It has the better feature set and UX. Some things I like:

• Threaded comment replies (though they display differently from Lemmy’s).
• Antennae for discoverability.
  • Can use hashtags AND keywords.
  • Can filter results by instance.
  • Can create multiple timelines to display content in.
• Customizable UI via widgets.
• I think the theming options are better.
• Full-text search.
• Quote posts.
• Cat mode.

you don’t really have to, but it’s a lot more feature rich, less heavy to run if you’re self hosting, and has a really slick ui to boot

ok but how about you tell me why to move from mastodon to firefish?

I like the UI better (by a lot), I like the “antennas” feature, I like that I can do a traditional blog post if I choose (“pages” they call it), it’s very custom-configurable, and in the 3 days since I’ve joined I’ve already seen bugfixes and improvements deployed.

Why move? If Mastodon is 100% great for you and nothing about the look/feel/functionality of Firefish jumps out at you then there is really no reason.

None, really. Maybe the slicker UI, but I’ve been using a great 3rd party app lately for Mastodon (Moshidon), so no big plus there. Was out of Firefish after 12 hours and had to ask the admin where the bloody “delete account” was. In true Facebook fashion, it’s hidden under “other” in settings.

Indeed! It is, at the most basic level, another UI for the fediverse

There are other Firefish instances, though, in case one wants to use Firefish and also federate with mastodon.art.