Hear Me Out: We Probably Need More "Closed-off" Fediverse Servers
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Let me just start by acknowledging that this is a bit counter-intuitive, and I think that Fediverse communities with open registration are also really important. But today I'm writing to advocate for the creation of more "closed-off" Fediverse communities that make use of invite-only registration (as well as the tools needed to allow for that).
Alright but... why?
You might be thinking, "we want people to join the Fediverse, don't we? How does having more closed-off servers where people need to be invited to join help us do that?"
While there are some remaining technical and convenience issues, most of us who want the Fediverse to thrive and grow will be the first to admit that one of the biggest hurdles is onboarding--getting people to simply pick a server, register and subscribe to communities.
Personally I think that picking a server really shouldn't be any harder than picking a pair of socks to wear, but ultimately I think a big part of the problem is that we are offering new users a big list of options that they don't yet understand or care about, then asking them to arbitrarily pick one.
How is a new user supposed to know which server to join (or which ones to avoid) if they don't know anything about how the fediverse works?
Sure they could put in the time and effort to do some research, register for a bunch of different servers to get a feel for them, or maybe pick one arbitrarily. But many potential newcomers aren't going to do that. Instead, they're more likely going to just decide that the Fediverse is "too complicated" and return to their safe, centralized, familiar and established platforms, run by corporations and oligarchs.
Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket
Having thought about this (a little bit too much, probably), I think one roundabout way to address this problem is somewhat counter-intuitive: the creation of more closed-off servers, in which users are occasionally given sharable invite codes to bring other new users into the fold.
Let me break it down...
By giving someone an invite code to a closed-registration fediverse community you are:
- Instantly solving the server choice paralysis problem, by simply making the choice for them.
- Giving people something that they are more likely to perceive as being valuable, like Willy Wonka's "golden ticket", they now feel that they are part of an exclusive club.
- Creating the possibility of exponential viral growth, as every existing user has the means to invite a number of other users. This also means that the average community member may take a more active role in growing their community, since if they want more people on their server the best way to do that is by giving out codes.
Throwing invite codes around drives a lot of hype, and it gets people's foot in the door without asking them to make an arbitrary decision about technologies and communities that they don't understand. Keep in mind, this is no small part of how Bluesky became popular, by having an extended invite-only beta period during which people could be found begging for invite codes else on the internet.
Basically, I think closed-off servers with viral invitation systems are potentially a powerful tool to help grow the Fediverse, and so it's something that Fediverse software should support.
What do you all think?
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F [email protected] shared this topic
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If nothing else, having activitypub based communities that are by default closed, and maybe over time federate would help bring back something of the smaller communities that we lost when facebook devoured everything.
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Interesting idea. I think it defiantly could work
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Come to think of it, even semi-open communities (like the kind that require users to apply to join) could benefit from a user invite code system as an alternate way to get people in without applying.
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So, you are attempting to "solve" analysis paralysis by using invites?
That doesn't appear to make any sense. It doesn't really matter which instance someone joins. The whole network is federated. You can access all the content from anywhere.
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I like your idea but holy fuck the tone and cadence of this post is exhausting and eye roll-inducing
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So not closed off as in non-federated, just invite only? So a barrier like the ones that have applications, but based on something other than fiktering who joins the community?
Not only is that counter to the entire point of federation, but invite only approaches only works for closed systems. Nobody is going to wait for an invite when they can just join any server.
Using invites as in outreach to spread awareness without being a silly restriction, sure. Maybe aim at getting people's interest by promoting some server. But exclusive invites makes zero sense. At best it might work on people who are already here who want a very specific server in their name, not attract new users.
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So, uh... explain to me why we can't just use invite codes without having the servers closed off? Like yeah, sure, that does make the invite technically redundant, but psychologically it's still there while retaining openness.
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GMail did this early on, and it most definitely worked.
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It does, though, because not every instance federates with every other instance. If someone is coming from Reddit, and they interact with a set of specific subs there, and they want to interact with the analogue communities here, they don't want to join an instance like, for example Beehaw, that has very strict federation policies, or (probably) .ml or lemmygrad, where they'll be exposed to stigma they weren't aware of going in and which might not apply to them.
A list of servers with very open federation could solve this problem in theory, assuming new users knew to reference it, but that might not be what they want, either.
The invite code idea is actually solid, I think, assuming they're handed out to people who have things in common with the target userbase of the instance, and not arbitrarily.
There's also some instances that hold united views on specific topics, for example blahaj with trans rights, and someone arbitrarily choosing that instance that doesn't hold those same views might feel that they don't fit in.
Obviously anyone can just choose a new instance and move, but for a new user coming in, that's a 'quit moment' in many cases. Giving an invite code to someone that leads them to an instance that at least broadly fits what they're interested in could help solve for this.
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You could.
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Fair enough, but you sound like the type of bitch-made brat who didn't return back the everlasting gobstopper. Just saying.
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Wow I was interested to hear what your opinions were but nevermind after that comment.
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It kind of does matter which instance someone joins, because not everything is federated with everything else.
But that's not really the point. The point is that potential new users think about joining "Lemmy" only to find a big list of servers that they don't know anything about, and that scares people away. Giving them an invite removes the need for them to choose anything at all.
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The difference there is that Gmail was offering something (for free) that nobody else was at the time: the linear, conversation-based display of back-and-forth emails which we're all used to now, and a whole gigabyte of storage. Everybody already had an email address when Gmail arrived on the scene, but Gmail was, from a pure usability perspective, better than the rest. People wanted access to that.
For an invite-only Fediverse server to be especially attractive, it needs to have some reason why access to that server specifically is more desirable than going to any of the tens (hundreds?) of alternative servers that offer literally exactly the same thing. Unless they start adding features the others can't provide (which is close to impossible in an open-source project), what's the benefit?
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Nobody is going to wait for an invite when they can just join any server.
well if they look hard enough to realize this then that's a good thing, so I think it works out
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Don't take yourself so seriously or you'll end up like the guy above.
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I think when you give the invite don't say "Lemmy" just say the name of the server
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Don't have too much of an opinion on your proposed solution but I certainly got frustrated trying to figure out how to even get started the first time.
The whole process of trying to find a list of options was a PITA to begin with.
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Being exclusive works really well. Like getting VIP access makes people feel important.
It's what made Facebook cool. When only selected schools were allowed to join, students, faculty, and staff felt important.
I know they needed to grow, but keeping it just for college students would've kept its cool factor for a lot longer.
