this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2023
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Relaxed section for discussion and debate that doesn't fit anywhere else. Whether it's advice, how your week is going, a link that's at the back of your mind, or something like that, it can likely go here.

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I like that this is a general instance. (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago by SkepticElliptic@beehaw.org to c/chat@beehaw.org
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see a lot of discussion about adding more specific communities on this instance and I feel as if it will dilute the community too much.

I personally see Lemmy instances as somewhat similar to old forums, many of those did so well because the community came together under a shared experience.

Lemmy is decentralized after all and instances based around interests will get created and discussion will get focused on certain instances for certain topics. Those instances will be moderated by the people who have passion and understanding for those topics.

Of course the great thing about Lemmy is that we're (mostly) free to visit other instances and if there are redundant communities it is not difficult to participate in them.

I do think it's nice to have a place to call home, a "hive" if you will. Where users can discuss their shared experience on the fediverse.

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[–] realChem@beehaw.org 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

and only split once the userbase of that community has developed enough.

I think that's the key thing. I do quite like the idea of more specific communities (which I've expressed a couple times), but only once there are enough people participating that they won't just sit dormant. Like I agree, tabletop gaming is something I'd very much like to have a dedicated community for, but not right now.

My perspective is that the main value in more niche communities is that they help people find posts related to a specific internet amongst a sea of unrelated posts. E.g. if I want to chat about specifically Citizen Sleeper, but the main gaming is flooded by posts about Elden Ring, other people interested in chatting about Citizen Sleeper might not see my posts.

(On that note... Anyone want to chat about Citizen Sleeper?)

At this point, that's just not an issue Lemmy has. Keeping things more general for now is definitely the right strategy.

And like several people have mentioned, Lemmy is federated! So if someone wants to go ahead and spin out some more niche communities, they are free to do that on their own instance and we'll all still be able to join in!