I first joined Lemmy back during the big Reddit exodus of last year. I like many others wanted an alternative to Reddit, and I thought that this might’ve been the one. I made two accounts, one on lemmy.world and another on sh.itjust.works, in the June of last year that I used on and off for about 4 months.

At first Lemmy was exciting because it was so active. There were so many new users who were enthusiastic about turning this platform into a genuine alternative. There was a communal effort to create and interact with content, and for awhile it worked. Lemmy was truly interesting during the summer of last year. However, this stream of dedicated users started to slowly decline.

A lot of people hoped that if they were active, they would attract and retain more users to this place to the point where the community would foster interest specific communities like Reddit, but that never happened. After a few months, a lot of users lost interest and went back to Reddit where the userbase is so massive that there is an active community for just about anything.

With this reverse exodus back to Reddit, Lemmy ended up with the same groups that were active on it before hand: political extremists, tech nerds, privacy enthusiasts, and shitposters. To be fair, all these groups are larger now than they were a year ago, but that’s all this platform has to offer. If you’re into any of these things and primarly these things then Lemmy can be a good alternative to Reddit, but for the general masses? Lemmy is just not good.

For example, a NBA post on the NBA subreddit can get you thousands of interactions in a couple of hours. An NBA post on here will maybe get you a dozen over the course of a couple of days. The only content that will gain any traction here are tech news, political propaganda, and maybe some memes. I don’t see this changing any time soon. Even if Reddit implodes, I still think Lemmy will remain a niche platform. I think this evident by the fact that this platform hasn’t really progressed in a year.

  • MikeOToxin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5314·
    6 months ago

    But why do you care about engagement with your online posts? Is your opinion that important? Or is it just your need for external validation from the faceless masses?

    Either way, some introspection may be good here.

    Or, ya know, just go back to reddit, whatever dude.

    • Gorilladrums21@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1912·
      6 months ago

      The whole point of social media is to interact with others… I don’t understand what you’re point is here. You just seem mad because I said something you don’t like.

      • MikeOToxin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1020·
        6 months ago

        Well, you’re here, yelling into what you seem to consider an ‘empty void’.

        Why?

        Also, your *

      • MikeOToxin@lemmy.worldEnglish
        109·
        6 months ago

        OP’s wording is very… Seeking when they talk about posting ‘get[ting] you thousands of interactions’.

        You think they’re replying to those ‘thousands’ of people? No. They’re getting thousands of up votes, and that’s what they’re missing on lemmy.

  • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.worldEnglish
    91·
    6 months ago

    Change is not easy, it takes time and people willing to help foster that new change.

    I am one of those people that is really into politics, but I try to interact with other communities once in a while!

    It is an election year, so politics is always in an all time high on any forums and social media.

    I suggest, if you are willing, to step up your game and be really active in the communites you would like to see flourish.

    It may be lonely, but it tends to be when starting new things!

    We are all trying the best we can, when we can, I give props to the lemmyverse and fediverse for all they do!

    Thanks for posting, even if you used a burner account!

    • Gorilladrums21@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      33·
      6 months ago

      That’s kind of the point that I was making. This platform has little to offer outside a outside of politics, tech, and shitposting. Most of the active users are here for these specific topics, which is fine, but this places Lemmy as a niche platform not one that appeals the masses. A few dedicated people can’t foster a genuine community out of sheer enthusiasm. If that was the case then Lemmy would’ve regressed after the influx of last summer. You could be right, maybe people like you will lead this platform to grow into something more in a few years. I just don’t personally see that happening.

      • jimmydoreisalefty@lemmy.worldEnglish
        22·
        6 months ago

        Thanks for clarifying and going further into explaining your views to us!

        Some people can be seen as being a dreamer[1], I see myself as such a person, I try to stay hopeful, I see it as a much more positive way of living in the world; as well as much healthier for our mental health

        Lemmy as a niche platform not one that appeals the masses

        Yes, Lemmy is currently a niche platform, but that is how many start off, it takes time and much effort to grow a community.

        It is similar to grassroots movements, where people that are leaders or learn to become one are willing to speak with anyone for a cause they feel strongly about, and they start to grow slowly.

        I see lemmy in that phase or light, where most activity will be from people that are willing to throw themselves out there and share their favorite hobbies and put in the energy to interact with strangers (whether it may be apositive or negative interaction is another thing).

        It takes time for people to come out of their shells and to start being active on forums as well, hopefully in Lemmy we give people that opportunity to grow as people and to take chances to meet and discuss any topic with strangers.

        A few dedicated people can’t foster a genuine community out of sheer enthusiasm.

        Well, it takes a few to start something new, in my eyes all important causes and projects start with a few people just having fun or putting the time to create something new.

        To accomplish anything in life, it will take time and a lot of energy and people willing to do that.

        I just don’t personally see that happening.

        It is okay to see the world in that way, but just putting a bit of effort into sharing or creating a community that you like, will help improve the community.

        Activity would increase, if you create a community or decide to share more of your hobbies and opinions within those communities.

        If the communities would be liked by Lemmurs or not, it is another matter, but in the end of the day we all have our own way of seeing the world and we can have discussions with people that are willing to share their views as well.

