The NFL season is about to start and it would be nice to have as many people as possible participating on the communities from https://nfl.community. Being a topic-specific instance with closed registrations, I’m aware that it is harder to be discovered, so I’m writing here with the intent of both promoting a bit and to find enthusiasts joining in.

If you’d like to help the instance and the team communities grow, there are two ways to help:

  • Join https://fediverser.network, find the Lemmy community you want to help and apply to become a Community Ambassador. Community Ambassadors can add different sources of content and also send invites to “good” reddit users to migrate.

  • Become a moderator of your team community. The communities are still all low in traffic, so I guess the hardest part for the moderators will be in finding and posting the type of content that you’d like to see in the community, in order to set out its tone.

As always, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!

  • rglullisOPAEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    Don’t forget, the main goal of Fediverser is not to create a comprehensive map, but to help people who are migrating from Reddit and are not familiar with how the Fediverse works to get started. For them, it’s better to have one entry point for most of their topics, then to give them a bunch of different communities with the same name but slightly different mechanics.

    What amount of activity is considered enough?

    Ideally, something proportional to the corresponding subreddit and with more than one single person dominating the posting.

    Basic things like spam, illegal content and alike everyone can agree on.

    That seems enough for now. But there were also cases of communities that were on smaller instances with poor uptime or seem abandoned. I removed them.

    • BrikoX@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      <…> the main goal of Fediverser is not to create a comprehensive map <…>

      I’m confused.

      <…> are not familiar with how the Fediverse works to get started. For them, it’s better to have one entry point for most of their topics, then to give them a bunch of different communities with the same name but slightly different mechanics.

      Seems counterproductive. I thought we want people to embrace the Fediverse because it’s Fediverse and not to create a clone of enshitified platforms. Funneling people to a few instances just amplifies the issue of big instances being the only place to grow any new community.

      Ideally, something proportional to the corresponding subreddit and with more than one single person dominating the posting.

      So it’s better to promote the same popular communities and create a doom-loop of no new community ever-growing in activity because it never gets recommended?

      We seem to have a different philosophy of what Fediverse is. Embracing diversity and federation are the fundamental principles behind Fediverse to me, not just trying to increase statistical numbers.

      • rglullisOPAEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        You are right. The wording needs to change, it should read as something like “comprehensive map of alternatives to Reddit”, which is only in the subheader.

        I thought we want people to embrace the Fediverse because it’s Fediverse and not to create a clone of enshitified platforms.

        Baby steps. go take a look at /r/RedditAlternatives right now and see how many people are telling how difficult it is to migrate. We are not getting them out of enshittified platforms if they are thrown into a whole new paradigm. We need to ease them into it.

        So it’s better to promote the same popular communities and create a doom-loop of no new community ever-growing in activity because it never gets recommended?

        Yes. The paradox of choice is real. You and I might prefer to have absolute control, but the large majority of people are simply looking for a straightforward solution to their immediate needs. Just last week I was arguing with someone on !newcommunities@lemmy.world because it was the 5th community in a month created to talk about TV shows and movies.

        If the recommended alternative is bad somehow, then sure let’s move on. But if it is good enough, then please just let it be flexible and accept it.

        Embracing diversity and federation are the fundamental principles behind Fediverse to me.

        The code is open source, and you are welcome to run your own instance of Fediverser, and the recommendation database can be cloned or forked however you see fit.

        • BrikoX@lemmy.zipEnglish
          2·
          2 months ago

          <…> comprehensive map of alternatives to Reddit <…>

          How is it comprehensive if it only lists singular alternatives? Seems contradictory.

          Baby steps. go take a look at /r/RedditAlternatives right now and see how many people are telling how difficult it is to migrate. We are not getting them out of enshittified platforms if they are thrown into a whole new paradigm. We need to ease them into it.

          Proposed service doesn’t solve the issue, just delays it. Explained in https://lemmy.zip/comment/12893935

          <…> the large majority of people are simply looking for a straightforward solution to their immediate needs.

          Then they are not interested in the Fediverse, but like I mentioned they are looking for a clone of whatever enshitified platform they left. You will never keep these type of users, as they will just go back to where they came from and complain how shitty that different place is. The goal should be to attract lurkers and convert them into posters.

          The code is open source, and you are welcome to run your own instance of Fediverser, and the recommendation database can be cloned or forked however you see fit.

          To elevate Reddit user confusion about migration, we should have multiple Fediverser sites? If your primary goal is really to migrate Reddit users, then that is a horrible way to go about it. That would mean multiple Ambassadors, different recommendations and lack of any consistency between added communities, subreddits, recommendations and probably even instances.

          The criteria also seem to not be applied universally. https://fediverser.network/subreddits/playstation lists a community with 0 interactions over several bigger and more active ones, same with https://fediverser.network/subreddits/xbox.

          !rivian@lemmy.zip was rejected as a first alternative to subreddit after I expressed my hesitation in a private message to migrate the community to gearhead.town at this point in time.

          • rglullisOPAEnglish
            21·
            2 months ago

            only lists singular alternatives?

            It’s comprehensive for the point of view of subreddits, not of the Lemmy communities. The idea is to have one recommendation for each subreddit, not of all communities that can theoretically be related to a given subreddit.

            The goal should be to attract lurkers and convert them into posters.

            That was also my argument when Reddit content was automatically mirrored on alien.top. That’s also one of the reasons that I’m giving preference to topic-based instances. If someone sets up a Fediverser instance to mirror Reddit content and sends them to a topic-based instance, there will be less complaints than if the they are pointing out to a community on an instance that happens to host one relevant community.

            we should have multiple Fediverser sites?

