A geologist and archaeologist by training, a nerd by inclination - books, films, fossils, comics, rocks, games, folklore, and, generally, the rum and uncanny… Let’s have it!
Elsewhere:
I’ve said it before but join-fediverse needs to ask a few simple questions to walk new users through a decision tree that offers them a couple of instances at the end of the process:
This is just what I’d do if someone asked.me about joining the Fediverse and should help minimise decision paralysis.
That’s my take on it too.
Late Web 1.0/early Web 2.0 we had a diverse ecosystem of forums, wikis, blogs (micro and macro), etc. The next logically step would have been to invent a protocol to get them talking to each other. Instead, the Big Web offered everyone convenience as long as they were happy living inside their walled garden, which was fine until it wasn’t.
We’re now just trying to fix the mistake of trusting the Big Web and get back to where we were before it all went wrong.
See also: !webrevival@lemm.ee.
Yeah, I’ve spoken to a few people on Reddit who have got themselves bogged down doing background reading where they just need to make the jump and learn as they go. Which is what most of us did.
You don’t have to start big. Come up with a simple idea, figure out how you can make it in an accessible language (like Python or PHP), grab some tutorials and get cracking.
And thank you for being so supportive in their endeavours to make the Small Web kinder. 👍👍
Default instances would go a long way, I know there’s a lot of hate for lemmy.world but defaulting to the biggest instance or a random one in the top 10 would help ease some of the early friction.
I’d rather join-lemmy (and join-fediverse) were smarter.
Have a series of questions (for join-fediverse add “what service do you want?”):
Where are you?
What languages do you speak?
Select your hobbies from the list below:
And it then spits out 2 or 3 instances.
It’s what I’d do if someone asked me directly for a recommendation and should be relatively easy to do.
As we say with someone posting a link to db0 on r/piracy, if you just say to people “this is the instance for you” and it seems relevant then they make the jump. I’m tempted to go to the main subs for Canada, Australia, the UK, etc and just post a link to the relevant instance.
It’s something I’ve raised with the other Admins and we may see if our users would be up for swapping the default frontend to one of the others.
I know I favour this, but I may be biased.
My main tip for picking an instance is go for a region or topic specific instance so your local feed is manageable and relevant.
Run by us, for us.
There has definitely been an uptick in sign-ups - first around the Inauguration (despite being a UK instance) and then with Reddit’s pornmaggedon. In between it didn’t drop back down to the old rate in between. db0 have seen a.massive spike recently too.
A lot of people are.
Creedy Defence Force, prowling the zombie filled streets living on the edge. Good times.
Would it be more or less if Adam wasn’t eating your ass?
I don’t think this can be used for monetisation, I am not sure the instance gets a cut of any sales, they are just connecting users.
That is an issue the Fediverse, with its anticapitalist stance, has yet to full address but Ghost is addressing how to monetise content in a Substack way and that subscription model is probably one that would be more acceptable on the Fediverse.
Great idea. I just wonder how Flohmarkt is read by non-Germans.
Those non-Germans using Huawei/Xiaomi phones or buying from Shein? I reckon they’d not bat an eyelid, especially for English-speakers when you explain it means “flea market”. With Shein if anyone even bothers asking about the name, all they want to know is how to pronounce it (“she in”, not “shine” or “sheen”) and what it means (“it’s complicated”, “OK, never mind then”).
Bit of a chicken and egg situation there.
I suppose we could spin up a UK instance or find someone who would but then you’d need numbers to make it work too. However, if people would be interested in using this then speak up and it’d be easier to asses the need. It could be something regional instances bolt on as an added service.
“Just go to fedi.markets”
I don’t see an issue. With any service on the Internet you direct people to the URL of an instance not the underlying code. If they saw “powered by flohmarkt” and asked what that was, I’d say it was German for “flea market” and I imagine they would be satisfied with that.
You’re very welcome. Have a lovely rest of your day.