In other places on around the web, (chiefly /r/RedditAlternatives) whenever Lemmy is brought up, invariably I see the exact same complaints from brand new accounts.
Lemmy is too complicated, it wont gain traction, can’t figure out how to use it, can’t log in, etc.
Now, I’m definitely more tech savvy than the average redditor, but I just don’t see the complaints. You can go to any Lemmy site, instantly start doomscrolling with a familiar UI, and sign up on all the instances I’ve tried has been frankly more simple than making a new reddit account. The only real complaint I have is the generally smaller volume of users and posts.
My only thought here is the words like federation and instances getting people hung up. Maybe join-lemmy.org being a highly ranked site is doing more harm than good by creating an additional barrier to the instances and content.
Ideally, the first link someone sees when googling Lemmy would be a global feed on a fairly generic instance, with a basic tagline akin to ‘front page of the internet.’ End users don’t need to care about the technical details, at least not until they’re interested in the platform.
So is this “Lemmy is too confusing” sentiment even real? And if not, what motive would there be to astroturf this?
If it is a real issue affecting would-be users, how can we address it?
How is a person supposed to know which instance to choose before knowing what each instance is even about? Or what an instance even is. The barrier to creating an account is too high.
If there was an account migration option it would be possible to throw users into a random instance which federates with everyone and later let them migrate with their account age and post history.
They’re not. One can join any instance they like. But its like “what brand of toilet paper is someone to buy when they move out?” Thats for you to figure out. Ask someone, try a couple and settle for what helps you most.
That said, account migration would be nice although the possible issues are pretty brutal. An account is mostly a bunch of posts, comments and subscriptions. Reposting them would be fatal, relinking them would be dangerous. Only the subscriptions would be easy to move and i think that exists already.
I see your point. But imo its technically not really feasible.
No there are activation periods as well. Mods have to approve your account. You can’t just jump in and get to know the place. There are so many different barriers to entry. And this is for people not even knowing whether Lemmy is a good place to go.
Maybe a LemmyAnon “tutorial” instance to dump all the users with no verification and let them get to know Lemmy before choosing an instance?
A single activation period for the account is honestly way better than what Reddit has where you’re not allowed to post in a ton of large subreddits because you don’t have enough karma when your account is created.
But people cannot sign in to the account while awaiting activation. This is a turnoff because people will leave and not come back when their account is activated.
A better option would be letting them sign in but only giving them comment/posting rights when their application gets approved.
Removed by mod