So, I got curious and set my feed to all. Wow, there a lot of arguments about defederation due to the Beehaw decision. Many Many people positing on “the death of Reddit” and the refugee crisis. I get some of the concerns about moderation and ideology but the amount of navelgazing is unreal. Ill just stick to local for a bit until things settle down.
So, how are you finding the big, wide fediverse outside of our pleasant little pocket? With all of the thinkpieces being posted about how Lemmy is never going to work, I wanted to see some fresh takes from the good folk at midwest.social.
Reddit refugee. Pretty new to the federated life.
What I like: the friction. I found on Reddit I could browse for days on end and never find the bottom. at the height of my reddit addiction, I did just that. Last thing I looked at when I fell asleep, first thing I looked at when I woke up. So, federation is working for me. I have to deliberately choose a destination and really give it a looking over, think about what’s happening and respond when I truly have something to contribute. Also, the overall mood is like night and day. So much more positive. There are bits and pieces here and there that are not so upbeat, and that is normal and ok. but the kind of relentless negativity, the battles for attention, the downvote brigading- I couldn’t be happier to get away from that.
What I don’t like is just due to my own ineptitide: for instance I would like to chat with people about plant-based diets and vegetarian cooking, but haven’t found a strong community for it yet.
I am very pleased with midwest.social. I tried Nextdoor to get a local feel, but was overwhelmed by religious proselytizing, useless whining and dark political clickbait. Plus we roadtrip the midwest a lot and feel at home in most if not all of the states. so it feels like home here.
Great point about finding the community for a thing. I’m actually dealing with a bit of imposter syndrome when I want to respond about something I have personal experience but worry I’m not knowledgeable enough and will get dunked after posting.
Finding community is something I think most want as part of a “reddit-esque” experience. The problem is the initial person who wants the thing is expected to setup and run the thing. It’s a hurdle, for sure. I know some mods ask for suggestions for that such issue.