One of the advantages of a decentralized platform like Lemmy is the ability to create parallel communities on the same topic. "You don't like how a community is being moderated? Go to another instance and start a new community!" (with or without blackjack and hookers)

However, I think this is also a double-edged sword. The creation of multiple communities on the same (or similar) topics can also fragment the userbase, leading to very sparsely populated communities.

Example: I am open to being wrong, but I don't currently see a need for five distinct Harry Potter sublemmies with (nearly) identical names:

• !harrypotter@lemmy.world
• !harrypotter@literature.cafe
• !harrypotter@lemm.ee
• !harrypotter@feddit.nl
• !harry_potter@diagonlemmy.social

There are also some other miscellaneous HP related communities:

• !hpfanfiction@lemmy.world
• !harry_potter_fanfic@diagonlemmy.social
• !harry_potter_memes@diagonlemmy.social
• !leaky_cauldron@diagonlemmy.social
• !dramione@lemmy.world (ew, but you do you, I suppose)
• !hp_magicawakened@lemm.ee
• !harry_potter_languages@lemmy.world
• !hufflepuff@lemmy.world
• !slytherin@lemmy.world
• !slytherin@sopuli.xyz
• !slytherin@lemmy.ml

I suspect that many of these were created during the 2023 Rexxit, when instances were less stable, and there was a temporary period of massive growth.

Now that Lemmy is more stable, would the moderators of the above communities consider some form of cooperative consolidation? If not, what distinct purpose do the separate communities serve?

A couple arguments in favour of consolidation: (credits to @Ashyr@sh.itjust.works and @otter@lemmy.ca)

https://sh.itjust.works/comment/11171955

I think until there’s some tool or system that helps collate all the information out here, fragmentation is detrimental to growth.

I’m not going to copy and paste the same comment with every mirrored post.

So sometimes commenting feels like a waste of time.

Centralizing helps ensure that there’s vibrant, consistent discussion which is what Lemmy should be about.

https://sh.itjust.works/post/18388026

I like this because people showing up to those communities might think that topic doesn’t have activity on Lemmy, when it actually does.

I sometimes think that unmoderated communities should be closed, and just be left and locked with a pointer to the active one. In case an issue arises with the active one, they can still be unlocked and used as back up.

The next question is, of course "Which instance should we consolidate to?"

• !harrypotter@lemmy.world is currently the largest sub, but also the largest instance, and moving off of the largest instance would be good for the Fediverse as a whole.
• !harrypotter@literature.cafe seems appropriate, given that Harry Potter is, well, a book. Large sub on a small instance.
• !harrypotter@lemm.ee is a small sub on a large instance.
• !harrypotter@feddit.nl is very small, but European. (Might feddit.uk be an option?)
• !harry_potter@diagonlemmy.social is also an option, but risky given the fragility of the instance. Could blue_berry provide some assurances that the instance will be stable for the foreseeable future, and perhaps improve the bus factor of the instance?

My hunch is that a stable, medium-sized instance would be best. What are your thoughts? Is consolidation worth a try?

If nothing else, the experiment could serve as a test for whether or not consolidation is effective in boosting engagement and discussion.

Active User Growth

!textsfromsolarpunk@slrpnk.net, textsfromsolarpunk, up 39.4% to 1899, (18 posts)
!latex@programming.dev, LaTeX, up 25.8% to 58, (6 posts)
!meow_irl@sopuli.xyz, MEOW_IRL, up 22.4% to 1935, (287 posts)
!gardening@midwest.social, Gardening, up 18.6% to 103, (26 posts)
!beyond@lemm.ee, Beyond app, up 18.3% to 34, (10 posts)
!mushroomgrowers@lemmy.ca, A place to call home for folks who grow mushrooms!, up 14.4% to 21, (11 posts)
!ubuntu@lemmy.ml, Ubuntu (Linux), up 14.3% to 30, (56 posts)
!niedersachsen@feddit.de, Niedersachsen, up 14.2% to 26, (7 posts)
!imaginarydragons@leminal.space, Imaginary Dragons, up 14.2% to 74, (34 posts)
!cptsd@lemmy.ml, CPTSD, up 14.2% to 19, (31 posts)
!clevercomebacks@feddit.uk, Clever Comebacks, up 14.2% to 349, (27 posts)
!cleveland@midwest.social, Cleveland, up 14.2% to 48, (82 posts)
!atlanta@lemmy.ml, Atlanta, GA, up 14.2% to 35, (5 posts)
!punk_rock@lemmy.ca, Punk Rock, up 13.5% to 86, (272 posts)
!learnchinese@lemmygrad.ml, Learn the Chinese language, up 13.5% to 52, (39 posts)
!piracy@lemmy.ml, Piracy, up 13.2% to 709, (466 posts)
!lunar_punk@slrpnk.net, Lunarpunk, up 13.2% to 257, (21 posts)
!badmovies@lemmy.world, Bad Movies, up 10.0% to 21, (42 posts)
!ttrpg_dice@ttrpg.network, Gaming Dice, up 9.1% to 66, (20 posts)
!alwaysthesamemap@lemmygrad.ml, Always the Same Map, up 8.6% to 48, (90 posts)
!softwaregore@lemmy.world, Software Gore, up 8.3% to 198, (166 posts)
!adventuregames@lemm.ee, Adventure / Point-and-Click / Narrative Games, up 8.2% to 101, (39 posts)
!letstalkaboutgames@feddit.uk, Let's Talk About Games, up 7.7% to 305, (18 posts)
!wissenschaft@feddit.de, Wissenschaft, up 7.3% to 121, (163 posts)
!liverpool@feddit.uk, Liverpool, up 7.1% to 12, (26 posts)
!paleofauna@lemmygrad.ml, Paleofauna, up 7.0% to 20, (49 posts)
!indiana@midwest.social, Indiana, up 6.8% to 585, (59 posts)
!monkeyuser@programming.dev, MonkeyUser, up 5.7% to 1032, (26 posts)
!suomi@lemmygrad.ml, Suomi / Finland, up 4.7% to 10, (4 posts)
!mlemapp@lemmy.ml, Mlem for Lemmy, up 4.1% to 371, (296 posts)
!learnjapanese@lemmy.ml, Learn Japanese, up 4.0% to 46, (15 posts)
!homevideo@feddit.uk, Home Video (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, 4k), up 3.8% to 340, (199 posts)
!unpopularopinion@lemmy.world, Unpopular Opinion, up 3.3% to 1025, (228 posts)
!reddit@lemmy.world, Reddit, up 3.3% to 339, (506 posts)
!deus_ex@lemmy.ml, Deus Ex, up 3.0% to 822, (37 posts)
!thefifthworld@lemm.ee, The fifth world., up 2.8% to 15, (21 posts)
!neurodiversity@lemmygrad.ml, Neurodiversity, up 2.5% to 14, (25 posts)
!music@lemmy.ml, Music, up 2.4% to 215, (1203 posts)
!plan9@lemmy.sdf.org, Plan9, up 2.2% to 12, (11 posts)
!meta@lemmygrad.ml, meta, up 2.1% to 30, (49 posts)
!melbournetrains@aussie.zone, Melbourne Trains, up 2.0% to 112, (95 posts)
!tucsonpolitics@tucson.social, Tucson Politics, up 1.6% to 276, (906 posts)
!diy@beehaw.org, Do It Yourself, up 1.5% to 22, (129 posts)
!balconygardening@slrpnk.net, Balcony Gardening, up 1.5% to 84, (25 posts)