            Multiple fediverser sites is not a problem. Actually, there are already other deployments and I’m actively looking for other admins willing to deploy it on their servers.

            • BrikoX@lemmy.zipEnglish
              3·
              2 months ago

              The idea is to have one recommendation for each subreddit, not of all communities that can theoretically be related to a given subreddit.

              I get that. And that’s why I say it’s not trying to help people understand Fediverse or ease them into it, but just to find a clone of the enshitified platform.

              If someone sets up a Fediverser instance to mirror Reddit content <…>

              There is 0 value in that. What’s the point of mirroring Reddit and then asking Reddit users to join here, instead of staying where they are, if the content is the same?

              Multiple fediverser sites is not a problem. Actually, there are already other deployments and I’m actively looking for other admins willing to deploy it on their servers.

              How does this help with easing users into Fediverse? You object to the idea of listing multiple alternatives because it’s confusing, but you are fine with multiple sites for the same recommendations. Seems contradictory.

              Also, can you give me a reason for rejecting !rivian@lemmy.zip? And explaining why communities with 0 activity (e.g. !playstation@level-up.zone and !xbox@level-up.zone) are chosen over active ones?

              • rglullisOPAEnglish
                2·
                2 months ago

                Getting people out of Reddit and into the Fediverse is the goal. If that happens though different Fediverser instances, it’s fine.

                What’s the point of mirroring Reddit if the content is the same?

                Because Reddit’s content is not the problem, the rent seeking is. Their shitty client is. Their closing of the API is.

                The people that are still on Reddit are not there out of loyalty, they are just there because that is where they find the content.

                a reason for rejecting !rivian@lemmy.zip?

                Because it is a community that is not on a topic specific instance with 3 posts, all by yourself.

                why communities with 0 activity (e.g. !playstation@level-up.zone and !xbox@level-up.zone) are chosen over active ones?

                That is my mistake. I was setting these communities for Reddit mirroring. What alternatives do you think should be in its place?

                • BrikoX@lemmy.zipEnglish
                  2·
                  2 months ago

                  Getting people out of Reddit and into the Fediverse is the goal. If that happens though different Fediverser instances, it’s fine.

                  I feel like you are purposely avoiding the question. You previously said:

                  Baby steps. go take a look at /r/RedditAlternatives right now and see how many people are telling how difficult it is to migrate. We are not getting them out of enshittified platforms if they are thrown into a whole new paradigm. We need to ease them into it.

                  So how does multiple instances help with that? From my point of view, it makes it much more difficult and more confusing.

                  Because Reddit’s content is not the problem, the rent seeking is. Their shitty client is. Their closing of the API is.

                  That is a false fallacy. We know that is not true from failed blackout. There were multiple platforms that people could have gone to, but didn’t. Even outside Fediverse, where complexity of usability is not an issue. A very small minority of people left due to 3rd party clients being killed.

                  Because it is a community that is not on a topic specific instance with 3 posts, all by yourself.

                  !latteart@lemmy.zip is identical to !rivian@lemmy.zip. I’m the only poster, but it was approved.

                  I’m just trying to understand what are the criteria. Does criteria from https://communick.news/comment/2934810 also apply to first recommendation or all recommendations? Because there are plenty of recommended communities with solo posters.

                  Is it better to have no recommendation until some threshold is reached?

                  What alternatives do you think should be in its place?

                  All that matches the criteria, whatever they are from the above, but clearly we are in disagreement here.

                  • rglullisOPAEnglish
                    3·
                    2 months ago

                    So how does multiple instances help with that?

                    They don’t help, but they don’t make it worse.

                    We can have people on fediverser.network trying to convince redditors to migrate. They will check the website, go through the instance selector, find an instance and register. Hopefully, they will be auto subscribed to the communities that are recommended and be satisfied with what they have.

                    Let’s say we have another fediverser instance deployed by some admin from, e.g, Slovenia. This admin goes and promote their fediverser instance as the best one from Slovenians that want to migrate. There will be no “find my instance selector”, because the fediverser instance is already has connected to a specific Lemmy server. The recommended communities has some overlap with fediverser.network, but for some communities they will prefer to recommend the completely local one.

                    Let’s say one of the admins from lemmygrad/hexbear/tankie.social also deploys their own fediverser instance. They will be reaching out to a different subset of redditors, and those redditors will be expecting a different subset of communities.

                    Three different instances. Three different audiences, all of them with the common goal of getting people to migrate from Reddit to the Fediverse. It doesn’t matter from the individual redditor point of view which instance they used to migrate, as long as the recommendations are sound. But if we try to get every redditor to through the same one instance, we will end up satisfying no one.

                  • rglullisOPAEnglish
                    2·
                    2 months ago

                    That is a false fallacy. We know that is not true from failed blackout. There were multiple platforms that people could have gone to, but didn’t.

                    Absolutely disagree!

                    • What platforms were available in June 2023?
                    • How many active users did they have?
                    • How ready were they to deal with the influx of users?

                    The blackout failed precisely because there were no alternatives that could provide the depth and breath of content to the hundreds of millions of users that Reddit still has.

                    The majority of people who tried Lemmy during the protests went back to Reddit, and the major reason is simply lack of content in the long tail of diverse interests.

                  • rglullisOPAEnglish
                    21·
                    2 months ago

                    !latteart@lemmy.zip is identical to !rivian@lemmy.zip.

                    latteart does not have an topic-specific instance that I would consider a better home. rivian does.

                    Is it better to have no recommendation until some threshold is reached?

                    It could be. My concern though is that this will lead to just a bunch of communities created around the top 3 largest instances. I strongly believe that one way to avoid network effects acting in favor of any particular instance is by establishing a more clean separation between “instances for people” and “instances for groups”.