Hello all,

10th June 2025 marks Lemmy.zip's second birthday!

Following the whole Reddit API fiasco in 2023, many of us moved over to Lemmy, and have never looked back. I remember sitting at my desk (it was a Sunday morning, it was probably raining, it was roughly 10am and I was actually supposed to be somewhere else) and buying the domain, wondering how on earth I was actually going to get a real website working.

It has taken a LOT of learning and perseverance, but since then we've created a fantastic community full over people from all over the world, and Lemmy.zip continues to grow and develop.

As I said in last year's birthday post, running a Lemmy instance has it's ups and downs - some days nothing goes wrong and for a large period of this last 12 months we've had a really stable site, which has led to me even at times referring to things as "too quiet". Oh how I miss those days 😭

But even with all the struggles over the last few months (spam, server issues, lemm.ee's closure) - I have been humbled by all the support and well wishes from users across the fediverse.

This year we've grown to over 4000 registered users, doubled the admin team, and learned loads along the way.

I've highlighted some of this year's happenings in our Year Two microsite: yeartwo.lemmy.zip. (PS - if you're on mobile, you can rotate your device to read it easier!)

You can also see the Year One microsite here if you're curious.

Looking forward in to year 3, I am hoping that Lemmy.zip can continue to thrive, and can become a home for anyone in the fediverse. It's sad to see instances closing, but I am hopeful we can provide a refuge and a space that in time, others can also call home.

None of this is of course possible without YOU. Yes you, reading this.

To the mods, thank you for doing a fantastic job of moderating your communities. There are a wide range of voices that contribute to Lemmy.zip, and your abilities to manage this fairly and consistently are what makes so many communities a success.

To those who have donated, you really are the backbone of keeping Lemmy.zip alive. Each donation means so much to us, and gives us hope that this is a project that many believe in and want to support.

And importantly, to the Lemmy.zip users - I know I always say this, but you make this whole site worthwhile. And I really mean it. Even if you are a lurker, just being a part of this actually means so much to us.

Happy Birthday Lemmy.zip 🍻