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Why are so many people so fixated on Lemmy's growth? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

126 comments fedilink hide all child comments

...relative to Reddit's size?

I see so many posts and comments voicing disappointment with Lemmy's lack of massive expansion.

I too want to see Lemmy gain more users, but I do not want it to grow to Reddit's size. If Reddit is the yardstick, I'd say that a population that large attracts a lot of negative behaviours; degeneration of discourse, amplification of echo chambers and hive mind behaviour, etc...

I started on Reddit in 2010 and found that by 2016 things were really bad in comparison. A fun and engaging site was experiencing an obvious devolution that persists to this day, accelerated by Spez's enshittification of the platform. Obviously the fediverse insulates us from that occurring here but I think you get what I mean.

Do you you think Lemmy is too small? I don't. I've been here since the great migration last year and have had a really good time. I see a lot of familiar names in the comments on a daily basis. It actually feels like a community here. I guess I just don't understand the fixation on the size of Lemmy's user base. Curious to hear your thoughts.

[EDIT] Thanks for all the responses, everyone! Lots of perspectives I hadn't yet considered.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

most online users, like well over 90%, don't post or comment with any regularity, that's just how online activity works.

coming from Reddit, lurkers are expecting unlimited content in any community to consistently appear, without internalizing that it is users creating that content

Lemmy lurkers are the people that need to add content if they want to see more content.

I agree that lemmy is fine the way it is, getting a few new users every day, a few new communities, consistent quality posts and actual conversation instead of the chaotic morass that Reddit easily devolves into with so many posts.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

Not to mention, there's no algorithm here selecting posts to prioritize in an effort to optimize rage, dopamine, and engagement, so after about thirty minutes I just set it down until tomorrow.