cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19004972

Let’s be honest, the real reason Lemmy build most of its traffic is because of Reddit users. But the thing is, outside of the mass exodus in the west that too from the PC era… people discover and join Reddit not because it’s another social media like Facebook or Twitter that people need to reserve their usernames on like a brand or celebrity but because Google Search is kinda… actually absolute trash by SEO and machine learning crawlers.

Most of the world (I am from India btw, hello~) join or even discover reddit because they’re trying to search for actual solutions, recommendations, advice or even reviews by actual experienced people without having to go through another YouTuber which can stem from troubleshooting a router, finding an actual FOSS option or seeking immediate solutions to the recent CrowdStrike fiasco for example. After having to visit reddit every time whenever using a search engine including for education to career advice, I ended up directly signing up with reddit a decade ago.

Recently, Reddit even restricted its search results to Google only in a business partnership meaning those using Bing, DuckDuckGo to Ecosia or even SearchGPT wouldn’t be able to access Reddit answers anymore. Say, if someone searches for how to block ads on chrome as example - Solutions like uBlock Origin come into existence and continue to exist because of the combined community in Reddit that Lemmy is trying to preserve.

Unlike others, am not saying Lemmy would be dead but it would be pretty much like Discord-Telegram or Tumblr instead of wiping Reddit or correcting Facebook. Reddit is not something you discover from word-of-mouth or join from peer pressure unlike other social media which is even truer for Lemmy but because it actually helps and is useful to people.

Lemmy can’t be taking the path of 𝕏 (Alone Mask’s Twitter) but any of the good platforms were before the Enshittification with Facebook’s way~

  • Cloudless ☼English
    4•3 months ago

    You are right. I made a post about why I liked my iPhone in the Apple Enthusiasts community, and some Lemmy users were furious.

    • LvxferreEnglish
      4•3 months ago

      I’ve seen your post. Ouch - you stumbled upon some nasty circlejerking there. On multiple levels.

      Plenty people here expect you to treat their “vision” as above everything else. Including your agency (“free will”), issues that you might want to solve, etc. That makes them unable to tell the difference between “criticising Apple” (a fair thing to do) versus “treating someone who bought an iPhone as an emissary of Satan” (what they’re doing against you).

      To make things worse plenty muppets there are putting words in your mouth, regarding Samsung vs. Apple.

      If it’s any consolation, it isn’t just Lemmy. The whole internet of the 20s feels like this nowadays.

      TL;DR: I know that feel, bro.

      • Cloudless ☼English
        4•3 months ago

        No. My post got 40% down votes. One particular user insisted that I was using Samsung flaws as an excuse to like the iPhone. That I should admit that I just wanted an iPhone and my criticism towards Android were invalid.

        I felt like talking to cultists. But I don’t think mods needed to involve. Lemmy is what it is.

        • Blaze (he/him)English
          4•3 months ago

          Sad to hear.

          But I don’t think mods needed to involve.

          I think they should to an extend, especially if the topic is Apple, being Apple to like Apple products seems like an evidence.

          • threelonmusketeersEnglish
            2•3 months ago

            I sometimes wish voting (or downvoting) could be limited to subscribers the subscribers of a community. Do you think this could help reduce cases like this?