I know it may be a lot of users’ first time using something that is decentralized like this. As I’ve been a Fediverse user for some time, I had been waiting for a big migration like this to happen as it usually happens with Twitter every now and again. Welcome to Fedi, hope you enjoy your stay!
Personally I’ve totally stopped using Reddit. Now that the scroll bug is fixed on the instance I have my account on, there’s no reason NOT to use this instead. Also it’s nice to see that when you make a thread, that thread matters since it’s not going to get lost in the mess of posts due to all the bots and karma farming. It feels more like your actually contributing to a community here.
The tight-knittedness (new word, yay) of many Fediverse applications is part of the reason that is a thing, and the decentralization a.k.a. private ownership by individuals rather than companies of instances means moderation is more meaningful and less robotic. The only bots you should ever see on the Fediverse are purpose-made ones. Examples are the gutenberg bot and various anime photo bots on the other Fediverse sites that are bots made just to post things, no farming incentive.
Personally, I love it. I was disgusted by Reddit’s actions after 12 years of using the site daily and made a full hop over to the Fediverse.
I have deeper and more meaningful interactions with people and content. It’s been enjoyable for sure to see a quickly evolving and changing place.
I see a lot of people lamenting how the shutdowns didn’t kill reddit and how the Fediverse won’t ever take over reddit? And I couldn’t care less, in fact I think it’s probably a good thing. I like this more niche engagement and look forward to participating as it continues to grow.
I can most agree with the deeper and more meaningful interactions. Fediverse feels more interpersonal with others for sure, I’ve had huge threads in public Fedi networks where we get 20 people on a thread, just having some friendly conversation that you otherwise would not see on Reddit or Twitter.
I’m finding the interface a little confusing and the app on Android a little clunky but I’m spending more time on Lemmy than on Reddit. I expect to be here almost full time after the first of July. I’ve started a few communities of interest to me and am posting as often as I can. I am commenting on other people’s posts and generally trying to contribute. I hope this really takes off.
There are some apps for Android, mostly in alpha/beta https://lemmy.world/post/465785
Liftoff looks nice
It’s now on the play store too.
I’m enjoying the community here and in other instances I’ve explored. On Reddit, I never really got that urge to contribute and was just content to lurk. Here though… it’s a different feeling and I managed to make this post. Don’t know how much I’ll actively participate, but perhaps I’ll open up as I spend more time here.
The Fediverse is home to more open-minded individuals, so that sounds about right. All of us here just like chit-chatting about whatever we nerd over. ;)
You know, I’m not entirely sure that holds. There was always a great sense of open-mindednes on Reddit; the big problem was populist binary opinions emerging as user density increased.
While a community is small, individuality can find a greater platform for expression. I have yet to see a larger community able to preserve those ideals, especially in the presence of reductive social proof voting up/down. The real test for Lemmy isn’t today but a few years from now when communities have a greater saturation of users and whether thought diversity will survive a nascent hive mind which these platforms always seem to evolve into.
It’s shattered my drive to find One Platform for all of my needs, and I think that’s going to work out to be a net positive. I used to be against having to hunt and peck through multiple sites and juggle multiple accounts, but the less time I’m spending on Reddit, the less I’m bothered with the idea of doing that. I can picture some of the old-guard Forum Folk looking down on my reliance on one community rather than spreading out across multiple sites—ah well, better late than never 😅.
Losing out on previous Reddit content has felt a bit like a Library of Alexandria kind of thing for me, however. I’m sure that Lemmy and the wider fediverse will ultimately help to fill that kind of knowledge, and Reddit was by no means some Bastion of Knowledge, but I can’t help but think about what prior content, both large and small, meaningful and trivial, is going to be inaccessible because of this whole intrigue.
I still have a lot of work to do in archiving my content and saves from Reddit, but I don’t see myself going back to substantially engage if I can help it. The culture around here in Beehaw, if anything, has felt much more worthwhile to engage in than I ever felt anywhere else online.