        The only way we can continue to grow as people, is by forcing ourselves to push against our own bias and to keep talking with people that do not think or agree with what we have to say.

        [1] Supertramp - Dreamer [03:31] https://youtu.be/B885n08hOmw

        Much text to read, here is a Lemmur for a fun pic:

  • Carrolade@lemmy.worldEnglish
    51·
    6 months ago

    Don’t underestimate the power of shitposting.

    That said, the Fediverse products are still behind in features, polish and ease-of-use. The mainstream prizes these surface-level things more than any others. It will take years of development still to fully catch up in that regard. So, it’s the long-haul.

      • Cloudless ☼@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        2·
        6 months ago

        I disagree.

        • Mbin’s terminology (inherited from Kbin) is annoying. Thread vs post vs magazine, boost vs upvote etc are unconventional and annoying.
        • No default sort option. Every time I want to see new posts, I have to manually select “new”
        • User instance and community instance are hidden
        • Difficult to manage/view subscribed magazines
        • Image upload dialogue is confusing

        Lemmy has alternative UI such as Voyager and Photon, they are way ahead of Mbin in terms of look and feel.

        What do you like about Mbin’s UX?

  • KazuchijouNo@lemy.lolEnglish
    31·
    6 months ago

    You might be right, Lemmy is not for the masses… I would consider myself a tech nerd, privacy enthusiast and shitposter; so migrating from Reddit was the best thing to ever happen to me. This place feels like a real home where I can share my interests with people who are incredibly helpful, kind and passionate about what they do. This place is a heaven for people trying to escape corporate and mass media. And I agree with you, Lemmy is a failed Reddit alternative, because it’s not a Reddit alternative, I don’t see it like that anymore. People here are genuine, I love that <3

    • land@lemmy.mlEnglish
      5·
      6 months ago

      Exactly. On Reddit you get roasted for asking a simple question like wtf. Lemmy is the way.

        • KazuchijouNo@lemy.lolEnglish
          5·
          6 months ago

          Are you suggesting that they are individuals? I mean, have you ever seen every Reddit user in the same room? Exactly! they are all the same 3 people replying to themselves (or so they seem to me).

    • Today@lemmy.worldEnglish
      15·
      6 months ago

      Not a tech nerd or privacy enthusiast -just an old mom who occasionally shitcomments. I like it here.

  • echo@lemmings.worldEnglish
    11·
    6 months ago

    I’ve been noticing a lot of Reddit’s undesirables making their way over here. Same whiny little shits whose only purpose in life is to be trolls.

  • Resol van Lemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    6 months ago

    I’m actually glad I’m not that active on the platform (or any platform for that matter, federated or not), so I can give myself time to breathe in outside air and touch some grass.

    And once I am active, it’s usually for a couple hours at most, then it’s back to being in my coma for a few days.

  • AVeryCleverName@lemmy.oneEnglish
    4·
    6 months ago

    I have a couple of thoughts.

    1. I dont need or want Lemmy to appeal to the mainstream. Frankly, I already get all the mainstream ‘culture’ I can stand, and frequntly more.

    2. I think it’s a mistake to consider Lemmy a one-to-one repacement for Reddit. I hope the fediverse can leverage the whole, y’know, federation thing. I think topic-driven instances that function similarly to the old phpBB boards is a good paradigm. It’s not about a monster site that has a board for everything. It’s more answering the question, ‘What if I could post on gamefaqs from my metal archives account?’

    I guess I just think we could do better than trying to out-reddit reddit, when it comes to having a vision for the platform.

    Signed, a linux using socialist.

  • morphballganon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    263·
    6 months ago

    You are entitled to delete your Lemmy app of choice and return to the corporate-approved Reddit™ content-consumption experience.

    • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.netEnglish
      15·
      6 months ago

      I kinda wish they had posts/comments per day included. Users per day doesn’t mean much; feels like it just counts views that had no interaction as I can see with a couple communities I moderate that get ~100 users a day, but nothing is being voted on, posted or commented.

  • Rooki@lemmy.worldEnglish
    171·
    6 months ago

    Could i ask how can you be one of the reddit exodus users if your account is 2 days old?

    If you wanna leave lemmy do it on your main account to proof you are one of the over a year old accounts.

    That we can salute and press F to the fallen user.

  • Phegan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    6 months ago

    Studies find that the vast majority of users on a platform are passive participants, the vast majority only look, a smaller group looks and comments and finally an even smaller group looks, comment and post. The key to growing any community is to find or be an active poster. It’s also an investment, if you post and get only 1 to 2 reactions, that’s okay, it takes time. It also means that more people see it and didn’t react.

    In your example the NBA sub, I am on it and comment from time to time, but don’t have the sources or time to post, but if someone took, at least, the links from reddit and posted them here, it’s a start. I know NBA reddit has a lot of good discussions which you can’t replicate here without more people, but the posting of articles and links is a start.

  • The Soca Vault @lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    6 months ago

    He has some very valid points. Outside of what he says, it’s a challenge at times to build good conversations. Now we are all good for some laughs, but sometimes if you disagree with whatever meme was posted or whatever was posted, the minions come after you. It’s almost like you get extreme views and not honest conversations. I find this on different Fediverse applications