@darius Exactly. That's why it appealed to me.

I think a big part of the issue is a a key fact isn't getting communicated well to newcomers which is....

Mastodon isn't a social network.

It's software that enables individuals to make their OWN social networks that you can then choose to make interoperable with other social networks.

I think a lot of folks who would be otherwise interested in such a project are getting turned off as a whole by what amounts to "house rules" as set forth by the early adopters.

The next round of adoption is likely to be by communities that have different values, and may end up forming their own clusters based on whatever their house rules end up being.