1277

Forget growth, lets enjoy what we have (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by andobando@lemmy.world to c/lemmyworld@lemmy.world

160 comments fedilink hide all child comments

There is a huge emphasis I see on just growing community size and creating an alternative to reddit.

Back in the day we used to hang out in irc chats with 5-10 active users or forums with few thousand users max. I made friends there I visted across countries. Years after Id log in and people would ask how you've been.

I had a reddit account for over 10 years and I dont think a single person would recognize my username. Its always felt like people aren't talking to you but trying to appeal to the whole audience for points. Reddit exploits our psychology for attention but nothing humane is gained there. The super massive "community" ends up as a void where 99% of posts go completely unseen and any discussions suffer heavily from mod mentalities.

If this a place where even just ten people call home but feel good doing so, that is more good than a million being miserable. Maybe the best alternative is not to be reddit altogether.

Besides, good things have a natural tendency to spread, we don't need to focus on it.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] dystop@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago

I'm personally looking forward to growth here because I want niche communities to form like they did on reddit. And you can only do that when there's enough critical mass of users.

[-] musicalcactus@midwest.social 4 points 1 year ago

Yes, very much this. I was able to reach out to a very small community before this blew up and the advice I got there was extremely impactful to a sensitive issue I'm navigating with my family.

It's really the thing I'm most upset about losing.

It's difficult to find spots to congregate and commiserate online when you or someone you love has an experience only shared with 0.1% of the population.

1 out of 1,000 and then only if they also want to talk about it.

If reddit still exists, and if I go back to it at all, that would be the only reason.

[-] dystop@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I know it's not the same, but if you don't see a community you like, why not create one and be the first? There may be someone else in the same boat as you.

This isn't niche by any means, but I recreated maliciouscompliance (one of my favorite communities) because it wasn't available and I wanted to see more posts haha.

(and if you're interested -

/c/maliciouscompliance@lemmy.world

https://lemmy.world/c/maliciouscompliance

Or type the following in the search bar at the top: !maliciouscompliance@lemmy.world )

[-] musicalcactus@midwest.social 1 points 1 year ago

One of my favorites too, subscribed! I probably should start a few, there's definitely some I'll miss having regular access to.

[-] dystop@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

be the change you want to see!

[-] irkli@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

True, but a niche starts with one, two, six, a dozen, a hundred, folks who just persist and have a good time. And not worry about growth, that's a side effect, not a cause. Growth is a corporate disease. We don't need to emulate it.