I recently came up with a new way to get people involved in Matrix.
You know how people tend to make new group chats to keep in touch with people they met under specific circumstances, like holidays or conferences etc.
Some people even have specific group chats from their gym or sports team.
I thought this can be an opportunity to spread Matrix.
You can recommend going on Matrix when this moment comes up, and help people get set up on the spot.
Or if you are friends you can just pop over and say “let’s set you up for this group chat I have going.”
Don’t get me wrong, it might sound shady and weird at times, especially if you seem too eager to interact with their phones.
But in principle I think it might be a time and place that people might be motivated to procrastinate less, and be more likely to use it. After all such group chats are always silly.
Downsides I already forsee
- Don’t forget to make them store the secret key somewhere safe, where they will also remember storing after the hangover.
- You have to be well-prepared, know exactly what client and homeserver you will point people to, create the group chat yourself, and have the QR-code handy.
- You have to avoid talking points about all the technical advantages and privacy aspect, and stay with the silliness, so choose a client that has an abundance of pre-installed stickers.
oh, I have to install another app? No thanks
I predict this to be 90% of your responses
At least for a large portion of such people, the reply might be “Well, you installed an app for a random coffeeshop you go to - so why not install one for a more important purpose?”
Yeah well you’re not harvesting their data and giving them free coffee
It’s a logical argument but I still expect people to refuse. Because people.
This could work with Signal but Matrix onboarding is too shit. Let us know how it goes.
This is exactly what I thought. I moved my non-techie family over to Signal, because as much as I love decentralized platforms, Matrix is still not ready for the average person. I did not want to have to play tech support later, only to have them give up and switch back to SMS (the thing I’m trying to get them away from).
This sounds like the script for a Jehovah’s Witnesses induction session. Jesting aside, it’s a decent plan.
And this assumes that Matrix and its mobile client (I forget its name) are ready for the big time. Not sure if that’s true. The UX and reliability have to be flawless before Matrix can be recommended to normies. If not then the experiment will end badly for everyone including Matrix and the cause of software freedom. That’s my view.
There are many different matrix IM clients, both for desktop and mobile. I’m guessing you’re thinking of Element, the defacto standard client from the makers of the matrix platform? Some of them are more tailored to the “average user”, like FluffyChat and SchchzshchildyChat (???)
IMO the variety of clients only make it more confusing for people unfamiliar with the ecosystem.
On top of that there’s different instances. It’s about as messy as the ActivityPub-based fediverse.
OP specifically stated to prep a specific web client and instance, and create a QR code to facilitate joining. That sidesteps that concern entirely.
That was how I joined IRC back in the day. I was told to join “mIRC” (a popular client then). You figure the details later — or don’t, because it will work regardless.
Completely agree. Alas.
Have you tried this?
I like the idea. I would wait until Matrix 2.0 is officially released and implemented in the major clients. It will make a big difference to the user experience.
This precisely. I tested dendrite before and now am trialing synapse with element x. The experience with the latter is night and day. Wait for that point before pushing it IMO.
If you hadn’t mentioned the stickers bit, I was going to say simplex instead. Just because of the fact that you don’t have to store keys, you only have to back up the database every so often. And even if you don’t, it’s not a horrible deal. And the database stores all the keys for you. And you don’t need a home server of any kind.
I refuse to use Matrix due to keeping a permanent log of all activity and messages.
What
