Lemmy simply hasn't been enough content. I still use Lemmy (obviously, I'm here) but I also supplement with other places.
For example, I used to enjoy the sub for one of my favorite sports teams. A lot of posts tended to be articles from the same handful of news outlets. Now instead of reading through Reddit I just have that website up and routinely check for new articles.
I use the Google News app occasionally. It usually sucks.
I also use Instagram a lot more. I only reluctantly downloaded it and created an account because my wife and a few friends wanted to send me things. Then I used it more when my band released an EP as a way to promote that. For pure entertainment rather than informational purposes, I usually go to Lemmy first and exhaust what is good quickly, then go to Instagram after.
I know it sucks. I don't like having an app from Meta on my phone. I know it can become an unhealthy habit. But I also drink and eat junk food, so there you go.
I have mixed feelings. On one hand, Lemmy seems to be finding its groove, and I genuinely feel like I'm part of a growing community. But there's definitely something missing, and it's difficult to put into words.
On Reddit, I tended to frequent specific subs, and rarely doomscrolled the front page. But that's all I find myself doing on Lemmy. Most of my feed is either politics or memes, and nuanced discussion seems rare. New communities apparently have a hard time getting off the ground, and I think it's mostly because decentralization makes discovery a hastle.
Reddit's whole purpose is to aggregate content from other websites, whilst providing a central access point. This is antithetical to the very concept of the Fediverse, which is all about decentralization. I find myself wishing for an easy way to aggregate Fediverse content, so that I could access Lemmy, Beehaw, Kbin, etc. all in one place, regardless of whether they're federated. Really, all the drama surrounding instances federating/defederating is obnoxious as an end user.
The apps are certainly better, though, and in general I'm enjoying myself.
I try to do an "end-run" around federation drama by using my own instance, especially since I prefer to be as openly federated as possible. This is not without drawbacks, but it's really not bad.
My fear is that one day the biggest instances will switch from using block lists to instead only federate with an allow-list. That would basically make this use non-viable.
Really, all the drama surrounding instances federating/defederating is obnoxious as an end user.
On the other hand, subreddit dramas where a good portion of the userbase got alienated usually ended up with the users getting beaten into submission, and either shutting up or getting banned. It's a bit annoying, but it's still better than the other alternative we know.
I am a lot more active. On Reddit I was mostly just a lurker. On Lemmy I want to comment and post.
Following on from 1. It feels more like a community here, on Reddit after a post had a certain number of comments/upvotes, I knew that mine would never be seen. I don't have that feeling on Lemmy.
@governorkeagan@j4k3 >on Reddit after a post had a certain number of comments/upvotes, I knew that mine would never be seen. I don’t have that feeling on Lemmy.
Posts federate to other instances - even off Lemmy - at different speeds. Those of us on Pleroma/Mastodon who browse TWKN will just see random posts from wherever, and how popular the post is ends up being irrelevant.
Enjoy your first tiny taste of what the internet is like out there lemmybro.
I feel the same, but one big thing I miss from reddit are the more niche hobby communities. Back when I spent time on reddit I'd interact more with those kinds of communities because they were smaller and I actually had some good information to give to other people with the same interest. In lemmy getting those kinds of communities is practically impossible, there is not enough people here to make more niche stuff more than a few individuals, and thats not enough to keep a community alive.
Completely agree! For myself, I really miss the film/videography subreddits. There are two or three here but there’s only a handful of people and they seem dead.
Less niche content from the subs that I couldn’t find an equivalent for here. Also less random bullshit from all the reposted recycled memes that were often somehow just perpetually in my face. It would be nice if there were more people here on Lemmy commenting to link over to relevant related communities (sublemmys??) to a post that they think others would like. Sometimes that’s a good way to find more subs. Don’t really see that happening round these parts.
TL;DR Wasting less time on interwebs
it's made me learn to figure out a lot of things on my own instead of making Reddit posts asking for help. I do wish some of the more niche communities I followed were more active on here though. but overall it's business as usual, same concept different app. except now my friends call the links I share "weird websites" because voyager can't copy URLs as your host instance.
You may not see the same communities, but I have been surprised to see a lot of similar expert types are present here if you can find the right place to ask.
Like I have asked about Linux kernel code regarding the CPU scheduler and gotten good results here too. I miss stuff like Amateur Telescope Making (ATMing), some Maker niches, and people sharing more electronics projects on the grass roots side. Like I etch circuit boards and like to reverse engineer hardware. I like those peripheral projects that popped up and pushed me to get back into a project or start something new. But, I haven't been doing those projects myself and wonder if most of the hobby community has kinda moved on as well.
