Reddit users are called Redditors. What are Lemmy users called? Lemmitors? Lemmings?

How well are the Lemmy fediverses growing? How many daily unique users do we have on this service? Will we overtake Reddit someday?

What differences should I get used to over here from what I was used to on Reddit? Thanks in advance.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Browse by “all” and block communities you don’t like, after awhile you’ll see trends of certain instances, go ahead and block them too.

    At some point you might realize you like another instance more and want to jump ship, just do it.

    There’s a general vibe, but remember one of the huge downsides is it’s very easy for the same people to keep making new accounts. Literally the most problematic people online who are banned everywhere “big” can easily spin up a new account on any of dozens of instances and jump into any federated comments section.

    So give people a shot, but don’t get hung up on “someone’s wrong on the internet”, a lot of people are just here to argue about anything and convincing them of anything is just a waste of time.

    • Egaonogenki@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 days ago

      Thank you. And what are Lemmy users called, by the way? We’re “Lemmings” just as how Reddit users are called “Redditors,” correct?

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Lemmy is a broad term that covers a large and varied chunk of “the fediverse” but not all of it…

        So yeah, “Lemmings” is what people are/were using, but honestly it’s outdated already and needs to be something more general already.

        Hard to make a name that’s not reminiscent of “feds” tho. But a catchall name shouldn’t be tied to any instance/software, because it’s bigger than any instance/software

      • cabbage@piefed.social
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        3 days ago

        I think you’re widely accepted to be a lemming, but with the nature of this place being decentralized not all the people you talk to will be. For example, I do not have a Lemmy account personally.

        Fedizens is often used to refer to the broader range of people you might bump into here - citizens of the Fediverse. :)

        • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
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          Lemming is probably fine as an umbrella term for the Threadiverse. It’s where it started, and there’s really no reason to differentiate whether you’re on mbin or piefed.

        • Stormy@thelemmy.club
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          It’s really hard being new to lemmy because people that are not new start using words lemmy made up for things we don’t understand. What does decentralized mean on a forum app? And what’s the fedizerse? Is that lemmy itself?

          • derek@infosec.pub
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            That’s fair. You don’t need to know any of those things to use the platforms in whatever ways best suit you.

            That said:

            Decentralized means no one entity “owns” Lemmy. Lemmy is free, libre, open-source software (FLOSS). This means the software (Lemmy itself) is free to use, with few restrictions (or none), and available to anyone for review and/or modification. It’s also built by contributors and any member of the public can offer contributions. Most open-source projects are like this.

            This is the opposite approach of the social media platforms like Facebook and such. They use proprietary software that they claim to write themselves and claim to exclusively own. Each of the big tech social media sites is owned and operated by a company. They are centralized platforms. They have a center of control and users of those platforms are bound to the whims of the owners (CEO, shareholders, etc).

            Choosing to abandon those platforms and instead use social media built using FLOSS (which no one person or group owns) means no one can stop you from having and using that platform however you want. It puts the power of social media in everyone’s hands instead of only the hands of the rich and exploitative.

            If the Lemmy instance you use gets shut down for some reason you can just go to another instance and keep using Lemmy.

            Decentralization doesn’t solve every problem though. A decentralized service can still be used to create some kind of monolith. If you wanted to create your own Lemmy instance and share really important information there then you could do that. You could also try to gatekeep it in some ways. Force users to do something you want or give you something of value in order to get the important thing you have. It would be dumb to try but you could still do it.

            Federation means everything gets shared by default. If I post on infosec.pub (my current home instance) that information does not stay on infosec.pub. It is automatically offered by default to every other Lemmy instance that wants it. Administrators are able to change the default settings and many do so to curate their instance in ways that are helpful.

            Federation means unity that people choose. Examples would be The United Federation of Planet from Star Trek or the European Union (kind of). The “Fediverse” refers to all the different software platforms that use the ActivityPub protocol to Federate with each other. Mastodon, PieFed, Lemmy, and a bunch of other software depend on ActivityPub to make sure the information users share is shared with everyone.

            Decentralization makes it tough to gate-keep things (among other benefits). Federation makes it tough to manipulate or weaponize. Bad actors still try to do those things but using software like Lemmy or Mastodon for evil looks weird to everyone. Even for people who don’t know what being decentralized and federated means.

