With Twitter and Reddit the way that they are, many people are turning to federated servers as their online home, kbin among them.
How are you using kbin? As a Twitter replacement? Reddit? As something new entirely?
Personally I’m trying to follow multiple types of federated content, magazines, and people.
I think kbin has a lot of growth to go through before all that content can become streamlined and look nice - but it’s all there, and that’s what counts.
If there’s one thing I would change, it would be putting the comment box at the top, or in a drop-down instead of at the very bottom of a thread. But, I’m also just happy that the site is more stable and people are posting!
Similar opinions as for lemmy tbh, it’s basically an inferior reddit for now. Fewer active members, fewer tools, features and customization options, worse stability and performance. The idea is sound but the implementation is far from ideal, but it works well enough for now.
And before everyone goes for my jugular, yeah I know. FOSS, early development, few people working on it, new experimental tech, etc etc. That doesn’t help with any of the actual issues or widespread adoption though.
Integration with mastodon is a neat idea but nobody really uses it, if it even works. Some posts are visible from there but most aren’t, some communities have like a dozen people checking microblogs but most people have no idea that it exists… or it’s unusable if it’s a generic hashtag like gaming, full of foreign submissions because language filtering doesn’t work, and breaking conversations because it can only render first-level reply.
So I dunno. I hope it takes off and gets better but it will be quite a while until that happens I think.
Kbin, like Reddit, is more about following topics and conversations rather than people. I have a Mastodon account but I never really got into following people and posting whatever on my account - I vastly prefer the forum-like nature of browing by topic, responding to interesting conversations, etc.
I think somewhere in KbinStyles you may be able to find a script which places the comments above the replies, but honestly I kind of like the way the comment box at the bottom encourages you to at least skim the existing replies first.
Just to follow up on this KES has a magazine https://kbin.social/m/enhancement with install instructions. If you’re able to use addons with how you browse kbin, you can rearrange it using this under Threads -> Rearrange post order. The suggested order has the reply box at the top
Kbin, like Reddit, is more about following topics and conversations rather than people.
This may be true for you, but it’s not an objectively true fact. If that’s how you wanna use it, that’s cool, but from the start, kbin has allowed finding and following ppl. You can use kbin just like any other microblogging service if you want.
Right now, it’s threadiverse features are more easily available than its microblogging features, but I think kbin could be an awesome combination of both sides of the fediverse without sacrificing features or usability.
I’m using kbin as a Reddit replacement. I had only just really started using Reddit when the Great Blackout happened, so it was easy enough for me to switch over the kbin instead. I use Mastodon as my twitter replacement, since I’ve been on it for longer, and I like keeping different kinds of content separate. Federation is great, but I like using Mastodon for Mastodon and Kbin for kbin/lemmy.
The only real issue I have using kbin is how rough it is around the edges - for example, block is an absolute mess, and works less like a block and more like the worst possible version of mute, and people have been able to get around moderation by blocking magazine mods. Hopefully a complete overhaul of block is in the works.
I’m definitely looking forward to when apps start getting released.
Same! I was a long time Reddit user and decided to leave after the whole spez thing. I’m hoping to build up some of the same communities that I really loved. The apps will also make a huge difference imo
Once there’s an actual kbin API, I’m hopeful we’ll start getting spoiled for choice like Mastodon is when it comes to apps.
I agree with most of that, and I am the same: lemmy replaces reddit and mastodon replaces twitter for me.
The only thing I kind of disagree with is that being “rough around the edge” is the main issue. I think the main issue is our respective user bases are just too small, and we need more users. Perhaps a chicken/egg kind of problem?
p.s., You post great content!
Rough around the edges is, like I said, an issue for me specifically, not the biggest issue. Since I post a lot, I’ve also had to block a fair number of people, which is how I’ve learned block is such a mess. And there have been posting bugs I’ve run into that still haven’t gotten fixed and require workarounds. So I’m hitting a lot of the rough patches that folks that just browse or occasionally comment might not.
p.s., You post great content!
Thank you; I try!
Like Reddit. Doomscrolling through, having conversations, sharing memes and oddities. Feels nice, though, a little like older forums in the sense of community that forms.
Reddit, since I never got into twitter. Also I don’t think kbin currently has a way to just see microblog posts by people you’re following, you end up seeing all the content from the hashtags of the magazines you’re subscribed to. I think that would need to be separated to allow for twitter-like usage.
Mainly interact with threads rather than the microblog for something to scroll and occasionally comment. Been pretty good for that especially as I further refine my subscribed feed. I’ll pop into microblog every once in awhile if I’ve run out of new content, but rarely post/interact there.
