Am i the only one who feels like it's the same handful of users posting and commenting on lemmy?
Am i the only one who feels like it's the same handful of users posting and commenting on lemmy?
At least on the communities i follow. Every so often I come across a thread where i recognize most of the users there even in the big communities with over 30k members and I haven't even been on lemmy that long.
I can’t speak to Lemmy specifically but my Reddit years were ages 15-30. I think I got my fill of arguing on the internet then.
I write a lot of comments on Lemmy that I end up deleting before posting because I just don’t want the hassle of arguing with someone about it who is being deliberately obtuse or arguing in bad faith.
That’s not an indictment of Lemmy specifically, but I think my lack of interest in those arguments comes with age and I suspect my story isn’t unique, the demographics will line up for a lot of Lemmy users.
Like the others said, the ratio of posters/lurkers on most social media sites is 10/90, and i think that lemmy is on the better, more active side of things. in a 30k community that means that you will see about 300 people commenting regularly, and 30 of them will be very active.
i also like the smaller scope here, fewer comments mean that my opinion will be engaged with more.
I rarely commented on reddit, because one little comment in a swarm of 2500 will not even be noticed. It's different here, and i wrote over 400 comments this year! i maxed out at about 100 on reddit because my comments wouldn't even be noticed most of the time if i didn't filter by new.
Honestly, that's one of the cool parts of old internet (forums, chatrooms, etc.) is getting to know people, you get to know the community 😊
Be the shitpost you want to see in the world.
That's very much possible.
That's why I try to be as nice as I can on here.
There are very few times when I initially joined Lemmy where, I admit, I was a bit shitty towards some users (old Reddit habits). This can get you banned, or blocked, or you can build a reputation pretty quickly. And since we're not a lot, that can limit your interactions quite a bit. So I changed my attitude pretty quick. And frankly it's been much more enjoyable this way since.
The ratio of commenter/poster to lurker is always pretty lopsided. I also never read user names.
The trick is not to read the usernames. I imagine myself surrounded by millions of mostly sensible people!
I post more on Lemmy since I think people will actually read what I wrote. I used to post a lot on Reddit too, but that was MANY years ago.
However one of the big reasons I post is to hopefully get the conversation started. I figure with zero comments someone is less likely to post. With one stupid comment, someone might respond.
After the reddit exodus I started creating memes for the first time and posting them on Lemmy. I've learned that it's harder to be funny than I thought. Also a lot of time/effort and I have actually important things in my life that I focus on. Reposting was also kinda fun but what's the point really
The majority of individuals on platforms like Lemmy—and social media more broadly—engage almost exclusively as passive consumers. Their involvement often begins and ends with the simple act of upvoting or downvoting content. This limited interaction speaks volumes about the nature of digital engagement, where consuming information or entertainment takes precedence over meaningful interaction or contribution. The absence of deeper engagement is not a failing of the platform itself but a reflection of broader societal tendencies.
People, in general, tend toward passivity, a trait that extends beyond online spaces and into areas like civic participation. In the United States, for example, voter turnout remains notoriously low. People express their dissatisfaction with the status quo, they crave change, and they criticize institutions, yet they shy away from taking the minimal steps required to enact that change, often hiding behind a hand-waving comment involving the words "systemic," "structure," and/or "institutions," a transparent way of excusing their unwillingness to actually act. As though they themselves are not parts of those systems, structures, and institutions. The same individuals who will upvote or downvote content online without a second thought are often the ones who abstain from voting in elections, an "upvote/downvote" that directly impact their lives.
What is even more concerning is that this passivity is not merely a result of laziness or apathy, but something ingrained and encouraged by modern society. Our institutions—whether educational, political, or corporate—tend to value compliance over initiative. Decision-making, once seen as a marker of personal agency and responsibility, is increasingly viewed as a burden. People have been conditioned to prefer being told what to do rather than take responsibility for their choices.
If a decision goes wrong, there's an inherent comfort in being able to place blame on someone else. This social conditioning makes being passive, fading into the wallpaper, not only acceptable but desirable for many. And yet, these same people will often feel deeply dissatisfied with their lives. But, rather than do something about it, they continue to be helpless, wishing someone would decide for them to improve their lives and then forcing them to do it.
While it's easy to express frustration with the passive nature of online participants, it is also, sadly, understandable. They are products of a society that rewards inaction more than action, where engagement is often reduced to the simplest and least effortful gestures. These platforms reflect the broader societal trend toward disengagement from real, consequential decision-making, reinforcing and reflecting a vicious cycle of passive impotence while they wait for someone or something to fix things for them.