Subscriber Growth

!nova@dmv.social, NoVA / Northern Virginia, up 0.2% to 441, (121 posts, 2 recent)

!learningrustandlemmy@lemmy.ml, Learning Rust and Lemmy, up 30.1% to 195, (18 posts, 10 recent)
!trans@lemmy.blahaj.zone, Trans, up 25.6% to 124, (34 posts, 31 recent)
!actual_discussion@lemmy.ca, Actual Discussion, up 1.2% to 104, (12 posts, 8 recent)
!grasweeti@slrpnk.net, Sweet Graffiti and other acts of wholesome vandalism, up 0.8% to 82, (24 posts, 4 recent)
!independentfilms@feddit.de, Independent Movies, Series and Documentaries, up 0.7% to 26, (9 posts, 3 recent)
!trams_trolleys_streetcars@lemmy.blahaj.zone, Trams, Trolleys and Streetcars, up 0.4% to 23, (8 posts, 3 recent)
!tenforward@lemmy.world, TenForward: Where Every Vulcan Knows Your Name, up 0.4% to 1692, (565 posts, 106 recent)
!internetofshit@suppo.fi, Internet of Shit, up 0.4% to 143, (6 posts, 2 recent)
!hellointernet@feddit.uk, Hello Internet, up 0.3% to 43, (13 posts, 4 recent)
!weirdnews@real.lemmy.fan, Weird News - Things that make you go 'hmmm', up 0.2% to 103, (37 posts, 17 recent)
!askmenover30@lemm.ee, askmenover30, up 0.2% to 287, (18 posts, 8 recent)
!harrypotter@literature.cafe, Harry Potter, up 0.1% to 145, (35 posts, 5 recent)

(Results are averaged over the past 7 days)

He was abducted by Hagrid when he turned 11 so that would place him maybe around the fifth or sixth grade.

I don't know if canonically there are math classes at Hogwarts.

The thought came to while I was watching the anime Mashle. If you are into Harry Potter and One-Punch Man I'd recommend giving it a watch.

Someone mentioned this community below; I wanted to highlight it.

Small promotion for !harrypotter@literature.cafe

!harrypotter@literature.cafe

As winter calls for magic and castles, I'm trying to revive this community. For Kbin: !harrypotter@literature.cafe

Edit: I can't get the Kbin link to work, if someone can help me that would be great!

If you are on another instance it is highly recommended that you browse this post on literature.cafe instead of your home instance to ensure you are seeing the most up to date version.

Below is a current list of known communities on literature.cafe, organized by category. This list was last updated on: August 12, 2023

General Book Focused Communities

!fiction@literature.cafe - The discussion of fiction books!

!nonfiction@literature.cafe - For discussion of all nonfiction books!

!classics@literature.cafe - For discussion of all classic books!

!tefn@literature.cafe - A community to discuss Eastern Fantasy Novels and Light Novels.

!audiobooks@literature.cafe - For talk of all things audiobook related!

!libraries@literature.cafe - For talk of all things related to libraries!

!bannedbooks@literature.cafe - Community dedicated to discussion of banned and challenged books.

Writing Focused Communities

!fanfiction@literature.cafe - For discussion of fanfiction

!writers_lounge@literature.cafe - A casual space for writers to talk, post, or discuss anything.

!writingprompts@literature.cafe - Writing prompts, duh!

Fandom Based

!harrypotter@literature.cafe - For Harry Potter fans

Instance Specific

!meta@literature.cafe - Literature.cafe’s meta community for announcements, requests, bug reports. etc etc.

!chat@literature.cafe - Local off topic chat for literature.cafe, any and all are welcome. For discussions of books and beyond.

Shopping

!ebookdeals@literature.cafe - For sharing deals on ebooks

I'll probably categorize this more as I need to, for local users that you want any new community listed that you don't see already just message me with a link to your new community announcement post and I'll add it above.