It is probably due to a number of people stopping using their alts after some instance hopping.

Also a few people who came to see how it was, and weren't attracted enough to become regular visitors.

Curious to see at which number we'll stabilize.

Next peak will probably happen after either major features release (e.g. exhaustive mod tools allowing reluctant communities to move from Reddit) or the next Reddit fuck up (e.g. removing old.reddit)

Stats on each server: https://lemmy.fediverse.observer/list

  • imgonnatrythis@lemm.ee
    ·
    1 year ago

    Pretty sure it's going to just be like 12 of us. If the third party app thing on reddit didn't drive users here, unfortunately I don't think anything else will. At this point if you are already content with the reddit app it's going to be a hard sell to say, yeah come check out Lemmy, it's like reddit but if you have a question about your sick betta fish instead of getting a helpful answer in a few minutes, you need to first create a betta fish community, then go back on reddit and recruit users to your Lemmy community. Post content on it daily to maintain interest, and then, if you are really lucky, ask your question and wait a few months and maybe if your fish is still alive (doubtful), you might get a response, but it will probably be just be an anticapitalist shit-post. I'm sorry to say it is this way, but this be the way that it is.

    • Venus [she/her]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Pretty sure it's going to just be like 12 of us

      Hexbear has been very active for 3 years before we even federated. There's plenty of room for growth. We're not going to become reddit (and that's a good thing) but acting like it's just going to die (or is already dead) is just ridiculous

      • imgonnatrythis@lemm.ee
        ·
        1 year ago

        Hexbear has become a cesspool. Not exactly a great example to aspire to. I actually wish we would become very much like Reddit used to be back in the day. I very much enjoyed that experience and want it back. I'm sure plenty of others do to. Im just disappointed that it seems much more likely that Lemmy fizzles than soars. I can't emphasize enough how big and bad a deal the stripping of third party API access to reddit data is. I wish more people felt more strongly about this beyond posting pictures of John Oliver. Not sure if you are old enough to remember when high quality RSS feeds were a thing, but this direct access to data that users could custom curate was amazing. When you take control of how users consent data, you start to take control of the users. Lemmy has immense potential and at face value people are largely fed up with being manipulated and taken advantage of by internet giants, but most are clearly not fed up enough to leave their comfort zone. Spez and the others are well aware of this and happy to take advantage. It takes a ton of effort to keep something like Lemmy afloat. Just like a new restaurant, if after a few months it's not taking off, it's pretty unlikely to do so with more time. I hope I'm wrong, but the Spez nonsense was a huge gift to growing Lemmy, and in the grand scheme of things the effect was quite small.

        • Venus [she/her]
          ·
          1 year ago

          Hexbear has become a cesspool

          Hexbear is an aggressively inclusive space full of thoughtful people who are passionate about making the world a better place and educating their fellow man. If every online space were more like hexbear we'd all be much better off

          I actually wish we would become very much like Reddit used to be back in the day. I very much enjoyed that experience and want it back. I'm sure plenty of others do to

          Oh yeah back in the good old days of /r/jailbait and /r/creepshots and /r/sexwithdogs

          • LoopingRiver@lemm.ee
            ·
            1 year ago

            Lol.. so inclusive wanting to bring down America, listing out a bunch of people you’d love to get rid of (anyone you consider bourgeoise), unyielding fanboying of China…

            I think the overall Lemmy experience has gone downhill since hexbear federated. I also think seeing the propaganda posts constantly hitting the All feed will drive people away. Are there even any non-political hexbear communities? All I ever see are anti-is and pro-China posts.

            I still can’t wrap my head around being so pro-trans rights (a fabulous thing), yet in the same breath simping for China. Not the most stellar LGBTQIA+ record there.

            • Venus [she/her]
              ·
              1 year ago

              Everything is political. We have comms that we don't consider political, but you would still consider them political because you would rather they cater to your politics rather than ours. We have !games@hexbear.net for example, but because it's not a liberal comm you would consider it political.

              I still can’t wrap my head around being so pro-trans rights (a fabulous thing), yet in the same breath simping for China

              You're literally professing your support for trans rights and simping for the US in one comment so you must be mega confused

            • ProxyTheAwesome [comrade/them]
              ·
              1 year ago

              so inclusive wanting to bring down America

              Yes. America is the pre-eminent fascist violence force on Earth and must be brought down for the good of humanity

              • atomicfox@lemm.ee
                ·
                1 year ago

                Not having America around to keep Russia and China in check sounds great for humanity 👍

                • Flaps [he/him]
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  1 year ago

                  Damn you really kept them in check when you bombed Iraq back to the stone age

                  You also really kept China in check when you moved your entire industrial capacity there

                • SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him]
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  1 year ago

                  "What if they invaded, pillaged, and coup'd the countries WE were going to invade, pillage, and coup! Can you imagine the tragedy?! Better that us, The Good Guys, exploit these countries than The Bad Guys!"

            • eatmyass
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              deleted by creator

            • Annakah69 [she/her]
              ·
              1 year ago

              If you can't wrap your head around being trans and supporting China you need to stop consuming MSM and examine your assumptions.

