Post #4509235

2026-08-09 01:41 UTC

All good points IMO, and we might also say that this place in terms of software sophistication is not unlike early Reddit, but of course without the business plan, and being node-based, yadda yadda. So, like but unlike. But with better principles and more promise, at heart. One thing that I enjoy here and I think is important to embrace as much as possible is that lots of us on the FV run in to each other over and over. So to my mind, it’s important to get to know people here where possible and perhaps build a sort of coterie or friends list. Which of course, is only possible on a limited basis with the current state of software. (PieFed recently introduced a ‘followers’ feature FWIW). I guess what I might be saying here at the end of the day is that the FV is a place that needs a user plan, more awareness and more education than other, similar social media sites. This (or soemthing like it) is probably something which should be emphasized better in the introduction & signup process. I’m thinking it would better prepare and prevent people from just dropping out when they hit certain frustration mile-markers.

Replies (1)

@OpenStars@discuss.online 2026-08-09 02:35

Counterpoint: those will happen naturally and don’t need planning. Sometimes those are fraught with frustration though. Like I remember really enjoying discussions with the highly controversial user FlyingSquid, who left Lemmy at least a year ago. My discussions were about Star Trek, and I had already blocked all politics themed communities as well as the largest meme ones. It turned out that within the politics sphere, he seems to have shown a bit of a different side of his personality to people who tried to post in the communities that he modded. Was he right? Are all the people decrying against him - many of whom I note are often proven liars in other matters - right? Actually truth is significantly more complex than that, plus not having delved in depth I honestly and truly do not know (though suspect a bit of both). And people say likewise about PugJesus too. I was never on the receiving end of his wrath either - perhaps I never could be, since my aim is truth and he wouldn’t have to be firm as I would literally welcome correction where needed? But now he is gone too. Most of the people that I enjoyed speaking with the most are either gone, or comment far less frequently than they used to. Or in different communities. A lot of the communities that I do frequent the most - among those that still exist anyway - have barely anyone who comments at all. I tend to avoid the largest ones (I make an exception for this one we are in now due to the subject matter), bc that is where the toxicity is highest. But then the niche communities barely exist at all… e.g. !ask_experienced_devs@programming.dev has only had one post in the last 4 months, !bestofthefediverse@lemmy.ca, oops that one seems to have died a year ago already, so I just unsubscribed, the last post in !dankmemes@lemmy.world was 2 months ago, oops I just noticed several places I am subscribed in were on lemm.ee so obviously those are defunct now, the last post in !dogsincostumes@lemmy.world was 8 months ago, one of my absolute favorites was !nathanwpyle@lemmy.world, but the only post other than one asking the content creator where he went was again from 8 months ago, and so on. There’s also just a WHOLE BUNCH of communities that have next to zero comments in them - maybe they are bot posts that people prefer to block? e.g. !publichealth@mander.xyz. Others are not quite as often fully zero but are still less than 5 per post, like !fediverse_vs_disinfo@lemmy.dbzer0.com, !globalnews@lemmy.zip, and every single poetry community I can find across the entire Threadiverse. Don’t get me wrong, some people like ThePicardManeuver and LadyButterfly are holding up a good half of the Threadiverse by super posting to many many communities. But people used to say the same about FlyingSquid and also PugJesus as well. Like see this old appreciation post: feddit.org/post/3602869. So anyway, you aren’t wrong, but it’s not as simple as that, when a good fraction of the communities here keep turning into ghost towns, and those that remain are either the largest, which again attracts the most controversial crowds, or else super super tiny. But I do enjoy talking with you wherever I see you:-).

Open ##4509234