Bad UX is keeping the majority of people away from Lemmy
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Absolutely! Growth is important and not every possible community is mirrored on the fediverse. But if anything this is all the more reason for interpersonal connections to drive new user growth. That will naturally help filter users to instances they align with. I’m considering going so far as to host an instance specifically for my geographical area to really lean into the idea of a “local” internet.
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For that side of reddit, you're right.
But for the uniquely useful side of reddit, federation won't help. If I post a question like "how do I get this obscure game to run well on this obscure Linux distro?", nobody is going to repost that for me, and if I don't maximize the amount of eyeballs on it, it's unlikely I'll get an answer. My best choice is to post it on reddit, either in /r/linux_gaming or in the specific game's subreddit.
I assume that most users who post anything at all on reddit do it to ask questions like that.
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To access it on desktop, just open the browser and type your server's URL (in your case, lemmy.world)
I guess we have to roll back from "apps for everything", or else many people might genuinely not know how to access their instance.
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Same vibe as Cato in the Roman Senate: ml delenda est
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Serious question here: what is the bad ux experience of lemmy compared to reddit? (except choosing an instance in the beginning, I get that this might turn off a lot of people)
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Lemmy desperately needs to get rid of toxicity of this kind.
It has become a more hostile place, and this negatively affects the experience for everyone, including the OGs.
And yes, if you want to have more lively conversations, you need more people. If you need more people, you should stop calling them morons and help them figure it out in baby steps. Don't make it harder than it already is.
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Have tell new users just sign up on your instance. Make it less confusing by sending them to a specific website and not just telling them about the software.
I swear to God, there are so many tech people here that overthink it because they know details that the average user would not give a single fuck about.
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I don't want to have conversations with children.
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"Wah wah it's so hard to pick a server!"
JUST LIKE EMAIL YOU NITWIT!
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You can experience each server before making an account, you just can't post or subscribe. If someone is afraid of creating am account on an instance they may not like (which if I'm being honest is a slightly strange worry, as it costs nothing to sign up, and they can delete the account if they don't like it), they can spend as much time lurking without an account as they need.
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I don't think these people actually want to leave reddit. They are only interested in farming karma by complaining about it,
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It's up to you, I was just giving you the option
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Only if you want top 10 instances.
sopuli.xyz and discuss.online both defederate hexbear and lemmygrad, are reliable and established
They are my recommendations nowadays
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What can we do?
More flaming about tankies and .ml that will help.
ABSTRACT AWAY THE FEDERATION!
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Create username and password
Sign into preferred app from your favorite store.I liked old reddit, and Baconreader, so for me Jerboa was great
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defeds the 3 main propaganda instances, allows porn/hentai, piracy talk, weed and isn’t too pissy about downvotes.
You indeed made the good choice, Lemmy.cafe is the one
Still I am thinking about leaving lemmy due to a complete lack of content for my country other than government propaganda…
Why not use both Lemmy and another platform?
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I could see merit to that argilument if the sign-ups process was kind've a pain, but honestly it's so easy to create an account on Lemmy it's hard to give that too much credence. Most servers just want a username and a password, and many don't even require an email to verify. If putting in a username and password somewhere else because they didn't like their first instance is too much for them, that's a pretty flighty user to begin with, and they would probably leave for a host of other reasons too.
Saying that, a better way to narrow down that initial choice of server would not go amiss, but ultimately people will need to understand that this is all run by volunteers and there may be more bumps than a corporate controlled platform, but the other advantages (if they appeal to this theoretical user) are worth it.
Even with a better server picking tool, and even if they pick a server they like the first time, it's possible that server has to shut down some day due to unforeseen circumstances, and that user will have to either accept that they have to create a new account somewhere, or decide that's not an ideal UX and never come back, which would be a shame, but impossible to prevent.
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But then why not merge them, it just solves all of the issues?
Why even have a script for that now https://lemmy.world/post/24312613
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I think a big problem is a lot of the explainers for new users, at least the ones that were around back when I first joined Mastodon, were or are absolute dog shit. They were all existential explanations rather than practical ones. I was trying to figure out which instance to join, and why one might be better for me than another, and every explainer I saw was basically a variation on, "iT's JuSt LikE EmAiL. wHy Is tHaT hArD? sToP bEiNg So sTuPid, DuMmY." None of them really explained the user experience, and how different instances might affect it, let alone the existence of the local and global feeds and how your instance choice affects those. It was like asking someone how to use chopsticks and them telling you, "It's easy. Just put food in your mouth with them. Works just like a fork."
Technically true, but it omits some pretty crucial information.
Once you're into it and have the lay of the land, it seems really simple in retrospect. But if you're coming in cold with no idea how any of it works, and the only help you get is some dickhead shouting, "EmAiL! iT's LiKe EmAiL!" then the learning curve seems a lot steeper than it actually is.
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I think it will probably address a few of the issues you have with Lemmy, and then you will join the piefed enthusiasts like @[email protected] @[email protected]
