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Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

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Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#241

Post by echelon »

jowsie wrote: post #235
echelon wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually looked at several graphs before posting. Wasn't easy to share crude data so I didn't link it. Now that I'm googling for more deliberate correlations, I see other people are talking about this: https://roytriggs.medium.com/internet-use-and-birth-rates-an... https://fortune.com/well/2025/03/28/phones-declining-birth-r... https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/opinion/dating-marriage-c... "The phone killed babies…

This is completely ignoring the most common reason for not having children that I've heard amongst friends and family: "I can't afford a house, I'll never be able to afford kids."

I really don't buy that argument at all.

My parents lived in apartments.

Parents for all of human civilization and history have lived in worse.

The fastest growing populations have less money and safety nets than middle class folks.

It's the dopamine and time suck.

Men and women aren't bored and looking to fill the void and boredom with children. (Kids also can't work as free labor on the farm anymore, either, but that just adds to this argument.)

Kids keep you from nights out with the friends, dating, concerts, fortnite, girl gossip, phone time, etc.

People are choosing "I don't have time for kids (now)" and continuing with their dopamine filled lives. House purchase planning is orthogonal.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#242

Post by Lio »

bloody-crow wrote: post #204

Who actually wants this? Kids obsesses with TikTok don't care about federated/open source bits. People who do are not on TikTok or interested in this type of brainrot in the first place. What am I missing?

The world could do with a decent, privacy focused, YouTube competitor.

Maybe this could grow into that?

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#245

Post by deaux »

echelon wrote: post #241
jowsie wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is completely ignoring the most common reason for not having children that I've heard amongst friends and family: "I can't afford a house, I'll never be able to afford kids."

I really don't buy that argument at all. My parents lived in apartments. Parents for all of human civilization and history have lived in worse. The fastest growing populations have less money and safety nets than middle class folks. It's the dopamine and time suck. Men and women aren't bored and looking to fill the void and boredom with children. (Kids also can't work as free labor on the farm anymore, either, but th…

> My parents lived in apartments.

In much of the world, the most expensive real estate is apartments.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#246

Post by huijzer »

Lio wrote: post #242
bloody-crow wrote: post #204

Who actually wants this? Kids obsesses with TikTok don't care about federated/open source bits. People who do are not on TikTok or interested in this type of brainrot in the first place. What am I missing?

The world could do with a decent, privacy focused, YouTube competitor. Maybe this could grow into that?

PeerTube currently seems like the best bet for that

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#247

Post by jampekka »

bloody-crow wrote: post #204

Who actually wants this? Kids obsesses with TikTok don't care about federated/open source bits. People who do are not on TikTok or interested in this type of brainrot in the first place. What am I missing?

A lot of older (even elderly) people watch TikTok and other short form video streams, e.g. Instagram or YouTube shorts. But I wouldn't put past kids caring about such things either.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#248

Post by Adiqq »

atomicfiredoll wrote: post #171
AuthAuth wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know they're everywhere on the internet. I'm specifically talking about loops/mastodon. I want loops/mastodon to be a diverse place that has content from all over the internet.

> I want loops/mastodon to be a diverse place that has content from all over the internet. I think a lot of Fedi people want that, but the community is still small. It's a bit of a chicken and egg, so I would encourage you to create the content or communities you want to see. I'm not a Loops user atm though.

> so I would encourage you to create the content or communities you want to see.

There are hidden reasons behind centralized solutions, that make decentralized solutions unpopular. If anyone suggests "just go out and make it better", it's missing the point. That's like saying: "don't participate in society, just start your own". In theory it makes sense, in practice it's just ignorance and lack of awareness on how difficult and complex task it is.

Centralized solutions are often just a business, they're not transparent, they're not cooperative, they're not ethical, they're there to conquer market and there's big money behind them, they're part of surveillance capitalism.

These are just examples, but there's lot more, so in context of social media, it's intertwined with the rest of simulation called "real world", so almost no one is going to know what you're talking about, when mention Loops/Mastodon/Bluesky, people know dominant platforms and stick to them and they may do so as part of social pressure and because they compete for status. In this society, you won't gain status by using Loops. People are buying iPhone for status, even though something like Samsung or Fairphone would be good as well. People are buying luxury frames for glasses, because they want to show brand, they don't care that it's more expensive and quality is basically they same.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#249

Post by echelon »

deaux wrote: post #245
echelon wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't buy that argument at all. My parents lived in apartments. Parents for all of human civilization and history have lived in worse. The fastest growing populations have less money and safety nets than middle class folks. It's the dopamine and time suck. Men and women aren't bored and looking to fill the void and boredom with children. (Kids also can't work as free labor on the farm anymore, either, but th…

> My parents lived in apartments. In much of the world, the most expensive real estate is apartments.

I'm not talking expensive apartments.

People might have the faux preference for ideal conditions, but it's an artificial mask for not having time.

Severely resource constrained people have kids. People with other things to do, don't.

Re: Loops is a federated, open-source TikTok

#250

Post by anigbrowl »

8organicbits wrote: post #164
deminature wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selecting a server is one of the reasons the fediverse appears to have not seriously challenged incumbents. As soon as a non-technical user sees this, they bounce.

Checking the Mastodon app, new users are asked to "Join mastodon.social" or "pick another server". If you just mindlessly click the primary button, you'll get an account on mastodon.social so I think the server selection challenge has largely been addressed.

But users are not mindless drones. Even the least computer-savvy is aware that they're being asked to make a choice and is probably unpleasantly reminded of the dark patterns in user agreements etc., so they'll feel like they're being guided down a sales funnel immediately after installing the app/signing up on web.

What percentage bounce at that stage? It's probably large. I did so, and although I later relented and created a Mastodon account I've felt emotionally biased against it ever since and barely use it. When I have used it I don't experience any tangible benefit to overcome my reflexive dislike. The network effects aren't anything great, the timeline/feed mechanism and presentation are not fundamentally different from other social media offerings, the QoL improvements are marginal. If I cared about architecture and ideology above all else it would be great, but what I actually care about is being able to get news faster than any other source and being able to find more people there than anywhere else. I can only think of 1 or 2 people who I check in on periodically via Mastodon because there's no other place to find them.

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