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

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founded 1 year ago

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

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

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 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 (1 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 (3 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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

it's more that they believe the mobile site should work well enough that an app shouldn't be needed. also the one person behind tildes is doing it as a side project next to a full-time job (after experimenting with donations in the early days of the site). the fact that there isn't an api is mainly due to time constraints (and to make sure when there is one it is done properly)

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

Fair enough, I didn't know that.

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

I'm using the Artemis app for kbin right now. They have it all ready to ship they just need to tie some stuff together before the main instance kbin.social is upgraded to support the api. The public beta for artemis just came out and has the api features enabled through the "test" instance artemis.camp, which still federates with everyone else. With the pace being made they should be done in the next week or two

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

I was one of the first batch of beta testers, but being required to join another instance to use the current version of Artemis is not something I'm willing to do at this time.