this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2023
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I don't mean to be pessimistic, bit since most subreddits are only going dark for a couple days, the site will basically be back to normal soon. I wonder how many users here are only here because of temporary outrage and not because they actually prefer Lemmy. I'm curious about people's outlook on this situation.

/sEdit: Wow this blew up!

Edit 2: Thanks for the gold kind stranger!

Edit 3: RIP my inbox! I can't believe this made /r/all!

Edit 4: We did it ~~Reddit!~~ Lemmy!

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Impossible to say now, but definitely quite a lot of them are not going to be regular users. I still hope/believe the majority will stay though.

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

At the very least the exposure will put Lemmy on the map

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago

No idea - but I actually think the Fediverse concept maps to Reddit way better than it has other social networks so I could see some iteration of this really catching on over time.

For something like Twitter, the whole value proposition is "one big universal conversation" and the federated stuff gets in the way of that a little bit, but Reddit has always been a federation of communities (who occasionally fight, join together, cross post, etc) - that maps really well to this stuff.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago

I have no intention of installing the official Reddit app. I’ve used Apollo for years and I’ll leave once it’s no longer an option. The way Reddit treated the Apollo developer is inexcusable.

I managed to quit Twitter, I’m certain I can quit Reddit too.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I can guarantee I won't be going back to reddit on mobile if they go ahead with the API changes. I may occasionally use reddit on desktop but 99% of my reddit usage was on mobile via Sync.

Once they get rid of old.reddit (which they inevitably will) that will force my hand and I'll have to fully move to Lemmy. As luck would have it, the developer of Sync is considering re-purposing it to run on Lemmy which would be perfect for me.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Probably a good chunk, I don't mean to be pessimistic either but that's how it usually works on "big" movements.

Some people follow the flow because they're caught into the enthusiasm of the moment while not being actually convinced about what they're doing, those people are highly likely to go back when things are back to normal (tho in my opinion reddit will never be "normal" again).

How many they are is impossible to tell.

The blackout is only the first wave, there will be another one IMO when 3rd party apps actually shutdown (June 30th), after that, things will settle and population on lemmy will lower, that's not a bad thing IMO, it doesn't do any good to have people here that don't actually want to be here.

As for me, since I joined I'm doing my best to be involved in lemmy communities with the specific purpose of not missing reddit anymore and not care anymore when they'll break old.reddit (they will like their doing with the API).

I already feel at home here, I'm not going drastic as to nuke my reddit account or anything, tho I'll most probably make a GDPR request and leave for good.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm probably going to start using Reddit again when the blackout ends and keep using it until the end of the month, but once RIF stops working I don't see myself going back. The way I see it, the last couple of days have been a nice stress-test period for Lemmy, but the real exodus will start in July.

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

Yeah Sync for Reddit is shutting down at the end of the month, so I'll go back and save some of my favorites and then officially get off Reddit for good come July.

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

I will likely go where Reddit Sync goes. I don't really mind if the content here isn't as vast as on Reddit, if I have Sync I have all that I need

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Oh right, until then I'm actually using this platform straight from the browser. It's actually working good enough for me that way.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I don't think the kind of people who are willing to try out some geeky experiment of a social network are totally dependent on Reddit culture.

Exodus from one network to another (or to nowhere) is a thing that's happened in the past, and if anything, people aren't willing to go back once they finally take the effort.

Tho I'm guessing lots of people have multiple accounts such as alts for r34, and may keep using those until Reddit finally shuts off all nsfw.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

As a near strictly mobile only user of Reddit for nearly 10 years, they have made the decision for me by forcing everyone to use their completely horrible app. On the rare occasions at work that a search result populates with a Reddit result, I'll probably still go there, but using an adblocking browser.

To me it is extremely difficult to justify Reddit actually achieving a worthwhile IPO when their product is reliant 100% on user generated content and volunteer moderation. As an investor, I would be concerned about the longevity of a forum that doesn't have adequate moderation tools, shows hostility against their own userbase, and a complete disregard for their own "AMA rules".

Reddit is dead. They have struck their own final blow.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

I'm not here because lemmy is better right now, but because I want to move towards open platforms and a better future. It's an investment. Deciding to move right back to reddit 2 days after they just stabbed you in the back is shortsighted in the extreme. Reddit will not stop until it devours itself and you along with it. Disabling the API is only the latest in a long line of anti-user changes in favor of money, and you can be sure there's more on the horizon.

