Tl;dr
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Signing up- "Basic version"- you're given a server automatically (so the user isn't scared off by perceived complexities of the federated model)
- "Advanced version" - as normal, you choose a server. -
Normal use - everything defaults to "All" (for posting, viewing your page)
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**Links to communities ** on other servers for the basic mode are simplified
I spent a bit of time while signing up trying to decide which server to sign up to and whether it matters. I would say that this would be a barrier for many average Reddit users. Let's make it as seamless as possible-- No need to choose a server.
Your front page has a "local" and "all" view. I don't know the benefits of only browsing on local (faster? Less resources? Better if most of your communities are hosted on your local server?), However as many of my comms are global, I can't see why I'd ever not use All. Let's simplify it for the average user and not have the option for Local.
I've had a few instances where someone gives a link for a community and its not given in the right format so I can't sign up to it (?it's a server specific link - I still don't know). This would be frustrating to the average user and another barrier. Let's simplify these links and make them universal.
The "federated model" has clear benefits, however the additional learning curve will scare off the average Reddit user who is not tech literate. The changes above may be controversial and may Increase resource use on the platform or may be impossible, but I would say they would make Lemmy easier to allow new users to sign up and stay on the platform.
EDIT: I asked a few AI bots for their recommendations, and Claude-v1 had the best:
- Provide curated lists of recommended public instances. Lemmy could maintain an official list of featured instances that meet certain standards of moderation, activity, topics, etc. This makes it easier for users to find good communities to join without having to research instances themselves.
2.Create categories and tags for instances to aid discovery. Instances could self-categorize based on topics, languages, moderation policies, and other attributes. Users could then filter and search for instances that match their interests. This helps address the issue of needing to choose a server.
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Develop "instance spotlight" posts or videos. The Lemmy team could work with instance administrators to create blog posts, videos, and other media highlighting specific instances, their communities, moderation, and cultures. This raises visibility and drives more informed choice.
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Implement an instance recommendation system. Based on a user's interests and the instances they join, Lemmy could recommend other instances that may be of interest. This makes it easy to discover more communities without needing to search manually.
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Create a "new user onboarding" process with instance suggestions. When a user first signs up for Lemmy, they could go through an onboarding flow that asks about their interests and then provides some initial instance recommendations to join based on their preferences. This helps new users get started easily.
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Allow users to follow tags, topics, or keywords instead of just users and instances. Users could then see posts from across the network related to things they care about, even if the posts are on different instances. This provides more centralization and cohesion without sacrificing server autonomy.
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Increase interoperability between instances. Making it even easier for users to follow users/posts, see profiles, share posts, and otherwise interact with different instances could help Lemmy feel more cohesive while still being decentralized. Increased interconnectivity leads to a better overall experience.
I can see how your basic option would be a good way of easily balancing the load of new users across the federation by assigning them according to the current capacity of each server.
However, I think it is important that you as a user choose an instance you are able to align with. Best example: If you're not into it, you will have a pretty rough time on lemmygrad.ml.
random default instances would probably need to follow some neutrality and diversity principle.
also it should be easy to clone your account and preferences (even comment history) to another instance.
Is there any way to clone account/community data from one instance to another now? Maybe Iโm a little confused on how this works but what if an instance decides to shutdown? Are all of the posts/communities/users on it just gone forever?
Not sure, I would assume everything is just gone. Would be nice if powerusers could sometimes mark comments and posts as significant and some archive project agreed to fetch and store those at least (highly upvoted explanations, jokes, memes). Or I guess a couple of instances that only allow "best of" reposts from other instances would also work.
It could work like a whitelist, where instance admins submit their instance, on the condition that their instances accept everyone and aren't politically oriented / being neutral.
I think this would work even better if account migration is ever added later down the line; if you find out that you like a certain instance better or if you want to access an instance that your current instance blocks, you can just migrate your account over there
The lack of account migration is a major gap right now, and it should be prioritized higher
It's baffling how having a home instance makes you subject to the whims of the instance admins ref. banning your user across the lemmyverse or deciding what you will and won't see by their Federation choices. It's like, I despised Reddit for its blanket censorship and statistical-minority rule, and Lemmy has chosen to kind of replicate that?
I'd much rather my user profile and preferences, feed settings just be a lightweight, mobile or transient thing that can be moved around as the nature of each instance changes, with admins just housing an agreed number of users as part of the "cost" of being a Lemmy instance, and not having any pastoral role in their governance.