A lesson learned from app.net is that when all conversations on a social network are meta-conversations *about that social network* you get an incredibly boring, self-centered echo chamber that's very unappealing to most audiences (which, in turn, makes it more boring and self-centered).
Disclaimer: not *all* conversations on app.net were about app.net. Far from it, actually. Still, it was such a prevalent topic that it might as well have been the only one. I'm convinced this is what killed it.
@Ada Avoiding this is like trying to practice mindfulness, though. Thoughts about the exercise are still just thoughts, and meta-meta-conversation is still just meta-conversation.
I think, though, that things might well work themselves out here. Ironically probably because I'm already following a bunch of interesting people from Metafilter! :)
@howfar yeah… also, to some degree these conversations are probably necessary. I was just trying to pin down what makes me feel so pessimistic for this place, and i think it's because to me mastodon feels very early-days-app.net. And both the enthusiasm and the meta-conversations are what make it feel like that.
Anyway, I'm not trying to poo-poo mastodon or even meta-conversations. It's just an observation — I'm here because I hope it works out 🤷🏻♀️