            I hope that info is what you’re looking for and that you find it helpful. If you’ve got other questions feel free to drop a reply. 🙂

            The info above is an overview. There’s nuance I’m ignoring on purpose that some might be nitpicky about. Those people are probably correct, are also likely abysmal educators, and certainly no fun at parties.

              • supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
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                3 days ago

                Ok in terms of technical terms an instance is a particular website running a particular fediverse software i.e. lemmy.ca, thelemmy.club, piefed.social.

                A community is the name for a “subreddit” of which any given instance hosts many (and different instances can have communities about the same thing, which happens with bigger topics sometimes).

                The names… aren’t ideal but also you don’t need to remember any of this really.

                • psycotica0@lemmy.ca
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                  2 days ago

                  And just to fully tie this up, the federated part means the users of an instance, can join a community, even when it’s hosted by a different instance, and interact there with users from many instances.

          • o8bepbua9@lemmy.world
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            I’m sorta new here myself so I might not get all this right, but decentralized is what it sounds like; Lemmy as a whole is not hosted by one central person/company. Instead, each Lemmy server (instance?) is hosted by a different person or group, so if lemmy.world ever gets shut down you’ll still be able to use all the other servers like Lemmy.zip or Lemmy.ml.

            The fediverse, short for federated universe, encompasses all software that uses the ActivityPub protocol (I think) so Lemmy is only part of the fediverse. Mastodon is also part of the fediverse, although it is more similar to Twitter rather than Reddit, and since both Lemmy and Mastodon are part of the fediverse they can view and post content to each other. I don’t understand the cross communication aspect well so if someone else knows I would be happy to hear.

              • cabbage@piefed.social
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                3 days ago

                Sorry I wasn’t being clear!

                It’s a bit like email. If Lemmy is Yahoo Mail, Piefed might be mailbox.com or whatever. They can talk to each other, but they’re not the same platform. So unlike Redditors who are all on the site, the people you’ll talk to here are scattered all over a bunch of different websites.

                That’s why the user names look like emails - mine being @cabbage@piefed.social because I use PieFed.

                It doesn’t really matter much in practice as a user so I didn’t want to get technical about it, but it’s part of the reason why you won’t see the phrase “lemmings” as much as “redditors”. :)

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        3 days ago

        I would add to that, to switch between local, subscribed and all. Also, switch between Hot, Active, Top every 6 hours. Active seems the least active since it’s the same threads with the most comments.

        You’re going to go through some withdrawal because it’s not an angry factory here most of the time. Right now, it can get a little bit around politics because of the elections, but that’s not typical.

        • Serinus@lemmy.world
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          I actually appreciate that Lemmy runs out faster than Reddit did. I use top six hours and generally don’t need to go deeper than a few dozen posts (skipping most of course).

          • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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            I do too. It seems to me like lemmy and piefed got most of the best of reddit to come here. There are some good conversations here and I learn a lot.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        Lemming is what makes sense and what I use, but I’ve been beat up in the past for doing so. 🤷🏼‍♂️

  • supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
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    The point isn’t to overtake reddit, it is to create a vibrant place with actual human interaction, if we do that we win no matter how many people are here since every time someone goes to search something they are going to increasingly end up searching through fediverse threads the way people used to use reddit for information (which is something I miss dearly about the old open internet and it motivates me to build it here in a new way).

    The Fediverse isn’t growing amazingly fast or anything but the userbase is engaged and values this place, we will only continue to grow in the medium and longterm. When the next big wave of users come is I don’t know but also in some ways I don’t care, this place is already vibrant for me and I know others will see that more and more as time goes on.

    • [object Object]@lemmy.ca
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      Yep, DAU, WAU, MAU are secondary to “does it spark joy”

      And if there’s a community you don’t think is active enough, go ahead and try posting. Even tangential stuff is nicer than a quiet room in many communities.

      • supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
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        My motto is, so long as I keep my general post quality up (in terms of trying to post only things I find genuinely interesting or worth checking out that are novel to the fediverse in some way) even if I post a ton it is a taunt to others to jump into the feed and make it so I don’t determine the entire feed of communities. I don’t control anything, I don’t have special tools I use to post way more than humanely possible, I just post a lot.

        If I can add such a big chunk to the fediverse though, than can it really be so hard to fight back against the overwhelming network effect of corporate social media? I am just one person, I don’t use any bots, automated posting or anything and yet I have thousands and thousands of posts.

