In recent weeks, I have posted an absolutely staggering amount of content on Lemmy.
My goal is simply to support the platform. I hate huge corporations.
Now I’m taking a break. I won’t post anything or I’ll post very little (I still feel a little guilty!! Who will post new content 😢?)
But I need to focus on improving my own life and relax.
However… I’m just curious.
Is the number of Lemmy users actually increasing, decreasing, or staying the same? Is that data even available?
Edit: I will still post stuff. I’ll just post a lot less!
I’m curious what you think makes email easy enough to understand for the general population, but lemmy to hard.
<rant> I work in IT, user support. I’ve seen so many users still using AOL, Yahoo or ISP email accounts that were created for them automatically; they can’t figure out basic things like setting up Gmail with MFA or downloading Outlook for work from the app store. More importantly, they just don’t care; their eyes glaze over the moment you mention something like encryption (hacker talk to them) or privacy (you must be hiding something). They cannot tell the difference between Firefox or Chrome (all browsers are Internet Explorer). And these people are college educated doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc without a clue how technology works. I’ve changed the Chrome or Firefox icon to Internet Explorer on thousands of computers because even after giving them tutorial after tutorial, as soon as I leave the site, they are clicking that damn blue E and loading up MSNBC… </rant>
If a ‘professional’ can’t even find a file in a computer, should we really allow them to be a part of our society? They could be a danger for us all.
It took me a while to get my head round, but I’m in my 40s and shit with tech
What harms people is not the lack of knowledge but unwillingness to learn.
That said, there is only so much attention span to go around:-).
That email comparison annoys the fuck out of me. How is any of this like email?
Email and Lemmy are both digital communication systems where people use personal computers connected to the internet to socialize across the world. To you, they are completely different. To my parents and most of my clients (boomers), they are one and the same. Is the Nintendo Switch the same as the Steam Deck? Hell no, I don’t even game, but I can rattle off a dozen differences between the two platforms. Yet, to those who are technologically illiterate (which is most Americans), they are one and the same. But I can understand your frustration, I had a Sega Genesis growing up, and my parents always called it a Nintendo, to which I would autistically shout “Moooom, it’s a Seg-AH GEN-esis, it’s totally different!”
Very relatable, of course, and triggering a bunch of that type of memory, thanks for that. But bizarrely, it’s the opposite. The first thing I read about the Fediverse is how if I can understand email, I can understand the Fediverse. This was people who are way more geeky (and presumably autistic) than I am. I’ve seen that comparison several times since then and I still struggle to understand what the fuck they meant by that, other than “your username is username@hostname.suffix which looks like an email address” which is so fucking surface level it makes my head spin and has fuck-all to do with how you use the various platforms.
I think you and I are in that sweet sweet band of The Spectrum™ where we have heightened senses, intelligence, thirst for knowledge, ability to see things from unique perspectives, but without all the autistic screeching 😁
I couldn’t possibly disagree with that, for obvious reasons. (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)
Wow, calm down. It was just a question. The core difference between Reddit and lemmy is in my mind like the core difference between something like whatsapp and email.
Wasn’t directed at you personally, sorry. I’ve seen that comparison before and it makes me doubt my sanity.
The comparisons could go on. I’m sure there are contrasts too. But email is a point of reference most people know about. Unless they don’t have an email address. I guess.
And you think the average user thinks of ANY of this when they’re using Lemmy for the first time so they must conclude “oh it’s just like email”? This has absolutely nothing to do with using the platform.
I answered your question about the similarities man. Settle down. You asked any and I gave you it. You didn’t ask for how it’s exactly like email.
Also, I think tech nerds tend to look down on others in this topic. “It’s too difficult, it’s too much to learn.” —- and thus it won’t be profitable? What are we worried about?
Activity pub and related networks didn’t just shrivel up and die right away due to this problem. I’m arguing with a stranger on the internet via a newer activity pub platform, in fact.
You’re right about tech nerds - I’m pretty sure most are borderline autistic, with a common trait of being far too literal in casual conversation. I (on the spectrum) spent a lot of time and effort conditioning myself to be more chill with neuro-norms. And it worked! I don’t get bent out of shape anymore discussing techy things with non-techy people, not do I correct them, because they are going to forget the technical details the second I turn away, but they will definitely remember (and dislike) the nerd who starting arguing over some trivial detail.