The only reason I have thought about checking out reddit is for the AI community stuff. There are too many negative people here for the kinds of stuff I play with and no depth of engagement when I do post. There are a few great people, and several researchers but not the hobby like constructive dynamic I need. However I have not visited reddit a single time since June 9th.
well, for niche communities I moreso meant hobby stuff rather than questions haha. for example, russian is my second language but there isn't really a community here for that. I'm also into anime and like seeing anime collectables, of which the main anime communities are pretty dead (though I try to interact with them) and there really isn't a community for the latter.
I do wish some of the more niche communities I followed were more active on here though
This. I have a few communities on Reddit that I loved browsing that seem to be a lot more niche and quiet here than what I was used to. Would be nice to have them here as well.
I had been looking for an out from Reddit for years. I like commenting and responding to comments, or simply enjoying thoughtful comments. I'm there for the commenters rather than the posts, the social part of sharing news. especially the commenters providing context or a new way to think about things.
Trying to enjoy Reddit the way I like became a game whack-a-mole of removing communities that were too large and filled with copy paste jokes.
I dunno if I'm a weird kind of redditor but i know am a stubborn one, and as reddit changed i bounced harder and harder off of it.
Coincidentally i was a month into a sanity sabbatical from Reddit when my friends told me about the api fiasco. Somehow i stumbled in here, and while i thought it world be a tough transition and that i would struggle to ban reddit it wasnt.
Long story short, I wouldn't say i changed at all. Reddit changed, and i found a home better than it ever was.
I'd scroll for hours on reddit. And while I'd love to see more content here, I'm glad that I don't spend so much time on mobile as I used to. And when there is more content, I hope I'm already trained to stop if I'd start to be exessive.
Also, got educated on FOSS and privacy, ditched most of google products. Wins all around
I hate the idea that most people have on lemmy that every interaction has to be a positive experience and full of sunshine and rainbows and butterflies. I like to argue.
I've seen some really good arguments here, with both sides being respectful and explaining their perspective and concluding that they understand each other but just don't agree. It's pretty refreshing. If you don't like that kind of thing you're just stupid and wrong.
Comment less, but I've enjoyed it much more. There's so much shit slinging in reddit. Every comment thread eventually devolves into one guy with an out of pocket comment or hot take, or miscommunication even, and then everyone dunking on the guy. So much negativity.
The endless trains of people responding that clearly saw the other comments but are commenting as if they didn’t was - and I imagine continues to be - maddening over at Reddit.
Spez did manage to understand something real about Reddit: that many people (not all but enough for the sake of his profits, he hoped) want to speak, rather than listen. Never mind about feeling heard or it being worthwhile by adding anything to the conversation, just simply, plainly, shouting your opinions into the void. Like Discord chat except based on topics rather than channels.
Those of us who HATE that about Reddit, and want a greater balance, enjoy it here much more.:-)
It’s a very interesting way of putting it. I’m gonna be chewing on that for a little while. I think you’re definitely hitting at something very important. I’m also loath to admit that I know I have brought some of my nasty Reddit habits here. For instance, sometimes I can get pretty combative in the comments. Not all the time, but sometimes I look back on the way I talk to people and think “jfc I am not actually that nasty of a person,” but something about being online certainly draws it out of me unfortunately, so clearly I’m capable of it.
Even toddlers learn to speak first by babbling, and only later to converse and communicate with someone rather than talk at them. Some technological platforms have even evolved to facilitate that - like instead of "^This" and "I also choose this guy's wife", what about emoji reactions that do not extend the length that you have to scroll through to find the next substantive comment? Except that - this is the enshittification part - when ads can be placed in-between comments, or even someone hopes that they could be in the future, or more likely they want to purposefully obscure the signal so that "x number of comments appear on this post", rather than "x number of comments + y number of emoji reactions", that works against their profit model. (and yeah, there was "awards", but who even used those, plus they just were not... good, especially for this purpose)
About both that and being combative: fwiw, we all are that way - the good thing is that some of us are honest about it, which gives hope for change.:-) But we all will have bad days when we are cranky and especially when we feel "attacked" we feel the need to strike back, and the feelings at least are not wrong, just how we handle them may not be so productive.
So I get you - I am the same way, though fortunately less and less over time. Leaving Reddit truly has helped me leave a lot of that behind. Over there that is just the "expectation" that people encourage you to do, but the culture is better here.:-)