Fediverse

28297 readers

1132 users here now

A community to talk about the Fediverse and all it's related services using ActivityPub (Mastodon, Lemmy, KBin, etc).

If you wanted to get help with moderating your own community then head over to [email protected]!

Rules

Posts must be on topic.
Be respectful of others.
Cite the sources used for graphs and other statistics.
Follow the general Lemmy.world rules.

Learn more at these websites: Join The Fediverse Wiki, Fediverse.info, Wikipedia Page, The Federation Info (Stats), FediDB (Stats), Sub Rehab (Reddit Migration), Search Lemmy

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

795

On the future of Lemmy vs reddit (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

222 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Please indulge a few shower thoughts I had:

I wouldn't worry about Lemmy having as many users as reddit in the short term. Success is not just a measure of userbase. A system just needs a critical mass, a minimum number of users, to be self-perpetuating. For a reddit post that has 10k comments, most normal people only read a few dozen comments anyways. You could have half the comments on that post, and frankly the quality might go up, not down. (That said, there are many communities below that minimum critical mass at the moment.)
Lemmy is now a real alternative. When reddit imploded Lemmy wasn't fully set up to take advantage of the exodus, so a lot of users came over to the fediverse and gave up right away. There were no phone apps, the user interface was rudimentary, and communities weren't yet alive. Next time reddit screws up in a high profile way, and they will screw up, the fediverse will be ready.
Lemmy has way more potential than reddit. Reddit's leadership has always been incompetent and slow at fixing problems. The fediverse has been very responsive to user feedback in comparison.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (8 children)

I definitely think having mobile apps is an essential step. I was looking at alternative platforms such as Raddle.me but using a mobile browser was an extra hurdle (similar to using the official Reddit app) that kept me from regularly checking in.

I agree. Some of the alternatives to Reddit are vehemently against mobile apps (ahem, tildes), so I doubt those will ever take off. Not everybody sits in front of a computer all day. But I think some of those don't actually want a big userbase, which seems counterproductive for a forum, but whatever.

Lack of an API is what's keeping me from using kbin, honestly. I know they're working on it, but Lemmy already had an API long before the Reddit protests started.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I agree. Some of the alternatives to Reddit are vehemently against mobile apps (ahem, tildes), so I doubt those will ever take off.

Didn't the RIF dev just release an app for Tildes?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Yes, there are apps for Tildes, but there isn't an actual API for developers to use, and the owners of Tildes don't seem to want them around. I've read in multiple places that they believe mobile apps go against everything they stand for.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

the owners of Tildes don’t seem to want them around. I’ve read in multiple places that they believe mobile apps go against everything they stand for.

It might not be intentional, but you're spreading misinformation that could be prevented with a quick search.

The (sole) developerbof Tildes specificlly stated that Tildes will have an API and that they don't want to discourage apps. Their philosophy is just that the official way of visiting Tildes should be the same lightweight website as the desktop. A solution that works on every device. To me, this makes a lot of sense. It fits the philosophy of Tildes, results in less code to maintain and ensures the experience is the same on every device.

Source from the Tildes Documentation:

The site is the main mobile interface, not an app

Tildes is a website. Your phone already has an app for using it—it's your browser.

Tildes will have a full-featured API, so I definitely don't want to discourage mobile apps overall, but the primary interface for using the site on mobile should remain as the website. That means that mobile users will get access to updates at exactly the same time as desktop ones, and full f

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I stand corrected, but that still doesn't lead me to believe they really want mobile apps to take off on the platform.

load more comments (2 replies)

load more comments (4 replies)