This is necessary now that Reddit is astroturfed to high heaven. One benefit of this being a small community is we haven’t caught the attention of the SEO whores and product shills.

[–] MaximilianKohler 6 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I agree about reddit, but unfortunately, I don't think lemmy is free from astroturfing. Myself and others have noticed that there are many users on lemmy who seem to be purposefully antagonistic towards other lemmy users. The possible reason may be to drive people away from lemmy and hinder its growth.

I've experienced pro-reddit astroturfing on lemmy. I posted this criticism of reddit on the [email protected] comm, and it was heavily astroturfed and then deleted by the mod for a bogus reason.

A year later, someone used that post to attack me while insinuating purely from the title that I was at fault because the reddit admins would never do something like that (despite all the public information to the contrary).

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I’ve experienced pro-reddit astroturfing on lemmy. I posted this criticism of reddit on the [email protected] comm, and it was heavily astroturfed and then deleted by the mod for a bogus reason.

I think I remember this.

Federated alternatives like Lemmy: I grew up on the internet and am far more tech/internet savvy than the average person, and I find federated options confusing and complicated. I also read that they're very complex and not scalable on the technical end as well. They don't seem like a viable option that can gain major traction. I'll keep watching though, maybe I'll be wrong.

I really dislike the bloated UI they're all using, but it looks like there are solutions on the way.

I'm wondering, is this still your opinion?

[–] MaximilianKohler 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I really dislike the bloated UI they’re all using, but it looks like there are solutions on the way.

I’m wondering, is this still your opinion?

I've gotten used to it and I like that many instances default to a dark mode. I used to use the old.instance UI, but I think I ran into problems with it and ended up just using the standard Lemmy UI.

Regarding lemmy being complicated, I've mostly learned how it works and I definitely think it's the #1 reddit-alternative at the moment, and the most promising option for the future as well. Along with independent forums of course.

I also set up a Mastodon account, but unfortunately most people are still using Twitter. I also petitioned the Xenforo developers to join the fediverse, and I like that other forum software like Discourse, etc., are joining the fediverse. I definitely think federation is the future.

I've been thinking about updating that blog post but I'm not sure where to add the updates.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Thank you for the update, glad that you like it better now

I guess at the time the mods removed your blog post by mistake, because they didn't expect personal blogs here.

About the votes, it might have been because of the opinion I quoted above.

[–] MaximilianKohler 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

About the votes, it might have been because of the opinion I quoted above.

Na, I don't think people on lemmy are that averse to criticisms of the UI, features, etc. And by "astroturfed" I don't mean "my thread was downvoted". The thread was flooded with hostile comments making personal attacks, etc., most of which completely ignored the substance of the blog post. Virtually the entire thread was filled with comments along the lines of "How dare you attack reddit, you are [insert random ad hominem]".

All the comments making personal attacks on me were greatly upvoted, and other reasonable and on-topic comments were downvoted. There was a delay before it occurred, and then all the comments were up/downvoted the same amount, and new ones met the same fate, so there was clearly a group of people who were notified about the thread at some point who then continually monitored it and voted on new comments.

I guess at the time the mods removed your blog post by mistake, because they didn’t expect personal blogs here.

I doubt that. But if that's the case, that's horrible moderation that they would allow all the personal, off-topic attacks against me and then "remove the post by mistake because they didn't expect personal blogs". They should have removed most of the comments in that thread and banned the users.

I've had a better experience with the [email protected] community so far. I've seen lots of criticisms of lemmy.ml, and even attempts to [dishonestly] attack the .ml developers. I wonder how much of that is from the same group/type of people who just want to cause problems and make people leave lemmy. I wonder if the reason I experienced it less on the lemmy.ml comm is because those users are banned there, and that's why they're spreading FUD about lemmy.ml.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

All the comments making personal attacks on me were greatly upvoted, and other reasonable and on-topic comments were downvoted. There was a delay before it occurred, and then all the comments were up/downvoted the same amount, and new ones met the same fate, so there was clearly a group of people who were notified about the thread at some point who then continually monitored it and voted on new comments.

Interesting

I’ve seen lots of criticisms of lemmy.ml, and even attempts to [dishonestly] attack the .ml developers.

Well, they are known for their agressive moderation methods: https://lemmy.world/post/16211417

[–] MaximilianKohler 1 points 1 month ago

I’m wondering, is this still your opinion?

I’ve been thinking about updating that blog post but I’m not sure where to add the updates.

I just added a bunch of updates and info at the bottom to help people who are new to the fediverse. Thanks for the nudge.

[–] Lost_My_Mind 0 points 2 months ago

there are many users on lemmy who seem to be purposefully antagonistic towards other lemmy users.

Nuh-uh! Shut up stupid!

/joking.

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

That's kind of why I think there would need to be certain rules like 'no sponsored content'

I'd like it to be for products that people like, but maybe just need some help being improved (or just having fun speculating about how it could be better maybe).