It's a village vibe, grab onto the grapevine
not a bot at least
I like it. It feels more genuine
I use both reddit and lemmy and for the most part, I'll see similar or the same articles shared/posted on both platforms. I don't mind, it actually makes me feel like one day Lemmy might grow enough to the point where I use reddit less and less.
using multiple platforms I see the same users from time to time but I never really cared about who's posting or commenting
I'm just here so I don't get fined.
Roll-call for the lurkers! (If u want, no pressure)
There are more popular people that hang out and comment often in the main communities, then there are people who pass by. I know on Reddit I've seen certain people pop up frequently in certain communities. It's a smaller platform so you see the popular ones more often but it's not that unusual.
does that mean i'm famous?! MUM I'M FAMOUS
Nope, it is.
In a way it's kinda cool though. Feels more like a community.
Reddit was much larger, but it was the same and noticeable when you were active enough.
My rule of thumb was, if 100 people see a post, 10% vote on it, 1% comment on it.
There's also the fact that most active users that also comment regularly, don't browse the hot page but catch the posts earlier. So there will always be names that show up more often than others, that have already said what's going to be said.
On Lemmy there's a lot of instances that are kind of radical and have a vast interest in spreading their radical ideology in other instances, so they'll show up as well on a regular depending on the topic.
I notice a lot of the same people in most of the popular posts. I guess it's because the quantity of people that usually comment vs voting or just reading post is pretty low, so you'll start to recognize them everywhere
It makes me wonder if people recognize me from other posts I comment on!
I comment a lot more often than I post. Tho I don't know if people recognize me, since I'm more active on the ich_iel side of Lemmy.
Am I the only one who absolutely despises people asking "Am I the only one who..." about anything? God it's always something mundane that any idiot could dream up too. There are 8 billion people currently on the planet and who knows how many before us. No, whatever it is, no matter what, you are not the only one who anything. Ever.
Yep, maybe it would benefit from more advertisement but I decided to not recommend it until I experience it for some time. It took me a week or two to realize that I don't like moderation at lemmy-world for example, I would definitely recommend choosing other instances, and then, it takes time to figure out which ones are worth recommending. Some are extremist far-left/far-right, some are at risk of shutting down if admin gets bored and decides to stop paying for hosting from his personal money.
Most people are probably pretty passive, so yeah, I think there's a subset of posters who are highly visible. But even over at Hacker News, where there's a much larger audience commenting, I recognize specific names because something they said in the past got my attention and I start piecing together their personality a bit at a time.
I disagree, you just notice them more
No but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
Hello! :D
For me, the difference to reddit is less the participation/diversity in individual discussions. Rather, that lively debates only happen in some prominent subs. That is the one thing I miss here when comparing lemmy to reddit. On reddit, you can look for some niche hobby or some random computer game and chances are that you'll find an active community.
Everyone on lemmy is a bot except you.
I do not have the time to post / comment usually.
What helps me is having the perspective that people change from moment to moment, and we don't see enough moments in a row to pick out a pattern generally. Even if I see the same names, it helps to treat them with new eyes everytime. Also makes it easier to catch someone on a bad day but then have a nice conversation the next.
no way
Without a doubt
In the community I post in and read the most, I certainly recognize almost every poster. But in all communities, I recognize the most prolific of posters, but few others.
Hey, GrammarPolice! Nice to see you again today! Take care, see you later!
The fediverse makes communities feel even smaller since even widely connected nodes have instances they aren't networked with, so even a massive userbase can feel like a small neighborhood, because as an individual user, that's what you're going to see with your account pegged to any given instance.
Lemmy may be small, but it's cozy!
Lol I don’t usually look at usernames, and when I do it’s almost always to block someone
That's how social media like this works. It was the same on Reddit but the user base was larger so it would be a little more difficult to notice. A very small percentage of users actually post and since we're already a pretty small community you'll notice the same people more easily.
Present.
I don't pay much attention to user names so I haven't noticed
there are dozens of us
I'm everywhere!
Like friends!
I don't post nearly as much as I would like, because I post some stream related stuff in my own community on lemmy and don't know want to come off as someone who is trying to advertise all the time. I have been reported for that posting to my own community, which... ya know. I get it, nobody cares about yet another streamer dude, but it is a bit intimidating almost.
Yep. Lemmy isn't that big and it is generally the case that an online space is like an iceberg, with only some of the users seen a lot.
Permanently Deleted
I have no idea why you are talking about
Yes. I think that's notmal, no? Some people have more time than others, and care more intensely about some topics.
Others are bots and paid shills too, just trying to earn a living.
guess I'm not famous here :(
Nah
Lemmy.world is defederated from the major Marxist instances, so you might want to join a different instance for a fresh look. Lemmy in general is small enough to be dominated easily, what helps this is finding a good instance and treating said instance like a community with different tags, rather than treating communities like subreddits.