I'd encourage anyone who isn't 100% satisfied with lemmy and its user experience right now to give it some leeway, because you're comparing the experience to reddit apps that have had years and years of polish. With a community and donations to servers and developers, we can quickly fix the most egregious papercuts. These are growing pains, and they won't last forever.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

I'm staying; I primarily use Reddit on mobile - once RIF is gone, I'm gone. I am not using the official app even if they pay me.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Not going back unless I’m looking for some obscure piece of knowledge. This fulfills my needs for news and conversations about niche topics. Hoping this keeps growing and new mobile apps come out to support it

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I've been using Jerboa on Android, it works quite well! I especially appreciate the "all" feed where you can see posts from all instances.

A bit difficult to know if the app or the instance is bugging out when something goes wrong, but I've realized it's mostly the instance (lemmy.ml). I assume it's because all of us Reddit users have come over!

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

It depends on how many communities migrate from reddit to lemmy. I will definitely not return to reddit on mobile once third party apps are shut down, but if reddit changes their stance and third party apps come back, I may go back if most of my communities haven’t migrated to lemmy.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If there's one demographic of users likely to stick with the fediverse it's going to be redditors.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'd say it's the fact that even as time has gone on and reddit has gotten more casual users there is still a much higher percentage of "hardcore" users on Reddit versus other social media. Or at the very least the hardcore users have a lot more influence then on other social medias, since they're the ones more likely to be posting content lots of people see and moderating content. As well as those users being a lot more likely to be willing to learn a new more complicated platform and more likely to be directly affected by 3rd part apps shutting down. This all combined means that the hardcore users the platform relies on are more likely to leave to places like here and without them will make the website worse and cause more casual users to leave.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think I'll have a look in a couple of days. But if they go through and kill 3rd party apps that's goodbye from me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Agreed.

Old.reddit is OK on desktop. But on a mobile browser, it is constantly harassing you to the official app, which is absolutely terrible.

When Relay stops working, I don't see myself going back to reddit much at all.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

The amount of new content I'm seeing every day should prevent some of that.

I'm seriously shocked at how much Lemmy has blown up over the past couple days.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Personally, I like it here and will probably stick around. I hope the servers can scale, and that new communities grow.

I'll still wind up looking at Reddit for meme content until it turns up here. There's a lack of goofy pointless shit here currently.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Depends upon how many people come over here and how much content gets posted. If most communities are ghost towns a lot less people will stay, if it stays interesting more people will stay. Long term depends how quickly devs can catch up in terms of features and user experience.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I intend to return after the blackout. At least for the rest of June. It is said multiple times, that this is just the first step for many subreddits.

I will continue using Lemmy and use Reddit only for specific communities. If there is no chance in sight on Reddits behalf, the communities can work on travelling to alternatives properly and this needs time and planing.

As of now, this exodus is more like a panicked escape. At least one community I am from means business and I would like to support them as much as possible.

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

I'm making a commitment to lemmy, I am enjoying it although it does feel a little anemic by comparison to the endless content of Reddit..

It really just depends on how well utilised it is going forward I'm happy to stay here for sure but if it ends up a ghost town then I might drop out of the habit of using it (hopefully not though)

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I have to image that most people with no intention of staying would not make accounts. Registered users are probably at least contemplating staying here for more than a couple of days. So the question for me is: will the communities here build a critical mass to sustain themselves after the blackout?

For me personally it's very simple. I will keep using Lemmy if there is enough activity to be worth it. I don't need it to be perfect or as active as Reddit or whatever. Just meaningful enough to warrant my time. I will keep my Reddit account for the time being, though.

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

I'm staying since Apollo is shutting down. You can't pay me to use that reddit app. Been using Mlem, not bad. I like the whole simplicity of it, reminded me of the old reddit from years ago.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Even if I get bored here, I won’t go back.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Doesn't matter, this is how these things gain traction. It's all about trends, especially on social media, baby.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'm sure there will be a huge downtick, but there's also people like me who heard about Lemmy because of Reddit but this is totally something I'd support. Now that I know it's here, I have a source for my cat videos and obscure video game recommendations, I don't really need the activity and tumult of Reddit. I'm sure there are dozens like me. Dozens.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

It depends on whether someone's a member of the community or just because they want to scroll some epic memes. I expect many people are of the latter category and probably don't even understand what the fuss is about.