            • sharedburdens [she/her, comrade/them]
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              I live in the US and it's pretty bad for LGBT people here. I don't feel the need to cheerlead US interventions because they have a coat of rainbow paint.

            • silent_water [she/her]
              ·
              1 year ago

              think the overall Lemmy experience has gone downhill since hexbear federated.

              sicko-hexbear

            • GarbageShoot [he/him]
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              so inclusive wanting to bring down America

              Paradox of tolerance, babyyy

              I still can’t wrap my head around being so pro-trans rights (a fabulous thing), yet in the same breath simping for China.

              Cuba supports both

        • eatmyass
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          deleted by creator

        • ProxyTheAwesome [comrade/them]
          ·
          1 year ago

          It's less of a cesspool than every other lemmy instance I've visited which is filled with Reddit-tier libs

        • Grebgreb [he/him]
          ·
          1 year ago

          I actually wish we would become very much like Reddit used to be back in the day

          reddit back in the day had a huge jailbait sub

          Hexbear has become a cesspool

          lol

          • WhyIsItReal [he/him]
            ·
            1 year ago

            i mean, yeah. if you insult someone, they’ll typically defend themselves

            • GBU_28@lemm.ee
              ·
              1 year ago

              "insult" sure.

              He effectively called a porcupine spikey.

              What's funny about hexbear is the users reflexively rise to the fight every single time, they can't just scroll past.

              Taiwan #1

              • silent_water [she/her]
                ·
                1 year ago

                yes, it's on purpose - we actively discourage lurking and encourage engaging with bad takes. the more you complain about it, the harder we go at it.

                • GBU_28@lemm.ee
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  1 year ago

                  "bad take" really depends what side of the echo chamber you are on.

                  Y'all respond to criticism like kim jong un is standing right behind you lol

                  Also we aren't in hexbear right now

                  • silent_water [she/her]
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    obviously whether a take is bad or not depends on your politics. it's so obvious I'm surprised you'd bother pointing it out.

                    Y'all respond to criticism like kim jong un is standing right behind you lol

                    this isn't criticism. it's just a snide aside.

                    Also we aren't in hexbear right now

                    again, obviously.

                  • Bakzik [he/him, comrade/them]
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    We are in a Federated instance. So we can participate, as long we follow Da rulez.

                    But you miss your reddit-logo echochamber, don't you?

                    xi-lib-tears

                    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
                      ·
                      1 year ago

                      Right, being in a federated instance isn't lurking. Glad we agree.

                      And no I don't, I've had a few meaningful discussing with some true leftists but most of y'all only have a knee jerk reaction available to criticism. You end up pushing near-allies away for lacking your dogmatic devotion, seemingly to xi? As you have a bunch of photos of him saved?

                      • Bakzik [he/him, comrade/them]
                        ·
                        1 year ago

                        As you have a bunch of photos of him saved?

                        xi xi

                        dogmatic devotion, seemingly to xi?

                        che-smile che-smile

                        You should come to Hexbear. Have a real look around. Not being a fan of NATO bombing (like Yugoslavia) or puting children in cages at concentration camps at the border, doesn't mean someone is a dogmatic follower of China. But they are far better that USA, that's for sure.

                        But come to Hexbear, let's challenge years and years of western indoctrination. And we also have an awesome colletion of emojis! (or, as you call it, "photos").

                        fidel-cool

              • WhyIsItReal [he/him]
                ·
                1 year ago

                you’re saying calling something a “cesspool” isn’t insulting?

              • GarbageShoot [he/him]
                ·
                1 year ago

                "insult" sure.

                He effectively called a porcupine spikey.

                Wonder how the porcupine got its spikes . . . Must be its authoritarian personality!

            • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
              ·
              1 year ago

              You think collectively antagonizing, using "libs" in a derogatory form and calling others "imperialist running dogs" constitutes as defense and not toxic behavior?

              • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
                ·
                1 year ago

                Calling out imperialist running dogs isn't toxic. Just like being aggressively anti-racist isn't toxic. If a person upholds capitalism, which is by nature exploitive and anti-egalitarian, they are toxic and deserving of rebuke.

                • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  So as long as they don't ideologically agree with you it's acceptable to be toxic towards them, because their "wrong ideology" makes them toxic?

                  Are you also aware that most of the proletariats unknowingly uphold capitalism? Considering you say they're toxic are you against the proletariat or are you a fake socialist trying to create a class divide, the ones who agree with you and the ones who don't, within the proletariat?

                  • silent_water [she/her]
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    if you asked questions in good faith, you'd know that the community is also aggressively welcoming to such people, even when we disagree. but you don't so you won't.

                    • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
                      ·
                      1 year ago

                      It's bad faith to automatically assume someone being critical is doing it in bad faith.

                          • silent_water [she/her]
                            ·
                            1 year ago

                            it's not directed at you. I'm explaining why we react strongly in general.

                            • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
                              ·
                              1 year ago

                              Alright, so others are in "bad faith"? How do you know? Just based on one interaction with them?

