Parasocial chat
On Linux Matters we have a friendly and active, public Telegram channel linked on our Contact page, along with a Discord Channel. We also have links to Mastodon, Twitter (not that we use it that much) and email.
At the time of writing there are roughly this ⬇️ number of people (plus bots, sockpuppets and duplicates) in or following each Linux Matters “official” presence:
Channel
Number
Telegram
796
Discord
683
Mastodon
858
Twitter
9919
Preponderance of chat
We chose to have a presence in lots of places, but primarily the talent presenters (Martin, Mark, and myself (and Joe)) only really hang out to chat on Telegram and Mastodon.
I originally created the Telegram channel on November 20th, 2015, when we were publishing the Ubuntu Podcast (RIP in Peace) A.K.A. Ubuntu UK Podcast. We co-opted and renamed the channel when Linux Matters launched in 2023.
Prior to the channel’s existence, we used the Ubuntu UK Local Community (LoCo) Team IRC channel on Freenode (also, RIP in Peace).
We also re-branded our existing Mastodon accounts from the old Ubuntu Podcast to Linux Matters.
We mostly continue using Telegram and Mastodon as our primary methods of communication because on the whole they’re fast, reliable, stay synced across devices, have the features we enjoy, and at least one of them isn’t run by a weird billionaire.
Other options
We link to a lot of other places at the top of the Linux Matters home page, where our listeners can chat, mostly to eachother and not us.
Being over 16, I’m not a big fan of Discord, and I know Mark doesn’t even have an account there. None of us use Twitter much anymore, either.
Periodically I ponder if we (Linux Matters) should use something other than Telegram. I know some listeners really don’t like the platform, but prefer other places like Signal, Matrix or even IRC. I know for sure some non-listeners don’t like Telegram, but I care less about their opinions.
Part of the problem is that I don’t think any of us really enjoy the other realtime chat alternatives. Both Matrix and Signal have terrible user experience, and other flaws. Which is why you don’t tend to find us hanging out in either of those places.
There are further options I haven’t even considered, like Wire, WhatsApp, and likely more I don’t even know or care about.
So we kept using Telegram over any of the above alternative options.
Pondering Posting Polls
I have repeatedly considered asking the listeners about their preferred chat platforms via our existing channels. But that seems flawed, because we use what we like, and no matter how many people prefer something else, we’re unlikely to move. Unless something strange happens ? .
Plus, often times, especially on decentralised platforms, the audience can be somewhat “over-enthusiastic” about their preferred way being The Way™️ over the alternatives. It won’t do us any favours to get data saying 40% report we should use Signal, 40% suggest Matrix and 20% choose XMPP, if the four of us won’t use any of them.
Pursue Podcast Palaver Proposals
So rather than ask our audience, I thought I’d see what other podcasters promote for feedback and chatter on their websites.
I picked a random set from shows I have heard of, and may have listened to, plus a few extra ones I haven’t. None of this is endorsement or approval, I just wanted the facts ma’am, just the fax, ma’am.
I collated the data in a json file for some reason, then generated the tables below. I don’t know what to do with this information, but it’s a bit of data we may use if we ever decide to move away from Telegram.
Presenting Pint-Sized Payoff
The table shows some nerdy podcasts along with their primary means (as far as I can tell) of community engagement. Data was gathered manually from podcast home pages and “about” pages. I generally didn’t go into the page content for each episode. I made an exception for “Dot Social” and “Linux OTC” because there’s nothing but episodes on their home page.
It doesn’t matter for this research, I just thought it was interesting that some podcasters don’t feel the need to break out their contact details to a separate page, or make it more obvious. Perhaps they feel that listeners are likely to be viewing an episode page, or looking at a specific show metadata, so it’s better putting the contact details there.
Some podcasts have the contact details buried inside episode notes. They have nothing on the home page, and no “contact” or “about” pages exist. Each to their own.
I haven’t included YouTube, where many shows publish and discuss, in addition to a podcast feed.
I am also aware that some people exclusively, or perhaps primarily publish on YouTube (or other video platforms). Those aren’t podcasts IMNSHO.
Key to the tables below. Column names have been shorted because it’s a w i d e table. The numbers indicate how many podcasts use that communication platform.
- EM - Email address (13/18)
- MA - Mastodon account (9/18)
- TW - Twitter account (8/18)
- DS - Discord server (8/18)
- TG - Telegram channel (4/18)
- IR - IRC channel (5/18)
- DW - Discourse website (2/18)
- SK - Slack channel (3/18)
- LI - LinkedIn (2/18)
- WF - Web form (2/18)
- SG - Signal group (3/18)
- WA - WhatsApp (1/18)
- FB - FaceBook (1/18)
Linux
Show
EM
MA
TW
DS
TG
IR
DW
SK
MX
LI
WF
SG
WA
FB
Linux Matters
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Ask The Hosts
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Destination Linux
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Linux Dev Time
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Linux After Dark
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Linux Unplugged
✅
✅
✅
✅
This Week in Linux
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Ubuntu Security Podcast
✅
✅
✅
✅
✅
Linux OTC
✅
✅
✅
Open Source Adjunct
Show
EM
MA
TW
DS
TG
IR
DW
SK
MX
LI
WF
SG
WA
FB
2.5 Admins
✅
✅
Bad Voltage
✅
✅
✅
✅
Coffee and Open Source
✅
Dot Social
✅
✅
Open Source Security
✅
✅
✅
localfirst.fm
✅
Other Tech
Show
EM
MA
TW
DS
TG
IR
DW
SK
MX
LI
WF
SG
WA
FB
ATP
✅
✅
✅
✅
BBC Newscast
✅
✅
✅
The Rest is Entertainment
✅
Point
Not entirely sure what to do with this data. But there it is.
Is Linux Matters going to move away from Telegram to something else? No idea.