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I suspect that one of the reasons Lemmy's texts are longer, meatier, and more thoughtful is the age of the users. My gut tells me that we're an older audience that doesn't need to dump the usual social media BS - hasty comments filled with unsubstantiated arguments. Everyone has an opinion and should be heard and respected. As a Reddit refugee, I feel Lemmy provides such space, and that's what I enjoy most. Like many others whose profiles match mine, once you get past the initial confusion (where should I register, what app should I use, where can I comment) and get comfortable with the jargon, you feel more encouraged to participate in discussions. So far, I've been pleased with the civil environment of the discussions, as most users are able to express their thoughts in a relaxed and non-toxic manner. Honestly, I'd encourage anyone who has been just lurking to participate and share their thoughts.
To add to that: I think it's actually worthwhile to write longer texts here compared to reddit because of two reasons: 1) people here want Lemmy to succeed so they put more time and effort in to get things going, and 2) it's more likely for that text to be seen by others because there aren't 2.000 other commenters but maybe 20.
it's more likely for that text to be seen by others because there aren't 2.000 other commenters but maybe 20.
This specific issue is why I pivoted to mostly lurking Reddit – outside of the hobby subs, discussion of any relevance to the content posted is pretty hard to come by (like fucking askreddit??????how is that such a circlejerk of one-liners)
I have to either dig 10+ replies in to a tangentially related top-level comment, or scroll past the shit jokes and hope there's something before hitting downvoted troll bedrock. This could well be a scale issue that we'll see in time, but hopefully enough people can keep setting up and joining instances to mitigate it
True. The sense of anticipation of a new home in which to settle seems genuine. Also, I agree that a smaller group where users actually read the posts and interact with each other validates the purpose of investing the time to share one's views with people who are actually interested.
My only concern is that Google doesn't seem to be indexing lemmy pages. So even if we add content that might be helpful it is not getting any screentime.
To add to that, searching isn't as simple as "best laptops reddit" if the knowledge is spread across the fediverse. That's something I'd be interested to see
That seems like a problem that search providers will have a strong incentive to solve from their end as and when finding those fediverse results becomes essential.
Your second point is exactly why I rarely made much of an effort in the more popular posts. I was a regular commenter with detailed comments on the dog training sub because it was a small group and most comments were top so that folks needing help could find the info. There were rarely comments more than 2 layers deep.
I have been an avid participant in many programming subreddits, and I can confidently say; This place (Lemmy) feels like the beginning of something I can call home as well. I will gladly start supporting fellow programmers with their questions and problems once I feel settled.