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On the future of Lemmy vs reddit (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 year ago by fresh@sh.itjust.works to c/fediverse@lemmy.world

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Please indulge a few shower thoughts I had:

I wouldn't worry about Lemmy having as many users as reddit in the short term. Success is not just a measure of userbase. A system just needs a critical mass, a minimum number of users, to be self-perpetuating. For a reddit post that has 10k comments, most normal people only read a few dozen comments anyways. You could have half the comments on that post, and frankly the quality might go up, not down. (That said, there are many communities below that minimum critical mass at the moment.)
Lemmy is now a real alternative. When reddit imploded Lemmy wasn't fully set up to take advantage of the exodus, so a lot of users came over to the fediverse and gave up right away. There were no phone apps, the user interface was rudimentary, and communities weren't yet alive. Next time reddit screws up in a high profile way, and they will screw up, the fediverse will be ready.
Lemmy has way more potential than reddit. Reddit's leadership has always been incompetent and slow at fixing problems. The fediverse has been very responsive to user feedback in comparison.

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[-] TheSpookiestUser@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I agree. Some of the alternatives to Reddit are vehemently against mobile apps (ahem, tildes), so I doubt those will ever take off.

Didn't the RIF dev just release an app for Tildes?

[-] danielton@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Yes, there are apps for Tildes, but there isn't an actual API for developers to use, and the owners of Tildes don't seem to want them around. I've read in multiple places that they believe mobile apps go against everything they stand for.

[-] Boabab@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

the owners of Tildes don’t seem to want them around. I’ve read in multiple places that they believe mobile apps go against everything they stand for.

It might not be intentional, but you're spreading misinformation that could be prevented with a quick search.

The (sole) developerbof Tildes specificlly stated that Tildes will have an API and that they don't want to discourage apps. Their philosophy is just that the official way of visiting Tildes should be the same lightweight website as the desktop. A solution that works on every device. To me, this makes a lot of sense. It fits the philosophy of Tildes, results in less code to maintain and ensures the experience is the same on every device.

Source from the Tildes Documentation:

The site is the main mobile interface, not an app

Tildes is a website. Your phone already has an app for using it—it's your browser.

Tildes will have a full-featured API, so I definitely don't want to discourage mobile apps overall, but the primary interface for using the site on mobile should remain as the website. That means that mobile users will get access to updates at exactly the same time as desktop ones, and full f

[-] danielton@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I stand corrected, but that still doesn't lead me to believe they really want mobile apps to take off on the platform.

[-] ShittyKopper@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 year ago

it's more that they believe the mobile site should work well enough that an app shouldn't be needed. also the one person behind tildes is doing it as a side project next to a full-time job (after experimenting with donations in the early days of the site). the fact that there isn't an api is mainly due to time constraints (and to make sure when there is one it is done properly)