I do have the idea of making an app it makes an account for one instance and uses that "log in with Google/apple id". Then people can learn later that you you can join other instances or log in via web browser.

The server can be simple lemmy or mastodon server and the app can just be variant of Voyager or mastodon app. Someone need to get rid of copyright material then hard code an instance.

I would do it myself but I can't get an AI to code apps

The other option is to have an app that browser based

Here's my approach: over the holidays I suggested lemmy to 3 people I know. I did so by emailing or texting them links to the following piefed feeds of lemmy communities:

• https://piefed.social/f/highsignal
• https://piefed.social/f/highmemecontent

The first is non-political, non-tech, low-meme communities (tho sometimes those topics sneak in.) The second is non-political, non-tech meme/humor communities. One peson said they thought it was neat, the other said they bookmarked it, the third didn't say anything. Dunno if they joined.

I hope Lemmy continues to decline, instead Piefed should reign supreme.

The culture wars have reached the fediverse, and it's making me less happy to be here. I don't want to hang out in places where people use slurs and insults, even if they're not aimed at me. I'm seeing more casual misogyny/misandry, more casual use of the r**** slur, more perfectionist gatekeeping, more assumptions, and just less good-faith comments in general.

I'd advertise, but I'm starting to look for an alternative to lemmy.

I think part of the issue is new users not understanding or feeling comfortable with the fediverse (myself included a while ago). Even after searching for a bit and looking it up I can barely get how it works, but there's really no guide with the common terms anywhere, how to get started, the difference between platforms and what they have in common etc. The benefits are the first thing you hear about, but they seem more like jargon terms than actually anything functional.

Reddit has better accessibility and user retainment, alongside with a library of old posts that are good for searching some niche stuff up.

For example, if I were to get a friend into lemmy, I'm not really sure how I can explain it to them, or where to start other than the copy paste "decentralized" "federated" stuff. It doesn't really answer stuff like who moderates it, develops it, owns it, or what's the difference between lemmy, piefed mbin, how do they interact with each other.
I believe that an introductory "oficial" post on the front of each platform in layman's terms would be great to get new users to stay.

Well, good news - I'm brand new and decided I'm not resubbing to Relay so I'm effectively off Reddit since the official mobile app is garbage.

i remember hearing about when the empire State building was first built, the would light up some of the offices to make it look busy, to attract other people.

Honestly fragmentation is what keeps people that I recommend Lemmy away from it. They are used to the UX/UI doing most of the heavy lifting along with the more politically charged posts being there, my coworker who loves self hosting and tinkering tried to join. But was put off with how much more political things are on Lemmy and some Fediverse instances are and how hostile they can be with certain opinions. But I taught them how to curate their feed for more things tailored to their passions. But they've been on and off since there's multiple versions the same community which feeds into the fragmentation issue. That is just a viewpoint from me, I'm still fairly new to the Fediverse and Lemmy. (Which I love how diverse it is and how passionate people are.)

For me I had so much issue actually making an account, I almost gave up. I think it is cool how Lemmy looks, very simple and very direct, but it does need a bit of more user experience.

Here is my super unpopular take: ultimately you / some / we have misunderstood "quality over quantity".

It doesn't mean "we don't want more users", it means that the best way to attract more users and growth of the platform is to focus on being the best fediverse we can be. Actively trying to attract more users is a foot gun - even in the unlikely event you're successful, you reduce the quality of the experience for everyone.

Focusing instead on the health, vibrance, management, and activity of the platform is the best way to attract more users.

Perhaps another way of saying the same thing: the most fertile market segment are those users who used to be active monthly. They were here trying to participate at some point but lost interest. Why? Pretty solid guess is that they were still logging in to reddit for the special / niche interest subs, and after a few months got sick of checking lemmy.

IMO, dead special interest communities are the cancer consuming the fediverse. Nothing wrong with a small active community, but a small community with a half dozen posts from 3 years ago is a big sign saying "go back to reddit, this place is dead".