this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023

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Thread on r/bbby about how awful X is (lemmy.whynotdrs.org)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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But according to posts in it, Lemmy is too hard to use.

-Scratches head

Maybe that's a good thing?

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Lemmy's all right (it's certainly better than the hell site) but this place doesn't feel super-cosy just yet.

There aren't many people here, is the obvious thing.

The website design isn't as inviting or as cosy as Reddit, is the other thing.

I wouldn't say that it's 'hard to use' - rather that it's 'not as fun' to use. Somehow, I'm getting an old-timey 'information superhighway' internet vibe here - it feels a bit like a GeoCities site, or a web portal for editing router settings.

I don't mean to have a dig, btw. I have huge respect for whoever's cooked up the fediverse and has worked to make it into a thing - this thing that we're connecting with. Humanity needs a means to connect that's free from corporate shepherding, neuromarketing (the dark arts) and whatever spooky agendas are lurking behind or within the YouTube sidebar. I'm on-board with the fediverse for sure.

Just acknowledging that despite the very many obvious similarities, something about Reddit makes it more appealing/cosier/funner, currently. It's probably a hundred near-imperceptible somethings, but give Lemmy time to develop and mature. It's young and has a bright future imo.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

With Lemmy there's distinct difference between the frontend/UI & backend (the application itself, & data storage). Lemmy is primarily the backend, but they allow anyone to create a frontend (or mobile app, browser extension, etc.) to interface with it. Lemmy does come with a default web UI which sucks, and this is where Kbin rose to initial popularity with a slightly better web UI. Now there is a robust ecosystem of apps like Voyager or Sync which are quite good and far more enjoyable to use, even when compared to Reddit's official app.

Good news is the web UI can change, and you can experiment with other federated instances which uses different web UIs.

Lemmy's main problem is a lack of user base and content. I've lurked daily on Reddit for 13 years without an account, but with Lemmy I'm choosing to vote, comment & post to help get the "ball rolling". Reddit had the same problem initially, and the creators & friends busted their asses with alt accounts to give the impression of a larger user base... Until Digg imploded

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Well said all around. :/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

this is a great assessment.

Lemmy lacks the cool factor. i think some people don't want to like it because they don't want to be associated with that thing that is not cool.

But I like it for what it is and I don't necessarily need the addictive "fun" nature of algorithm-driven social media such as Reddit. I still use Reddit, but Lemmy is becoming my daily driver.

Over a long enough period of time, the best communities will continue to exist on various platforms. I'm using all of them in various capacities.

I wrote a post related to this, the The December 2023 State of the GME Social Media Ecosystem

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

X is totally toxic and lacking in any meaningful moderation it seems. Lemmy would be amazing but people seem scared to migrate here. I had joined here after reddit cracked down on 3rd party apps and would love if we could build a user base here but that seems hard

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

And now they're federating with Meta's sewage operation, so I may not be l9ng with the fedi.

Tech bros are like a lice infestation.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Big picture this is a good thing, though. The "fediverse" is not one thing, just like the internet - and comments like this are equivalent to someone in 1994 refusing to touch the Internet because some sites which existed on it contained porn or whatever.

The great thing about the fediverse is you can choose which elements you interact with, just like subreddits. Not into marijuana? Cool, don't go to r/trees. The only difference is there's no governing body which can shut down independent entities which push porn, Qanon, hate, etc. Don't like Threads? Me too - just don't go there. It at least offers a path for Threads users to join the decentralized world.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

How is Lemmy any harder than reddit?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

There are peooke who never actually learn about tech, so everything must always be in the same place.

Personally, they can stay where they're at if they're at that level of world interaction.

Lemmy has roughly the same functions as anywhere else, just in different arrangement. If someone can't see that, what are their other perceptions like?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (3 children)

There is only one reddit, but there are lots of lemmy instances. You need to do a little bit of research to.find out, that it doesn't matter much where you register.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

We'll see people move here very quickly when the choices are limited to Gangnam Style comment section or here. Reddit and X will drop the ban hammer as soon as things get interesting.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Uh no. Lemmy's site used to be shit and probably still is just crap if ur not registered. It's a completely different initial experience from reddit until you're registered which is kind of a pain,too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Fair point, a little tutorial for registration setup might be really useful embedded into the sign up page

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

The layout is also a little bit confusing or a little less user friendly. Folks won’t see the reply to post/comment button quickly and might not have the patience to poke around and find it, or some other such nonsense. IT’ll all get sorted out eventually.