this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
94 points (100.0% liked)

Reddit

13659 readers
2 users here now

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

For a sub that’s supposed to promote Reddit alternatives, there sure is a lot of pessimism on there. I see so many people dismissing Lemmy and kbin already for being too inaccessible, the UI is clunky, it’s hard to pick up etc and saying these sites will never take off. But why? Of course a platform in its infancy will have hurdles to overcome, and it takes time for devs to implement all the QOL features to make the site more intuitive. And when I see people trying to explain how Lemmy works, people just respond “Too complicated, I’m not reading all that etc.”

Do people expect a fully functional Reddit clone with all the same features to conveniently exist somewhere they can hop to? Do people not realise that Reddit itself was just as confusing when users migrated from Digg all those years ago? Do they not realise sites take time to mature?

RedditAlternatives is the only subreddit I still use because I want to help people make the jump, but it’s kinda disheartening seeing the attitudes there. Anyone has a more optimistic take on this?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] thirdorbital 34 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Like a lot of new users I'm only here because Reddit killed the app I used. I don't like the official Reddit app. But if I'm honest, it's still a better experience than Lemmy right now. You can't deny that Lemmy has less content and more warts.

Like any early adopter, I'm here for the potential. For what I hope this can one day become. That's not something a majority of people care about. If/when Lemmy reaches parity for "normal" users, attitudes will change quickly.

[–] Frz 11 points 2 years ago

Yeah, I’m not too concerned with the users who go “Looks interesting but a little too confusing for me right now so I’ll pass.” What bothers me is the ones who outright spread “Lol these alternatives are shit, Lemmy will never take off, too counterintuitive, this site has no future!!!!”. Like chill guys, it takes time. Not your thing yet? Fine. But why be so quick to outright dismiss it?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Like any early adopter, I'm here for the potential.

Bingo. Some of the alternatives are relatively new. Focusing on potential is exactly the right approach. This is not Reddit, nor should it try to be. Focusing on the engagement is refreshing and mobile apps will come and grow eventually. I'll miss Apollo for sure but so far, I'm likely the experience here.

I really respect the admins for keeping things going during the influx.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

I'll be using both, for the time being. But I'm likely to be using reddit less and less. I'm enjoying the engagement with other users on lemmy immensely.