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"New Mastodon accounts should be private by default."
@evan interesting thought experiment as to how to reinvent discovery in that situation. Because it’s dire now and would become even worse, but maybe that forces some creativity around what “social network” even means in the Masto context. Is it less Twitter, more Signal? More webrings2.0?
@luis_in_brief Mastodon private accounts are discoverable; you can read the profile information and so on. They just a) manually approve followers and b) post followers-only by default.
@evan an account that by default has no content visible to search engines or casual browsers is not discoverable in any meaningful sense. That’s 100% the opposite direction from bsky, which is innovating on how to surface content to newbies w/ starter packs, lists, & filters.
Maybe private is a good direction! Maybe 
should make a clean break from being a twitter clone. But that’s the implication: “private by default”, when you’re not already market-dominant, is not a *social* network anymore.
Private accounts are *more* social. They're about connecting with people you know and care about, rather than broadcasting to the aether.
Fewer, deeper connections, and more comfort sharing real details about your real life.
How do you get to know people if it defaults to private? I like the concept of private groups you can join or be invited to, like WhatsApp, Discord (etc) groups for "closed" social circles. When I joined Mastodon I knew nobody. How does one get get know people with private profiles but with whom you might share similar interests?
@hallenbeck @luis_in_brief you already know people, though.
@evan @luis_in_brief Ah so you're suggesting Mastodon could potentially be something like Signal or WhatsApp and, by default, be a private messenger (with encryption) that you then opt-in to on public posting?
@hallenbeck @luis_in_brief no, more like Instagram in private mode. You share more personal information with people you already know.