Let's spread out lemmys userbase so that a single instance can't take out large chunks of the network

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Honestly, this kind of thing should be done automatically by whatever app they sign up with. It's not something that the average person will really know how to choose.
Because it's not only number of users, it's also number of connections to other servers, how many federate with it. Most people don't wanna use a social network where they have to type exactly what they want in to search it every time. Never mind the different policies about posting and de-federation that can completely change how the network works for each user.
It's the disadvantage of decentralizion, and we've gotta band-aid it somehow.
- Oh, yeah, it's engaging stuffs. I've gone through:
  Oh, no, this instance defederates for safety but it stops working for days
  Oh, look, that instance is close to me and I can go faster
  Oh, crap, this instance doesn't allow downvote
  Oh, shoot, this instance doesn't work real well with this community
  Oh, look, that instance is using cloudflare
  Oh, no, this instance has trouble with this browser's extension
  The good thing about all these is, one instance going down is not a problem anymore!
- It can't truly be automatic. The other advantage of decentralization is that rules are also decentralized. Not all instances are the same in regards to what they will or will not allow to be posted locally. And they may defederate from other instances, etc. So it can't be automatic. A directory of instances with summarized rules, or instance niches would be helpful. And just another reminder to everyone, you don't even need to sign up with Lemmy to use Lemmy.
  
  I'd say an instance finder feature should be created where you rank priorities and it selects a (few?) best instance(s). It could have a default setting to prefer instances with lots of connections, then locality of the server to you, then prioritize smaller servers. Something like that would be a good automatic option, because it would spread people out and optimize performance.
- Yeah mastodon has some instance choosers that choose an instance based on preferences and other factors.

The average person doesn't understand decentralizing networks.
- Yeah, especially all the Reddit expats. Myself included. Took me a while to understand what federated meant and how it worked.
  But also what redditors want from Lemmy vs what Lemmy is are somewhat two different things.
  
  Would you mind doing a quick "ELI5"?
  
  I’m in the same boat. I feel like I get what Lemmy is really all about now, but I also feel like I still have no idea what all of it really is.
  Is fun though
- The average tech idealist underestimates network effects and natural centralization. Any goal beyond a single entity having over half the traffic is probably too ambitious.

You know, there's nothing wrong with having accounts on multiple instances, just in case something happens on your main instance.
- I agree with this fine gentleperson. They seem wise and totally cool and stuff.
- The problem there is subbing to all my communities on each instance. It's getting to be a longer and longer schlep through that community list to find the ones I want. Plus I might have conversations going on multiple instances, which I will not remember to check on or even which instances I have a conversation going in.
  
  It’s a bit of a pain but not the end of the world. I switched my main account on Reddit after 8 years. It didn’t take more than an hour to subscribe to all my subs again. And there are fewer communities on lemmy (if you discount the multiples).
- True that
- The more mature lemmy becomes the less realistic it will be to have multiple accounts for the same purpose.

There's nothing wrong with lemmy.world. I think most people aren't looking for specifically a federated platform, they're just looking for a platform, and it happens to be federated. In that case, it sorta makes sense to go with the most popular instance.
- Until the most popular instance breaks...
  
  Right, but smaller instances break as well. The only solution for that is to have multiple accounts, which doesn't work very well on Lemmy right now. Hopefully that will be improved

Only fair way to do that is to have large instances close for new accounts, so as more people find Lemmy they'll have to pick the next ones on the list. Making the choice is the hardest part for a new person (most of you probably realize that having done it yourselves) so streamlining that as well would help. Then make migration to other instances with all your "stuff" easy. Perhaps have it so your old account can forward anything to the new one, like email and regular mail can do. The bloated and centralized instances are just a byproduct of an unforeseen growth explosion and can be rectified, plus help future development.
- Account migration would definitely help. Most new users just go with the largest server because of FOMO and not understanding fully what federation is yet. Once they are comfortable enough, providing the ability to transfe their account to another instance would definitely be useful. Mastodon already allows you to do that.
- eh, picking an instance wasn't too bad for me. I already knew how federation worked, though, so I suppose that was helpful. I just picked one that wasn't too big (cryptocurrency mining has centralization issues too and i knew a bit about that so i knew not to pick the biggest), and had reasonable rules.

I have a couple accounts, but I only use the lemmy.world one because it's a pain to resubscribe to all the communities. Is there a mass-subscription-list copy function somewhere?
- I find using the Connect app for Android (not sure about ios) makes it easier to find or subscribe to a community, either by browsing by All or using the search bar, although the search function may take a few tries or not work at all
- What do you mean?
  
  I think they're meaning to ask if there is a mass-subscription-list copy function somewhere.

Is it possible to host my own instance, for me and myself alone? That way I don't need to worry about my instance being down.
- If you have any experience hosting stuff it's really easy to do using Lemmy-Ansible.
  I made my own instance for fun and decided to open it up for the few people who might be interested in joining.
- Yes but its honestly a lot of hassle and you would need to be very careful about security and bots

Me not even on lemmy.

When I created my account I had absolutely no idea what federated meant (I’m still not sure I really get it) so I just made an account on Lemmy World.
But is it possible to change an account to another instance and keep the mod status on the communities I have on Lemmy World?
- I personally just privated my communities and left a link to a new community on a different instance.

I hope account migration across instances becomes a thing.
- But it's not, right? I'm a Mastodon user, not a Reddit one. So I already migrated there but here doesn't seem like a possibility, which is annoying.

One thing I noticed using my instance instead of lemmy.world is that some communities may be empty when opened through feddit.it while they have content (not yet sinced) in world.
Or that coments may arrive later
- Lemmy.world has federation issues

The admin of my instance said they are currently accepting all applications. This instance has been pretty stable if anyone wants to join. Only had a temporary outage once.

You go first…
- Done

So what shall we do, create another account? And if so, where?
- As Luke skywalker said: Anywhere!
  
  And the first question? I've been here for a month. Dunno why it's my problem.

Working on an app for that now.
- For what exactly?
  
  Thanks for asking. I am in the final stages of allowing users to have their own lemmy servers, to include a mobile app. Lemmy is only part of the offering. At large, I'm looking to bring decentralized alternatives for almost everything, with some new edge features for security and the likes too.
  I'll probably make a post about it somewhere when it goes live but I'm hoping to really target folks on reddit and twitter(now X) + threads. I'd really like to show people that there are much better alternatives out there.

61 comments