this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2023
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Same here because of a Lemmy post. Truly 2023 is the year of rapid enshittification for the large websites that have dominated the internet for the past decade or so.
Google right there alongside, going from useful results to sponsored ads and replacing the useful basic sections in their nav bar (i.e. "News") to whatever random categories their algorithm thinks fit your query.
Honestly, I'm worried that people will be put off by extra level of complexity but I really hope the fediverse takes off, this feels like the only part of the internet moving the right direction at the moment.
My 2¢
Lemmy will never be 'reddit'. The simple act of having to choose an instance (and taking the time to understand instances + how they interact with one another, something even I'm not crystal clear on) is not something your average Joe Schmo will be willing to spend the time on. Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, etc are all one massive endlessly scrolling feeds of 'content' whereas lemmy asks you to dedicate your account to one instance. You can make another account of course, but even the process of choosing an instance will be enough to stifle growth and keep lemmy smaller in the long run, in my estimation.
Wether that's a good or bad thing depends on how you view the internet and what you want from it, to me it's a little of both because I bet I won't see any of the niche communities I subbed to on reddit pop up here for a good long while (ex a community for the model of car I own, smaller videogames, hobby work, etc). But also it means that there will be less low-effort content - theoretically. You win some you lose some, I'm interested to see the state of both Reddit and Lemmy in a year from now.
Also hey its my first comment ever
People have had no problem choosing email providers.
A few dominant servers will emerge, just like with Gmail, and there may even be an ebb and flow of what the dominant ones are (remember @aol emails?). But it seems to already be hitting the magical critical mass of adoption. Will be interesting to see if it continues
I agree that the extra step of having to choose an instance is a hurdle that will turn some people away. In my own experience with it I had to apply to the first one I tried to join (never got a reply), had a timeout on the second one, and didn't successfully create an account until my third attempt. That's more effort than some would be willing to put forth.
However I really don't think the confusing nature of the Fediverse is that big of a deal. I don't think I understand it at all, and it doesn't seem like I need to for now. Download Jerboa, make account, switch feed from 'Local' to 'All', and oh look it's basically my RIF experience again.
Over and over on Reddit I saw people say "Lemmy will never take off because it's too confusing for average users," but I just don't think that's the case.
Also hey it's also my first comment ever
Yeah this shit is easy. I made an account and also use jerboa. No problem.
Instance checks out.
Right???
Sure it will put off some users, but those are the lowest effort type of users anyway. I think most people who were online enough to be heavy reddit posters will not have much of an issue grasping how Lemmy works
It needs everyone to be part of it. I'm no idiot (arguably), but I still don't quite get why I need an account for Kbin and for Lemmy and... just to use it properly. The concept was that I needed one account which linked to everything, yet that's not the case. I'm in the process of deleting all my reddit posts with Power Delete Suite and it's taking a while, but this needs to be better if it wants to get people like myself (and those who aren't so tech-savvy) across.
Maybe I’m the one confused here, but you shouldn’t need a kbin account. You can subscribe and post to kbin communities just like you can to other Lemmy instances
I don't think one need a good idea of what an instance is to use lemmy. It js just like reddit but without reddit mods and decentralized.
By easing the access through abstracting some of the more complicated ideas like instance but focus on the aggregated part, it is possible for your regular people to access.
Once people come around to it being reddit but the accounts look and feel more like email, it's going to take off (or continue to). It's not such a great feat that it'll be insurmountable for average internet users.
Ultimately, if the content is here, people will follow.
It's early days. Who knows? Maybe in a year or two, when the Federation aspect is a bit more developed, we'll have a seamless, less fragmented experience.
In my case, whenever I tell one of my friends about Lemmy, they feel like they're going to be isolated on their own little island (instance), and that they'll probably be missing out on a livelier community somewhere else. This misconception is probably the result of relying on centralized platforms for decades. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but Reddit is the perfect example of what can go wrong when you put all your eggs in one basket.
I had better luck showing them the Memmy app in action. Hope they join the community soon.
Honestly feels kinda like the pre 00's internet. Barely any bells and whistles.
Reminds me of Usenet. In a good way.
Kind of like how reddit used to feel
I totally agree regarding Google. I work in IT and the entire reason I got into my career is because I grew up with Google and I was good at it.
Google's search results suck now. It's actually incredible how much clutter and algorithmic nonsense it shovels at you now instead of legitimate results. Once there became companies that specialized in SEO, it was just a race to the bottom and now it's all bots fighting for the search rankings instead of real content.
Now there’s a lovely new word to add to my vocabulary.
That needs to be the word of the year.
Wiktionary calls it a hot word
It's like they never learn. They're trying to turn the internet into cable TV... I guess they didn't get the hint when a lot of us said "Fuck TV"
Also, Youtube and Twitch have been fucking up a lot lately, helping out sites like Rumble and Twitch.
Tbh I kind of.understand ads: you have server costs that needs to be paid. What I absolutely do not understand is charging ridiculous api prices when they could send those ads like the desktop website does. It makes me really think that the main issue here was to kill 3rd party apps more than monetization
Different takes I've heard was the API was setup in such a way it was going to a massive legal liability in the near future especially for EU regions. They no longer have the know how to fix it and close the gaps, they needed a way to cut off the API. And since legal terms of how that API was setup they can't simply turn it off, they instead resorted to unrealistic demands and costs on the third party to get everyone to stop using it so they can quietly turn it off.
I first saw “enshitification” used in a blog post by Cory Doctorow about TikTok. Love the term. https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys.