With previous Rexit's like the API debarcle etc. many users were left looking for an alternative, but with decision fatigue and bad UX etc. most did not find the Fediverse a viable option.

What needs to still improve, how can we be ready this time?

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[–] Foni@piefed.zip 18 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

I have never understood the importance of choosing an instance, especially at the beginning. Sign up for any one, try it for a while and if you need to change later, you can do so without problems.

On sites like mastodon where followers are essential it can be a problem, in lemmy where karma is not even accumulated, changing servers does not make you lose more than the 5 minutes it takes you to do it

[–] Vittelius@feddit.org 1 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

For new users the local feed is the recommendation algorithm. If you are on a instance that caters to your interests you will discover stuff that interests you there automatically. If you're not, then you might conclude, that Lemmy has nothing for you and bounce off the platform entirely. This is especially true if you are looking for non-English content.

The paradoxical situation with federation and instances is that those least likely to understand it are among the more likely to profit from it if they did.

[–] Foni@piefed.zip 3 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

Why would you use local as a source of recommendation instead of all? I find using the local tab very limiting, it will never be as complete as all my tastes and hobbies

[–] rimu@piefed.social 3 points 5 hours ago

https://piefed.zip/explore

https://piefed.zip/feeds

[–] Skavau@piefed.social 4 points 7 hours ago

Tbf piefed.zip doesn't have much of a local so that makes sense for you, but the user above is on feddit.org, which is a long-running German-language (at least prominent) instance so it does make sense for them in that context if they're German.

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 5 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

It's a bit of a faff to export and import your followed community list

[–] Foni@piefed.zip 3 points 7 hours ago

I have changed instances several times and it seems to me to be the simplest mechanism humanly imaginable.