• PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    11 months ago

    But if we had more subs on other topics it should bring in other types of people.

    Is that actually desirable or just growth for growths sake? Rage comics and lolcats brought huge numbers of new users to reddit and the quality of content immediately began to decay.

    Maybe a social media site that runs out of content is a good thing.

    • Venia Silente@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      11 months ago

      Is that actually desirable or just growth for growths sake?

      It’s actually desirable. Without subs on more topics (which should also mean people discussing those topics), Lemmy is not a viable alternative for the people who want to focus on content. And this is particularly relevant for more niche subjects because of how the scale of conversation works. I should know. I created two communities (technically magazines on kbin, but same idea) but until people come to them, I’m mostly fully just waiting there, fingling fingers.

    • toybastard@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      Well, I figure “growth” in this case means increased diversity in communities and users. Maybe it’s a double-edged sword, maybe the quality decay is avoidable - maybe not, idk.

      I just think it’d be cool to see things other than linux, lefty, & star trek memes on here sometimes.

      • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        11 months ago

        I just think it’d be cool to see things other than linux, lefty, & star trek memes on here sometimes

        If you’re not happy with what you’re being spoonfed, there’s an entire world of content out there waiting for you.

        Millions of songs, books, comics, movies, short films, podcasts, video games, board games, documentaries and every other kind of content. Much of it available for free or pocket change.

        My favourite books and bands have zero mentions on reddit. I didn’t learn about them from social media, so I inherently learned about them while not scrolling social media.

        And of course don’t forget you can build things too. I’ve made some games that do turn up on reddit occasionally and while it’s pretty cool to connect with fans and read the discussions, none of the knowledge, inspiration, connections or thoughts that went into them came passively from social media.

        What do you actually want to see/feel/discuss? Because it might not be a thing you can find on social media, sandwiched between memes and Overwatch pornography, no matter how many people use the site.

        • toybastard@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          11 months ago

          I don’t need to be “spoonfed” anything, and it’s a little weird for you to assume so. I interact with all of that media, watch film & anime, read books, watch documentaries, etc. on other platforms. I share my music and artwork, I write video games as well. This isn’t about what I am up to.

          Lemmy is a discussion site. I just think it’d be cool if we discussed more than what we currently discuss here. I think other prospective users might want to discuss other things than the current fare, and yeah - when it’s not here, when wanting to discuss it is dismissed essentially as entitlement & wanting to be “spoonfed”, they’ll do it elsewhere: reddit.

          • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            11 months ago

            Yeah that’s fair. Sorry. I was pretty burned out on comments saying “there’s not enough content, we need to shove more content into this one place, more and more content forever so we can be more like that other site with all the content in one place only we hate it”.

            But thank you for elaborating on what content you actually want. There are niche communities that aren’t very well served on Lemmy, but I never found them all that valuable on reddit either, often being overrun with low effort memes, “look at this photo of a 3080/PS5/whatever I bought” and a daily posting of questions like “how can I program an MMO”.

            Chasing some vague, unconditional “growth” just seems like people are rushing to recreate the worst parts of reddit.