There is a huge emphasis I see on just growing community size and creating an alternative to reddit.

Back in the day we used to hang out in irc chats with 5-10 active users or forums with few thousand users max. I made friends there I visted across countries. Years after Id log in and people would ask how you’ve been.

I had a reddit account for over 10 years and I dont think a single person would recognize my username. Its always felt like people aren’t talking to you but trying to appeal to the whole audience for points. Reddit exploits our psychology for attention but nothing humane is gained there. The super massive “community” ends up as a void where 99% of posts go completely unseen and any discussions suffer heavily from mod mentalities.

If this a place where even just ten people call home but feel good doing so, that is more good than a million being miserable. Maybe the best alternative is not to be reddit altogether.

Besides, good things have a natural tendency to spread, we don’t need to focus on it.

  • dystop@lemmy.worldEnglish
    32·
    2 years ago

    I’m personally looking forward to growth here because I want niche communities to form like they did on reddit. And you can only do that when there’s enough critical mass of users.

    • musicalcactus@midwest.socialEnglish
      4·
      2 years ago

      Yes, very much this. I was able to reach out to a very small community before this blew up and the advice I got there was extremely impactful to a sensitive issue I’m navigating with my family.

      It’s really the thing I’m most upset about losing.

      It’s difficult to find spots to congregate and commiserate online when you or someone you love has an experience only shared with 0.1% of the population.

      1 out of 1,000 and then only if they also want to talk about it.

      If reddit still exists, and if I go back to it at all, that would be the only reason.