Think of them as different email servers. It's all federated and connected. As long as you're looking at the "all" timeline it will show you posts from across every instance. And you can follow communities across instances. For example I'm on a different instance than you but I can see your post and comment on it. Just start subscribing to some. check out the list below for a couple migrated subreddits.

https://www.quippd.com/writing/2023/06/15/unofficial-subreddit-migration-list-lemmy-kbin-etc.html

The comparisons to email are a good analogy. Your email is hosted on a service (e.g. @gmail.com or @hotmail.com) each has its own rules and setup. They also run independently. However, you can happily email someone at a different host. The hosts sort it out in the background. It's completely transparent.

With Lemmy, the instances are the equivalent of email hosts. You might use your work email service, or use a free one, or even pay to host your own. They will all play happily.

De-federation even has a good comparison. If an email server is sending masses of spam emails, the other hosts can decide to not accept emails from them. They get cut off. The decision is made on a host by host basis however. This contains power tripping to individual instances.

From a user's point of view, there are 2 main things to note. Local and All. Local only shows you posts on the instance you are logged into. This can be useful, of the instance is specialized, and you want to focus on that specialty, but not be limited to just 1 channel. This could be something like programming.dev, furries, or a NSFW instance.

All does what it says. It shows all posts on both the instance you are logged onto, and any your instance is federated with (basically everyone, other than those your admin has blocked).

As for which instance to choose? 3 main things matter, Focus, Ideology, and Stability. Focus is for if you have a specific interest. You are aren't limited to it, but a programmer basing themselves in a programming instance makes local channels more useful. Ditto for someone posting NSFW content.

Ideology is related, but slightly different. Different instances have different mentalities. E.g. Lemmy.world is the "default" while beehaw is more focused on providing a safe space over open access. Lemmygrad is full on tanky communist, and de-federated from Lemmy.world. Each has pros and cons, producing unique internal cultures.

Stability is likely the most important right now. Instances are run by individuals right now. This means they can only scale so far. One of federations goals is to spread the load. By using a smaller instance, you can gain a lot of stability, while losing little to nothing in access. Lemmy isn't one thing supreme, it is a legion under 1 banner.

Hope that helps.

On top of what other people have already said each instance has different rules. One instance might have rules against NSFW content and defederate from NSFW instances while others may be fine with it.

Fediverse New User Orientation

Welcome to the Fediverse New User Orientation! If you're just starting out on Fediverse or planning to join in from Reddit, here's a rundown of what you need to know and how to navigate this new space.

What is Fediverse?

The Fediverse is a network made up of diverse platforms, such as Lemmy, Mastodon, PeerTube, and several others, that use a common protocol known as ActivityPub. This allows for seamless interaction between users across these platforms. With Fediverse, you have the freedom to join any instance (server) that caters to your interests, and you can interact with users from other instances as well.

Lemmy

The Reddit-like federated forum app that runs on ActivityPub within the Fediverse

Lemmy is one of the platforms within the Fediverse. It shares quite a bit similarity with Reddit, hence it has been referred to as the "Reddit of the Fediverse." It provides users with the opportunity to create communities (like subreddits). The federated forum app runs on ActivityPub, meaning you can follow, comment, and share posts from different Lemmy servers.

• Lemmy Intro
• Guide to finding Lemmy Communities
• Lemmymap
• Lemmyverse Explorer
• lemmy the-federation.info
• Lemmy Community Browser
• Lemmy/Fediverse Mod Openings

Reddit Migration

Here from reddit? Find your new home. Lookups and mappings of Reddit subs to Fediverse communities including Lemmy.

• Reddit migration - Maps Reddit subs to their equivalent communities on Lemmy.
• sub.rehab - Another useful tool for finding Fediverse communities similar to Reddit subits.
• Unoffical Subreddit Migration List - A compiled list of subreddits that have been migrated to Lemmy and other Fediverse platforms.
• Reddit Megathread - Keep up with relevant discussions about migrating from Reddit to Fediverse.

Fediverse

The "network" of instances that uses ActivityPub

These guides should provide you with a more detailed look into the Fediverse and how to make the best use of it:

• A 5-min Tour of the Fediverse - A quick look into the basic workings of the Fediverse.
• Fediverse Guide - An in-depth guide exploring the nuances of the Fediverse.
• Fediverse App List - A list of apps that are compatible with the Fediverse, allowing you to get connected and stay connected.

you can interact w/ lemmy.ml through lemmy.world. for instance, you can subscribe to furry_irl on yiffit witj your world account, if you visit that something like lemmy.world/c/furry_irl@yiffit.net (url may be incorrect, it's just an example)

In the context of Lemmy, an instance serves as a collection of communities with various registration processes, rules, identities, and more. Lemmy.world and Beehaw are general-purpose instances that accommodate communities on any topic. Beehaw stands out by removing the downvote button and limiting community creation to moderators exclusively. On the other hand, Yiffit is a specific instance dedicated to queer and furry art.

To engage with communities on an instance, you don't necessarily need an account. For instance, to interact with lemmy.ml, you can browse the list of communities on that instance without creating an account. If you wish to subscribe to a particular community and view its posts, you can search for the community on the instance where you have an account. For example, if you want to subscribe to the "asklemmy" community in Lemmy.ml instance, simply search for "!asklemmy@lemmy.ml" on your Lemmy instance and subscribe to it. The posts from the subscribed community will then appear in your subscribed tab.

Yes you can! For example, click this: !memes@lemmy.ml

That's a lemmy.ml community. But you can post there, comment, vote, etc. You'll see posts and comments from users on different instances all the time. Sometimes you'll see different platform users like Kbin and Mastodon users posting and commenting!

1. Log in on your preferred instance
2. Browse all
3. See content from another instance
4. Interact with it

It's pretty seamless. Like I can switch from instance to instance, and all is exactly the same (minus instance specific admin stickies) across everything, for the most part. It's going to depend on the white/blacklist of each instance, but so far I have not found too much that was blocked off on one that I could access from another.

You can use Lemmy Explorer to explore. Type your home instance in the top by tapping the home and it will create all the proper links for tapping and getting to other instances.

Essentially a link like !asklemmy@lemmy.ml will get you there from any instance. The first part being the community and the second being the instance.

These also should lead to the same community. https://lemmy.world/c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml https://lemmy.ml/c/asklemmy

Also if you sort by all on an instance that’s populated well you should see most of the fediverse as it is already and can just search within it for what you’re looking for.