A kind observation that exclusively calling this place "Mastodon" has a bit similar energy as saying "I just sent a GMail."
"Fediverse" (or "fedi") is a more inclusive, general term.
Mastodon is just one of many software projects that talk to each other to create this multi-instance social network:
https://axbom.com/fediverse/
(kudos to @axbom for this fantastic infographic!)
There are blogs, Reddit-like communities, video instances and many more, all part of fedi.
@rysiek @axbom@social.xbm.se
the problem with users not seeing the bigger #Fediverse behind Mastodon is that .... it is largely invisible to them (in terms of UX).
Even a newbie user quickly gets a sense that the #Mastodon network is made of instances.
but how do you get to see the other federated services? in my experience, you don't.
so there's a need to somehow populate people's feeds with hints of the other options (I don't want to call this advertising ;)
@tarkowski great point. I strongly agree!
@tarkowski @rysiek @axbom
"How do you see the other federated services" - You don't see the services, you see posts and profiles. If you're asking how to see people and posts from places beyond your own instance -- the answer is, essentially, to surf. Like in the early days of the web. Follow the followings. And follow more people, and see who responds to those people's posts. You can also #search.