Or why Lemmy is too much like hard work
The sole admin of the first instance I joined (which isn’t small) has gone missing. So it’s been defederated by some other instances. Then re-federated by some of them.
So about six weeks ago I made an account with instance two, which seems to be well run BUT updates to the latest version so it doesn’t work with any of the third party apps I use.
Which wouldn’t be an issue except the Lemmy web UI works horribly on mobile. There’s a PWA but that hasn’t been updated and won’t now authenticate.
So I joined a third instance but that seems to have completely disappeared without warning.
I’d join Lemmy.world but it has regular resource issues and downtime. Plus moderation issues.
App 1 hasn’t seen any development for over three months and now barely functions.
App 2 which is apparently the second most popular app now only receives emergency fixes when it won’t work at all
Apps 3 and 4 throw authentication errors on any instance running above 0.18.4 because the developers are re-thinking.
As a user it’s almost enough to send me to Reddit.
Yep, agree with all of the above. On the last point, a big point of the Fediverse is to prevent one platform from locking you in. Totally feel free to take a break, go back to Reddit, or try out something else.
I’m personally using Boost/Connect on mobile, regular UI on web, and lemmy.ca for my instance. I haven’t encountered any disruptions, but I get how it would be frustrating. Lemmy needs more time to mature, and it’s totally fine to come back later, or even join a different Fediverse platform to get the same content (again, later once federation issues are resolved).
For what it’s worth, I still check a select few Subreddits on Reddit (moderation, local communities & niche interests). I don’t post/comment/upvote there, and haven’t felt the need to, but I still read it to pass the time.
I guess most of us do. When I really want to get into a rabbit hole, Reddit content is hard to beat. Hopefully with time Lemmy will become the same, but in the meantime, Reddit is still the one for that specific use case.