It's not like I'll never look at Reddit again if there's useful info on it but I won't be part of the Reddit community again after the scorn and disrespect they showed it - I hope to help build something new over here.

I can't do anything about Reddit's decisions but I can vote with my attention and help to build a compelling alternative.

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

I don't want to go back to reddit but as it stands now I don't see Lemmy/mastadon being it's replacement. You didn't have to read a manual to browse reddit. It was much more intuitive.

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

As much as I want to say fuck reddit completely but there are still a lot of niche subreddits I'm subscribed to so it's gonna be very hard to cut off reddit completely. Hoping Lemmy starts to take off and more people migrate over here so I can finally fully terminate my reddit account.

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

It depends on a lot of factors, depends on twitter response and what the mods chose to do about it.

Personally, with the twitter shenanigans, I stopped paying for their blue thing and don’t use it unless someone links to it. So my Twitter usage has down to the floor.

I may take the same approach to Reddit. There is still time to change course, but I’ll go where the crowd goes, and keep tabs on alternatives. I will stop paying for premium and don’t open it as much, and hope Lemmy keeps me occupied enough.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

How many users here do you think are going to get bored and end up back on Reddit as soon as the blackout ends?

Most.

90% of the engagement I've seen regarding Lemmy is "Why isn't this Reddit and work exactly the same as Reddit? When WILL it work exactly the same as Reddit?"

I'm already seeing hostility a la "Well I guess we'll see if the devs LiStEn To ThIeR uSeRs" in regards to communities getting tied to a central authority, aka the thing this was explicitly designed to not do. I've been offloading my data and such to self hosted options for a few years now where I can anyway, so I'm down to stay, but I DO look forward to the end of the protest and the Reddit stans going home like nothing happened like they were always going to. > How many users here do you think are going to get bored and end up back on Reddit as soon as the blackout ends?

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

I like to think that Lemmy is transitioning from early adopters to First Followers (to take from this Ted talk

If only 10% of new users stay, they start to build out new servers and communities. As Reddit continues to degrade, some (maybe even most) of those 90% will start to trickle back, creating lasting growth and widespread adoption (vs the casual tourism).

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

For me personally, I'm just here for the ride and I'm curious how things go. On reddit I am only apart of smallish communities and sort by new, so this kinda works even if it's not a bunch of niche subs with stuff I'm into. On reddit I kinda comment and move on, and maybe here I can break the habit of completely ignoring my inbox πŸ˜…

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

I didn't even know there was a fediverse reddit alternative until the blackout, so that's why I'm here. But if I had known lemmy was a thing before now I would have moved earlier. If the communities here that interest me don't fizzle out I'll stay, I would guess a lot of others are in the same boat.

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

What will make me return to reading Reddit is all those old posts and comments on very specific topics. It doesn't mean I'll stop using Lemmy (especially if some communities I follow migrate here entirely), but there's no proper replacement for Reddit yet.

Also, I've found no app for Lemmy working on Android 7. For Reddit, I'm using Stealth: it's incredibly useful that you can create multiple pseudo-accounts with different subscription lists and saved posts without ever logging in or having an account. API changes are a sad development, but Stealth has an option to work by scraping old.reddit.com - unless they happen to delete it, of course.

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

I’ll still always rely on Reddit for obscure answers to questions when googling, but I plan on staying with Lemmy once Apollo is taken down. I’ve been trying it out and adjusting to it during the blackout and as long as the community stays somewhat consistent, I like it here more. Reminds me of when I first joined Reddit over a decade ago.

I usually wont quit an app over changes like this but Reddit to me is different. I like Reddit for being a place to find new communities to join and interact with what’s popular, and since the spez ama and the removal of 3rd party apps I just don’t trust it to stay that way anymore. The last thing I want to see Reddit become is another infinite scrolling content feed that an algorithm thinks you’ll like so you never want to stop scrolling. And I’m assuming since they just want to seek profit that’s what it will eventually become.

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

I'm here for the long haul.... Reddit accounts have been deleted and time for change :)

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

We need to educate users and Reddit people to really understand how Lemmy works, and why it's good. People keep giving the email analogy but that may not be enough. I still see a lot of users asking if they need to have an account on every Lemmy instance. We need to explain simply that :

  • You can sub a community that is not local ;
  • There can be two community that are called the same but on different instance (ie: [email protected] and [email protected]) ;
  • Same is for your username. We should also give tips on how to find an instance that is relevant for you and how to find communities.
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