Start telling people now, over on reddit. BEFORE they start cracking down. That way, everyone will know, and the growth will happen even more rapidly.
this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2024
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I straight up don't understand the appeal of a bigger userbase here. More users isn't inherently better, and will definitely introduce more issues and problem users that will tax our still developing and somewhat fragile platform. Wanting that "instantly" is just asking for the collapse of Lemmy, imo.
Lemmy's biggest weakness right now is a slow drip feed of content. After blocking all of the sports communities and instances in languages I don't speak, I'm left with the following:
None of this is bad content per say, but it doesn't capture what I loved about reddit before they ruined it. Reddit was a place where even the most niche of niche topics had a space that you could check in on every day. Obscure anime, unusual collections, diy showcases, you name it. Cultivating a culture that produces produces such specific groups requires enough people to form them. In a group of 100 random people, the number of them who are into Ginga Nagareboshi Gin (look it up) is going to be quite low, but that number increases the more people you include in the sample size and sooner or later you have a subreddit for Ginga fans. That was why Reddit was special to me, and that is what's keeping Lemmy from reaching that high for me.
Sounds like you just want people to provide content for you. Zero-effort entertainment at your convenience, platform be damned.
Considering your have 2 posts to your name, I'd recommend being the change you want to see in the world. If you want a community for your interest, you can't expect it to just appear for you, fully formed. Find the one you're ignoring because it's "too slow" and get involved. The reason it's so "dead" is that most people think like you are.
It's estimated that about 10% of users actually participate in the forums they visit, with 1% of that making the majority of "content". Imagine what it would look like if that changed? We don't need to throw more users into the platform that will tax the system, we just need to stop expecting everyone else to entertain us and start contributing.
That's just wishful thinking that doesn't address the problem at all. Even though you might want the 90-9-1 ratio to change, it isn't. It's an established pattern for a reason. Even if the person you responded to was gonna post a lot, they might get a few upvotes, maybe a comment or two on their posts. Simply because there aren't enough people here to engage with niche topics. And then it feels like your effort is futile (which honestly it is if your goal is an active community), they get discouraged and stop posting and we're back to square one with no meaningful changes. Sometimes it is about numbers and this is one such case.
Nah, it's simply defeatist to assume that ratio is inescapable. On big enough scales? Sure, it'll probably fall around those percentages. But in small communities like we have on Lemmy, there's absolutely no reason only one person in a community of <100 should be expected to provide 100% of the posts or comments. We can and should do better than that, and the best way to turn those 90% lurkers into posters is too encourage engagement and reward it with our own. Will it work for every community on Lemmy? No. But there's no reason not to encourage it. It could only help.