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submitted 2 years ago by gamer@lemm.ee to c/fediverse@lemmy.world

The mastodon and lemmy content I’m seeing feels like 90% of it comes from people who are:

  • ~30 years old or older

  • tech enthusiasts/workers

  • linux users

There’s nothing wrong with that particular demographic or anything, but it doesn’t feel like a win to me if the entire fediverse is just one big monoculture.

I wonder what it is that is keeping more diverse users away? Is picking a server/federation too complicated? Or is it that they don’t see any content that they like?

Thoughts?

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[-] Under30NoLinuxNoTech@lemm.ee 14 points 2 years ago

Before seeing this post, I didn't see a reason to make an account instead of just lurking, but now I made an account because I feel more special.

If this was your plan all along, you have my utmost respect.

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[-] ike@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

"Hey just fyi, I post all this stuff first on my site at noschool.angelfire.com, but i realize people are all here on Xanga now, so I copy it here too. Anyways:

These lemmy users are really making me stress about my age, as if my back pain wasn't enough. I guess I just need to accept it. I have too much going on to be worried about that anyways, i still need to get the rest of those songs downloaded for the mix cd. Kazaa is taking forever to download, but soulseek is ZOOMING at 300kbps, so there's that. Once i get my domain and stuff set up, and my blog system going with Greymatter, let me know if you want to use one of my subdomains for your blog. Anyways i'll be on aim later if anyone is bored."

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[-] MrShankles@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

Well... damn. I'm mid-30's; Tech is (definitely) kind of a hobby of mine; and I use Linux for learning, experimenting, and... uhh, tech hobby stuff lol. I can solder a little, and sometimes it actually works!

Maybe it's because that cohort is the fastest to adopt. We grew up with a rapidly changing internet, we're kinda used to navigating the glitches/unfamiliarity, and it's just more familiar (to us) in a "back-to-basics" way. I feel like I've entered a nostalgic "place" that has become better since I last visited.

With Memmy for ios going full-live, the multitude of 3rd party apps at full throttle, and Facebook ready with "Threads" - this just seems like the first wave of what could be a hell of a storm. The content will increase and diversify, that's inevitable now.

The question is: do people want to be responsible for maintaining a user-controlled platform? Or would they prefer an operator help to connect us? We'll see, but I guarantee there will be some fresh af memes coming through here in the mean time, so no worries

Hell, while you're here... throw some of those old ass memes (or almost any pic you've got saved on your phone) onto !196@lemmy.blahaj.zone

Be the change you want to see and shit

Or don't, it's not like anyone can really judge you when you're anonymous... but you'll know. Months from now, when you're lying in bed, unable to sleep because you were complicit in the apathy; you'll wonder if it could have been different. You'll try to bury the intrusive thoughts and "what ifs", but you'll always wonder...

"Could it have actually worked? Might we have taken claim to a piece of independence in the future of world communications?!"

... and the thought slips away, as you mainline another 40 min of memes directly into you're neurotransmitter reservoir, for sustenance and maintenence

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[-] gila@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I don't think there's much keeping users outside that demographic away, more so that the fediverse is a tech solution to the reddit problem, so naturally the people that flock to lemmy are the type of person that looks for tech solutions to the problems they experience in daily life.

My mother just had her illegal IPTV streaming box stop working recently, was her solution to find an alternative? No, she simply stopped watching her shows and did other things instead, and complained about it. And that's with full denial of service, not just limited/compromised service like reddit users currently experience.

It wasn't until her tech-savvy nerd son set up another IPTV box for her that she was able to resume consuming the content she wanted to, and similarly lemmy won't really take off until it reaches a critical mass where enough tech-savvy nerds have shown regular people Lemmy as the tech solution to the problem they're facing. What's holding up progress with that at the moment is that the reddit problem for most people isn't significant enough for a regular person to be in a position to do anything about it, even if they are directly inconvenienced.

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[-] t0m5k1@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

As a 49 year old IT worker I think you guessed well lol.

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[-] mranderson1984@lemm.ee 14 points 2 years ago

Fucking zoomers with their tiktoks and snapchats, what was so wrong with old school forums?

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[-] code@lemmy.mayes.io 13 points 2 years ago

30 is just a baby. My son is 30. Im late 50’s.

I think older techies are just sick of all the bullshit regarding corporate aocial/web etc. A lot of us went to linux to escape windows hell for same reasons. Tech is abused to unfathomable levels so we do what we can to limit it.

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[-] BlessedDog@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 years ago

Age 16 here. I'm getting old, eh?

[-] UnicornKitty@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

I mostly fit that description. While I understand what you're saying, we all have other interests on top of this. That's what makes it diverse.

Personally, I feel like a more mature audience is needed. I have never liked the feel of places like Facebook, tiktok, etc. Let me have one place where I can pretend the world isn't overrun with stupidity. There is actual conversation on topics to be had, and people aren't jerks to others for no reason.

The fediverse is somewhat complicated to understand. Maybe like usenet or other such places.

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[-] wtry@lemm.ee 12 points 2 years ago

I'm a younger tech nerd, but I do use linux.

[-] FARTYSHARTBLAST@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 years ago

Hey, I'm not old!

Shit, wait, yes I am.

[-] Rhabuko@feddit.de 12 points 2 years ago
  • I'm under 30
  • I use my PC for 3D render art as a hobby but otherwise I'm not a tech enthusiast
  • I don't use Linux.

With that said, early adopters are often tech enthusiasts. As the user base grows, so will the content and diversify itself.

[-] merryflag0655@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

I think more average users have just never heard about lemmy. At least it's like that for most people in my social circle.

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[-] Auli@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 years ago

So exactly what Digg and Reddit where to begin with. The tech people are first and then everyone else comes over. Only this time I think the everyone else are staying on Reddit.

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[-] MartinXYZ@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 years ago

Yup. That's me.

[-] brayd@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 2 years ago

I am younger than 25, but I’m a Sys-Admin.

However my mother also uses the Fediverse and has nearly to none technical knowledge.

Also my cousin who’s 15 uses it. And some friends of mine who are between 18 to 26 use it without being what you typically would call a nerd.

So I think for the majority it applies but there are also people here not fitting in this sector.

[-] aidan@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago
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[-] BigMike@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

I think the federation system is quite a barricade for some people. I recently changed over to Lemmy from Reddit, and it was quite challenging to first understand how it worked. Also I am not sure that I even now understand how this works fully.

Also the smaller community on Lemmy might be a turn-off for some people.

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[-] I_AnoN_I@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

23 year old electrician here. I'm pretty interested in dectralized tech. My first was Bitcoin

[-] mawp@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

I just passed into the 30 and older crowd yesterday, and created an account a few days before. Thanks... :(

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[-] AirZone@lemm.ee 11 points 2 years ago

Well.. I'm 36 yo physician, an orthopedic surgeon resident. But I do LOVE tech&gaming. I want to switch from reddit because my favorite app boost stopped working and the creator is developing a boost app for lemmy. Oh and the official reddit app is just shit. I do hope lemmy will get bigger.

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[-] aaron_griffin@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

Yes, but that's pretty much the early adopter demographic across all tech. I would love for people to realize this and start talking about their other hobbies, not just how they run Lemmy on a toaster and are so radical.

[-] notExactlyI20@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

I'm 24 and while I do use Linux, I'm nowhere close to an expert user, so idk what to tell you man, other than fuck spez and fuck Reddit I guess.

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this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
2075 points (100.0% liked)

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