        I am not saying spam communities, rather I intend to slap you in the face with my posting glove and challenge you to an interesting content duel to the last upvote.

        En Garde!

        • u/CaperGrrl79@lemmy.ca
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          3 days ago

          Just as long as you don’t smack anyone with a fish, like, say, a large trout. 😜 That’s a deep cut.

          • supersquirrel@lemmy.ca
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            I will not smack ANYONE in the face with a fish, rather I demand you must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest—with a herring!

  • Gpennyhigh@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    You shouldn’t get suspended for calling out nazis or demanding liberty and justice for all, including women. To self-actualize and unfold as each of our unique DNA is meant to, in the short time we are conscious stardust, the cosmos observing itself. This truth sets us free from the supernatural baggage and conditional belonging.

  • anewfox@lemmy.zip
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    you know how if you actually read the articles posted to reddit instead of just the titles, you’re more informed than a good 90% of the comments? that percentage is even higher on lemmy.

  • dumples@piefed.social
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    3 days ago

    Treat it just like reddit. Or better yet as old reddit. There’s a much more of a don’t feed the trolls mentality here. You can curate your feed easier and no one else will do it, (besides your instance) so block anything you don’t want to see. Also it’s not just lemmy in for the forums, but you won’t notice the difference really. (Hello from piefed).

  • pseudo@jlai.lu
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    2 days ago

    Hello young Lemming.

    Until you say otherwise, we will suppose you like to eat beans, to compute with Linux and to watch Star Trek. Lemmy is a part of the fediverse which is a facinating piece puzzle of software to learn about. You absolutly don’t need to to use Lemmy though… All you need to know is that there is tiny little websites called instances working together to make Lemmy. You barely notice which one you access but many lemmings will proudly tell you where you are. Each instance has its own moderation team and rules so check it before writting in a new community (equivalent of sub) and relax 'cause one mod won’t ruin you experience.

    Here is a first community go explore !superbowl@lemmy.world. Ask for recommandation.

    Enjoy!

  • EntheoNaut@lemmy.ml
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    3 days ago

    First off, you can criticize the Apartheid State of Israel without getting banned for life.

    Also talk shit about Greedy Old Pedophiles party and generally say anything but removed.

    I call em Lems

  • Otter@lemmy.caM
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    How things are different

    • most instances are run by non-profits / without ads
    • the fediverse is designed to prevent individual sites from growing too large and monopolizing a form of social media. If an instance starts to become what reddit is today, users can migrate to another instance: https://fedecan.ca/en/guide/get-started

    I’ve seen users called “Lemmings”, but usually it’s just “users”. There are other interconnected platforms such as Piefed and Mbin, so “lemming” doesn’t cover it well. “Fedizen” is another more general term

    For growth stats see here: https://fedidb.com/software?type=forum

    For differences:

    Welcome :)

  • Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz
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    As of @Vicinus@piefed.zip’s last Fediverse ‘census’ a month ago, the Threadiverse (Lemmy+Piefed+Mbin+PyLova) had about 38,800 monthly active users.

    Lacking the marketing and development budget of Reddit, the Threadiverse won’t be overtaking it any time soon, but aside from the fact that every service needs early adopters to get off the ground, there are plenty of reasons (less spam and promotion, less centralization, less top-down unaccountable moderation) why the smaller communities here can be better than their Reddit counterparts.

    • Vicinus@piefed.zip
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      Appreciate the shout out. There was actually a new post yesterday. If you aren’t seeing it, there may be a federation issue.

      Regardless, the most up to date number is 41565 MAU (relatively steady year-over-year, but slightly up).

      Edit: I don’t post it, but since OP asked about daily users, there were at least 15444 DAU yesterday (Lemmy: 12864, Piefed: 2580, Mbin: ? (doesn’t report DAU)).

      Changed some wording for easier reading/clarity.

      • Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz
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        3 days ago

        It must have just federated when I tapped on the link; thanks again for your dedication!

        • Vicinus@piefed.zip
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          It must have just federated when I tapped on the link

          Yeah, it’s weird like that. I had that happen with one com I subscribed to, nothing for a month and then no issues since.

          thanks again for your dedication!

          Thanks and by the way, I’m using your defederation post in the fedigrow’s “Community Building Wiki” (“Visualization of Threadiverse Defederation”).

          • Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz
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            I never posted my more complicated version (all instances as of August with at least 50 MAU) since people were already having trouble with the first one, but if you’d like I can send it to you when I get a chance (I think I DM’ed you a work-in-progress version of it at one point?), or post it myself for you to reference.

            One thing I think including more instances demonstrates better is some of the ‘cliques’, mainly the similar defederation patterns between ‘flotilla’ instances. It also helps to show why the .zip instances are better for people who want less top-down defederation applied to them.

            • Vicinus@piefed.zip
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              I never posted my more complicated version (all instances as of August with at least 50 MAU) since people were already having trouble with the first one …

              I’d say post for you. That’s what !fedilytics@piefed.zip is for me. If other people like it, great, but I’m doing the analysis because I’m interested in it.

              … if you’d like I can send it to you when I get a chance (I think I DM’ed you a work-in-progress version of it at one point?), or post it myself for you to reference.

              I believe we chatted briefly about your next version, but I don’t recall ever seeing it. I’d say post it, so I can link to it easier. I’m not sure how I’d host it in the wiki otherwise (not very familiar with that part of Piefed).

              One thing I think including more instances demonstrates better is some of the ‘cliques’, mainly the similar defederation patterns between ‘flotilla’ instances. It also helps to show why the .zip instances are better for people who want less top-down defederation applied to them.

              Sounds interesting. I look forward to seeing the new version :)

  • Coelacanth@feddit.nu
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    How well are the Lemmy fediverses growing? How many daily unique users do we have on this service? Will we overtake Reddit someday?

    I think we’re still hovering around 50k monthly active users? Enough to have discussions in the more popular subs, but far from the firehose of content that Reddit is. Will we ever overtake Reddit? At this point I doubt it. Say what you want about them, but they’ve been unfortunately good at boiling the frog slowly. I think they learned from the API debacle, which was the only “mass” exodus we’ve seen (and even that was just a couple of tens of thousands of accounts). They’ve been slowly enshittifying one change at a time the past year, and it seems to be working. The only final chance we have of a catalyst is the final end of old.reddit. But I don’t even think that will do it, anymore. People are too entrenched.

    What differences should I get used to over here from what I was used to on Reddit? Thanks in advance.

    There is only one really important one, which is that subs (called Communities here) have an @-adress as part of its name. So you’re more likely to see duplicate or alternative communities on here have the same name (such as !gaming@lemmy.zip and !gaming@lemmy.world and !gaming@beehaw.org ) as opposed to on Reddit where you’d have like Gaming, TrueGaming etc.

    Karma doesn’t matter here. Expect to see less people farming upvotes.

    We’re still very small. Expect less general engagement and content. BUT! We’re also small enough that there are way fewer bots.

    • Amarlune@lemmy.zip
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      Have been content calling the fediverse my internet home since the API debacle. I actually recognize users and comment occasionally, only ever lurked on reddit. Hope the community is around for the long haul.

  • moonshadow@sh.itjust.works
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    It’s like reddit before Conde Nast. It’s pretty chill, “just post” is the only real advice I’ve got for you. Fingers crossed it never overtakes reddit, thankfully that doesn’t seem to be a goal of many devs or admins. If it starts to, someone will just have to make the next lemmy :p

  • cm0002@lemy.lol
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    Welcome! I typically say that the Threadiverse (a decent all encompassing term to mean “reddit format” e.g. link aggregator type social media that includes Piefed, bin, Lemmy etc.) is about where reddit was 10-15 years ago.

    I recommend lemmyverse.com for comm discovery, sometimes your might be looking for a comm that does exist, but for whatever reason your instance just hasn’t picked up on it (typically someone from your instance has to manually go to a new comm and sub to it if your instance missed the automated bot federation from Lemmy-federate.com

    We’re not without our cons though, biggest problem we have are probably the Tankies, but here they’re mostly on what’s known as the Tankie Triad: lemmy.ml, lemmygrad and hexbear. For the most part, grad and hex are widely defederated from (Users and content of those instances won’t be “synced” and you won’t see them) and you only have to worry about .ml, but on Lemmy you can do a personal instance wide block if you’d rather just not deal with them. .ml tends to be more subtle opting for censorship of dissent before things get crazy on their threads and allowing certain propaganda to flourish (If you wish to see documentation of it, checkout !meanwhileongrad@sh.itjust.works ) or the megathread here (is .ml centric specifically) Here on Lemmy all moderator actions are public and available for viewing on what’s known as the “modlog”.