Tl;dr
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Signing up- “Basic version”- you’re given a server automatically (so the user isn’t scared off by perceived complexities of the federated model)
- "Advanced version" - as normal, you choose a server. -
Normal use - everything defaults to “All” (for posting, viewing your page)
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**Links to communities ** on other servers for the basic mode are simplified
I spent a bit of time while signing up trying to decide which server to sign up to and whether it matters. I would say that this would be a barrier for many average Reddit users. Let’s make it as seamless as possible-- No need to choose a server.
Your front page has a “local” and “all” view. I don’t know the benefits of only browsing on local (faster? Less resources? Better if most of your communities are hosted on your local server?), However as many of my comms are global, I can’t see why I’d ever not use All. Let’s simplify it for the average user and not have the option for Local.
I’ve had a few instances where someone gives a link for a community and its not given in the right format so I can’t sign up to it (?it’s a server specific link - I still don’t know). This would be frustrating to the average user and another barrier. Let’s simplify these links and make them universal.
The “federated model” has clear benefits, however the additional learning curve will scare off the average Reddit user who is not tech literate. The changes above may be controversial and may Increase resource use on the platform or may be impossible, but I would say they would make Lemmy easier to allow new users to sign up and stay on the platform.
EDIT: I asked a few AI bots for their recommendations, and Claude-v1 had the best:
- Provide curated lists of recommended public instances. Lemmy could maintain an official list of featured instances that meet certain standards of moderation, activity, topics, etc. This makes it easier for users to find good communities to join without having to research instances themselves.
2.Create categories and tags for instances to aid discovery. Instances could self-categorize based on topics, languages, moderation policies, and other attributes. Users could then filter and search for instances that match their interests. This helps address the issue of needing to choose a server.
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Develop “instance spotlight” posts or videos. The Lemmy team could work with instance administrators to create blog posts, videos, and other media highlighting specific instances, their communities, moderation, and cultures. This raises visibility and drives more informed choice.
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Implement an instance recommendation system. Based on a user’s interests and the instances they join, Lemmy could recommend other instances that may be of interest. This makes it easy to discover more communities without needing to search manually.
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Create a “new user onboarding” process with instance suggestions. When a user first signs up for Lemmy, they could go through an onboarding flow that asks about their interests and then provides some initial instance recommendations to join based on their preferences. This helps new users get started easily.
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Allow users to follow tags, topics, or keywords instead of just users and instances. Users could then see posts from across the network related to things they care about, even if the posts are on different instances. This provides more centralization and cohesion without sacrificing server autonomy.
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Increase interoperability between instances. Making it even easier for users to follow users/posts, see profiles, share posts, and otherwise interact with different instances could help Lemmy feel more cohesive while still being decentralized. Increased interconnectivity leads to a better overall experience.
I don’t think it’s a great idea to assign someone to a random server.
It’s just really hard to make something so centralized for something that’s meant to be the opposite.
What is the problem with having a centralized sign-up solution? Just consider it an extra service.
Isn’t the whole point of the federation exercise to avoid a central all powerful hub?
Yes, it definitely increases friction for the user. On the other hand the concept is not THAT hard to grasp. I’d rather that the clients make account/instance switching easier and avoid recreating monolithic structures.
I partly agree. The point is to avoid centralization, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have any centralization. Besides, it isn’t possible to avoid this. Such a service would live outside of the federated network and would simply submit user admissions, or redirect potential new users.
Random assignments would “ensure” not a single instance gets all newcomers. They would be spread across instances.
I also did not understand what you mean with “a view instance”, can you please explain? New to lemmy.
Why, and how? I thought we have federation so we don’t have to do that. My interests will be all over the place. If I had to side with one specific instance, I would probably rather leave lemmy altogether. It is already small as a whole, a single instance does not suffice. I’m here because I was promised I would not have to do anything on my home instance apart from being registered to it.
Doesn’t your second point contradict the statement that it doesn’t matter where you sign up?
Maybe when someone signs up they choose a few interests and then the system chooses an appropriate server (or you choose yourself).
That fixes problem 2, but not problem 1.
I meant if server choice should be based on the servers that may have the most communities that match your interests, then the system choosing your server on signup according to your interests means you don’t have to choose a server.
It would be unlikely that all the communities that a user wants to become a member on are on one server, so point 2 would still stand (ie. you would want to see all of your communities on all servers, not just on your local server).