I’m more invested in using the site as a user aggregated feed with other subjects in interest in thrown in the mix. Probably more like Reddit in that instance but with seemingly more well thought out human comments, less bots and less cringy “and my axe” style bullshit.
Kbin/Lemmy is on it’s way to become the same thinly veiled „everything MUST be political“ Reddit culture hub as the original and because of that insufferable behaviour I didn’t use Reddit in the first place. Very dissapointing, so I might not use it much longer.
@RegularBard I wanted to use Kbin as a Reddit Twitter Hybrid, where microblogs and threads are shown together based on magazine and hashtags and you could seamless answer to both. Now I dont know if it is possible to have a view of people i have followed from Kbin, so now in just use it as a Reddit replacement
That page should be https://kbin.social/sub/microblog but I see cacheson also says they have issues with it. I only see people I follow there, but I guess it does show posts from magazines I subscribe to as well, it just must be rare for the magazines I sub to to get (microblog) posts rather than threads. Perhaps for people that subscribe to magazines with common hashtags it might be worse.
I was really getting sick of all the negativity on Reddit. It feels like about 80% of posts are shitting on someone for some reason that I don’t really care about. Feels like a bunch of bitchy teenage girls all trying to rain on each others parade. I hope they all choke on their own social vomit.
So glad there seems to be NONE of that energy here. I hope it never arrives.
Other random thoughts/observations:
I appreciate that kbin/fediverse is more mature and academic.I like Star Trek much more than Star Wars and see plenty of ST and no SW here.
While I appreciate that Reddit has more smaller and special interest communities because of it’s size, I like that kbin is smaller. I think it will be a little sad to see it get big.
I plan to stay here for a while. I may host a mag or two eventually. I have ideas for improvements but as a non app user it seems pretty good so far.
Also, thanks to Ernest (sp?) and others who keep the lights on and motors running. You make it all possible.
Jesus Christ youre preaching to the choir here.
I had to leave it at around November 2022 cause I noticed the negativity was seirously harming my mental health. Im only a lurker in all social medias, so I was surprised something “finally” got to me. Since I had been “immune” to metaverse shit up to that point (not because im in any way better than anyone, I just dont have enough IRL friends to matter lol), I was surprised with how much reddit mined my sanity without me noticing.
And I fully intended to only keep Insta for family contact and tiktok for funny videos until GOOGLE FUCKING STOPS WORKING. So now I need another “search engine alternative” -_-
Well, disaster averted, let’s hope we get at least a decade or so of usage on this one!
I expect this one to last. No commercial interests. I guess growth could cause some problems but we will see.
I never really got into Twitter, and even though I do have an account, I don’t really get that much out of mastodon either. For that reason, I tend to use Kbin for mostly community threads, but also the microblogs as well. I’m not interested enough to care where/how my microblog feed exists, and with kbin it just happens to be right there, so I’m a little more inclined to peak from time to time.
Mostly as a Reddit replacement, but I’ve found myself using my Mastadon account less too with the microblog feature.
A Reddit replacement, except without doomscrolling. On Reddit I would follow communities for hobbies and have discussions about the hobby, and I’d like to do the same here. I would also doomscroll news and all the outraged comments on the news, and I would very much not like to do the same thing here.
On Kbin, there isn’t an easily-accessible Discovery feed, which is where I would click and fall into the doomscrolling and people yelling at the news. Once it gets implemented for those who want it, I dearly hope we can hide it. Out of sight, out of mind. Yes, I know it’s my own fault for clicking the Discovery button in the first place. I’ll stick to the magazines I /sub to, thank you very much. I can find new interests perfectly well through real-life friends, and learn about the news from actual news articles.
I intended to use #Kbin primarily as a replacement for #Reddit. Content and engagement can be a bit sparse sometimes, so I decided I would try to help by creating and moderating two magazines I have an interest in. Promoting engagement through thread discussions has actually proved more challenging than I thought. I’ve actually found more success engaging with the #fediverse through #microblogging.
I’m currently using microblogging as a means to document my Japanese studies. I’ve found some people I can practice with, along with a few that are supportive of my efforts. It’s not the primary reason I’m doing so, but it is a nice form of positive reinforcement. Though I do wish I could get others to also participate, I do not believe that’s something I can force. Honestly, I’m also pretty okay if people don’t really participate because it’s been a useful tool for myself and I might have the opportunity to aid those who simply wish to lurk. I also think there’s more I could be doing to flesh out these magazines, but I’m okay with taking things steadily and I enjoy where they’re at now.
