
All the app needs to do is say, “Hey, you want to connect with communities sharing memes, news and fun stories? Well - download this app!”. Let the app point them to a list of communities they might like and keep it at that.
The user doesn’t need to know they’re commenting on Beehaw or lemmy.world. All they need to know is they’re chatting about a cute kitten or whatever.
This is exactly right. People who know their stuff and want to dig around advanced settings should be able to do so, but everybody else needs a simple app that works without any learning curve.