this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2023
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Lemmy's biggest competitor at this point isn't reddit, it's Discord, or rather, the monster it has become. It seems to me that instead of creating a subreddit nowadays, every project now wants to use a Discord server for everything.
The problem with that is:
So why do people insist on using Discord servers to build their community? Simple, it's the network effect. If somebody wants tech support, it's way easier to click a Discord invite on an account for group chat you already have than it is to sign up for yet another forum that you only use once. But Lemmy doesn't suffer from that problem of traditional forums because of federation.
Which brings me to my point, if Lemmy is to grow, it's better to sell Lemmy to disgruntled Discord admins and forum owners to move their community than it is to get people to move off reddit at this point, since people who wants to leave reddit has all done so at this point.
Discord sucks, but I've actually had a 100% successful help rate on it vs Reddit or Lemmy.
Typically Discord servers have specific tech support rooms, and you'll get help pretty quickly. Only once I have had to ask my question a second time, because it was missed the first time.
Meanwhile Reddit threads just get downvoted, buried, and you're never helped. Even when I try to search for threads that other people have posted, 90% of threads are just blank.
Lemmy is the worst. Doesn't matter what you need, they'll just call you stupid and tell you to use Linux and FOSS alternative, ignoring the fact you NEED to use what you're asking help with.
A forum should work in tandem with a chatroom in an "ideal" online community, imo. Searchable Q&A with a communication for additional, nuanced interaction. They serve different purposes and can be more powerful when used together, than they could be on their own.
Lemmy does seem to have a bunch of old, crotchety internet nerds on here that like the "old ways" of the webs. But just tell 'em to "go fuck yourself", if they're being a dick; and than don't reply to them again. It's very freeing. They're just butt sensitive about linux and foss, cause they were bullied on early internet forums and now act the same way, when expressing their loud-ass opinions. It's like an unfortunate cycle of abuse that has existed on forums, but don't let it discourage you from asking anyway... the question might help others
I'm a crotchety old internet nerd... tell me to "go fuck myself", just for funsies! It's empowering!
And also... fuck you buddy, get good!
I feel like Discord fills a different need than forum type systems.
The one API I have on discord, likes Discord as a place for casual chat about the system. I think the devs prefer it because it is an active place for the community; to word it better, 'hey look at this cool thing I did' > response within a few minutes 'that's cool' heart^5 fire^3 thumbs up^7. Whereas on a forum you'd be waiting for hours, or just not have that casual of a conversation.
It replaces the old usage of IRC servers.
The help channel is highly responsive, and great for things you want a quick chat about, need a response now, or if you get help now great, but if not, you'll figure it out on your own before you would ever get help on a forum, so it's not worth posting to a forum.
Threads really do help organize when a discussion is going to be large, and discord is very much searchable, just not from your browser search engine.
For changes to the API, ideas, issues, or bugs, they direct you to github "Discussions" or "Issues". They do have an idea discord channel, but it's a more casual thing, or far out there discussions.
Discord does get a lot of hate for it's searchability, which is valid, but I don't have a problem with it as long as places like Stack Overflow (or what replaces it) are still around.
Maybe you just identified the need for an activity pub fediverse project specific to dev support/communities for tech projects.
Discord is the same problem for the internet as the Facebook grups were. Its hermetic, the info stays there, its hard to search thus the same problem is being asked over and over. StackOverflow and Reddit strength is that's they are indexed and easy accessed
Discord is really bad for preservation of information. I can still find forum posts from 10 years ago on a given topic all over, but discord links seem to expire and break all the damn time and it's hard to search through. It sucks that discord has become the defacto choice for user community space.
Lenny does part of this yes. Fediverse is the bigger ticket item. From a single account I can federate to different networks and post questions or have other interactions in different formats.