Excuse the off-topic nature of this post but I am keen to see non-Reddit online communities succeed and wondered if others feel similarly.
Lemmy.ml was unfortunately a widely shared instance for Reddit migrants and became massively oversubscribed by users and new communities. I for one joined up here before I fully understood the nature of the Fediverse.
What I have noticed (and is widely reported elsewhere) is that lemmy.ml isn’t federating properly with other instances, likely due to overload. The result is that users from other instances are missing huge chunks of comments or even entire posts from lemmy.ml based communities such as this one. Subscribe requests sit at pending perpetually. The result is a big barrier of entry to the community. The issue appears two way which communities form other instances not federating properly to lemmy.ml and lemmy.ml communities not federating properly to other instances.
Seeing this I recently created a new account on a different, quieter instance. On there my subscribes to non-lemmy.ml communities has been near instant. My subscription to this community and another on lemmy.ml is stalled.
Due to the nature of Lemmy, being on a popular instance provides clear visibility benefits to those who are users on that instance but at this time appears detrimental to those on others.
Is it worth considering moving this community to a less populated instance while it is still small so as to provide a more reliable experience for new users who otherwise may just quit due to tech frustrations and an apparent lack of content?
There are growing pains, but I’m sure it’ll work out with time. These issues with scale will happen to any instance as it grows, so I don’t see a point in moving.
Fair enough. I just wanted to put the idea out there.
Lemmy certainly has growing pains and that is understandable given it is still under development. I just felt that being on this instance in particular appeared to be amplifying those growing pains and hobbling the community, perhaps avoidably.
For me the only reliable method right now is separate accounts on multiple instances that house the communities I sub to. Then I can view and comment locally with up a full and up to date view of the posts. It certainly isn’t a convenient or simple solution but it is the most reliable. I hope I can revert to a single account in the future and others aren’t discouraged from migrating here as Tte Reddit situation certainly isn’t improving.
For what it’s worth, some of these issues should be addressed later today.
Let’s hope so.
I did just want to follow up my original comment with another saying a big thank you for creating this space, whatever instance it resides on. I don’t want you to feel my words were a complaint. Just sharing of an observation and possible solution.
I hope that once my life calms a little (just moved apartments and downsized) I’ll be able to contribute more to this space and help it grow.
It’s my pleasure! As I said in another thread, I simply couldn’t let the community go down with the proverbial ship. I have been involved in this space for close to a decade, and the people here mean so much to me. I’m glad that we’re able to move around and retain something of the beautiful garden of a community that we had on Reddit.
Lemmy.ml is weird, I can join the community and I get federation updates/comments etc, but it always shows as “Subscribe Pending”.
