On the join lemmy page, we can see this description for lemmy:
Lemmy is similar to sites like Reddit, Lobste.rs, or Hacker News: you subscribe to communities you’re interested in, post links and discussions, then vote and comment on them. Lemmy isn’t just a reddit alternative; its a network of interconnected communities ran by different people and organizations, all combining to create a single, personalized front page of your favorite news, articles, and memes.
I think we shouldn’t compare lemmy to other services like hacker news, reddit and lobste.rs. By comparing ourselves to them, we will always be in their shadows instead of creating our own vision.
We should create our own unique vision.
We can do this simply by removing these references:
Lemmy is a network of interconnected communities ran by different people and organizations, all combining to create a single, personalized front page of your favorite news, articles, and memes. You subscribe to communities you’re interested in, post links and discussions, then vote and comment on them
Its really helpful for non-tech people stumbling onto alternatives to say what they’re alternatives to. People don’t know what a link aggregator is, nor do they know what a microblogging framework is. But you can say reddit or twitter and they’ll understand immediately.
This is why mastodon references twitter and facebook on joinmastodon, and we reference reddit and lobsters.
I think it’s important in the beginning, as most people who stumble across will be looking for reddit alternatives anyway, and it provides an easy way to understand what it is. It can change later.
Alternatively, you could generalize it by saying “Lemmy is similar to (discussion-based) social media sites”
I like the way it is better, like @dessalines@lemmy.ml said it’s easier to understand for non-tech people.
