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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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[-] not_awake@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

The fact most surprises me is that lemmy became a real alternative to Reddit in a bit more than a month. Idk guys, I just love internet

[-] lnsfw3@lemmynsfw.com 5 points 1 year ago

Keep in mind that Lemmy users think Lemmy is a real alternative.

If someone asked me to choose between the two sites, and there was no baggage, Reddit would win hands down. The Reddit user base is huge, meaning even small towns have active subreddits. Here, not so much.