                              • silent_water [she/her]
                                ·
                                1 year ago

                                how they respond to detailed replies or lack thereof, snide, use of thought-terminating cliches, and hostility

                                • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
                                  ·
                                  1 year ago

                                  Let's forget forget about the rest of our discussion and focus solely on the very first response you wrote to me. Based on that response I could've applied that same thought process you just described, decided that you're here in bad faith and respond in the way Hexbear users tend to reply. And all this current discussion wouldn't have ever happened because based on that response you'd believe I'm here in bad faith and responded in kind. In fact that way no discussion would've happened.

                                  The way we communicate is prone to errors and misinterpretations. It's why I'm focusing on your your first response because it's an excellent example of miscommunication. You used "you" which implies it's directed at me, but in a later response you clarify that it wasn't directed at me. Thus discussions require a certain level of benefit of doubt, because it's actually very easy to misrepresent what was said and just as easy to misinterpret what was said. I gave you that benefit of doubt and we seem to be having a rather civil discussion. And I've already somewhat explained what would've happened if I hadn't given it. That benefit of doubt is crucial if you're wanting to discuss in good faith, because you need to give a chance to correct miscommunications.

                                  And that's why I think the thought process you've described is a bad faith thought process, because it doesn't give the benefit of the doubt. At least that is my general experience with Hexbear users. Someone says something disagreeable in a manner that could be misinterpreted in the way you described and it's very rare to see a Hexbear user give the benefit of doubt. Instead you see, well everything here. One guy says Hexbear is a cesspool and seemingly only one of you gives him some benefit of doubt, the rest very much troll, antagonize, make snide remarks etc. The vast majority of you responded in the same way you'd claim someone else is responding in bad faith. What if he previously had a miscommunication that Hexbear users didn't give benefit of the doubt either? He gets piled on in a manner you've described as bad faith. With those bad faith responses he now believes you are all acting bad faith, hence the cesspool remark. And what is the response he gets? More bad faith responses from Hexbear users because the vast majority don't give him any benefit of doubt.

                                  You think others act out in bad faith so you respond in bad faith which makes others believe you act in bad faith which prompts more of you to act in bad faith. It's a a bad faith feedback loop. Genuine question, what's the goal of such behavior?

                                  • silent_water [she/her]
                                    ·
                                    1 year ago

                                    my first response was directed at you. the second was not. I was answering the question you asked.

                                    Genuine question, what's the goal of such behavior?

                                    to apply adequate pushback to erroneous understandings of the world. the goal isn't to convince the interlocutor. it's to encourage the people reading to investigate the topic. on many of the topics in question, the history and ideologies involved take entire books to deconstruct - doing so in an internet comment is extraordinarily difficult. the people we're talking to don't even agree with us on the meanings of basic words - there's not even a basis for debate. because such debate is so unproductive, the aggressive tone encourages many people to stop and ask more serious questions. this undoubtedly works because so many of the posters on hexbear responded in exactly that way here or on reddit at some point in the past. and when they asked those questions, they got detailed answers, including links to sources so they could investigate for themselves. in actual fact, many of the people on hexbear received exactly the kind of aggressive pushback you're decrying and ended up eventually convinced that our viewpoint had something to offer.

                                    and as point of fact, when someone starts asking questions, we'll tell each other to stop treating them so harshly cause they're acting in good faith. that courtesy is not extended to people who continue down a path of antagonism. nor is it offered to someone who devolves into racism, transphobia, or other forms of bigotry. one of the benefits of the aggressive approach is that it encourages so many bigots to immediately out themselves.

                                    lastly, civility is not an unmitigated good unto itself. civility is the false peace -- it masks tensions, pretending they don't exist. real peace is not civility -- it's a state in which tensions are brought to the fore so they can actually be resolved. civility is a white, middle class sensibility -- our world is incredibly fucked up and the people affected by it do not owe anyone that masking of the horrors of our world. nor do we owe anyone an education they will neither ask for nor appreciate.

                                    • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
                                      ·
                                      1 year ago

                                      to apply adequate pushback to erroneous understandings of the world. the goal isn’t to convince the interlocutor. it’s to encourage the people reading to investigate the topic. on many of the topics in question, the history and ideologies involved take entire books to deconstruct - doing so in an internet comment is extraordinarily difficult. the people we’re talking to don’t even agree with us on the meanings of basic words - there’s not even a basis for debate. because such debate is so unproductive, the aggressive tone encourages many people to stop and ask more serious questions. this undoubtedly works because so many of the posters on hexbear responded in exactly that way here or on reddit at some point in the past. and when they asked those questions, they got detailed answers, including links to sources so they could investigate for themselves. in actual fact, many of the people on hexbear received exactly the kind of aggressive pushback you’re decrying and ended up eventually convinced that our viewpoint had something to offer.

                                      Maybe at one point but if recent events are of any indication that is hardly true anymore. The reason these defederation threads prop up if your aggressive presentation made people inquisitive. It's an indication that people respond negatively to such behavior. And I'm inclined to believe people respond more negatively than positively because the responses I've seen about subject I know about have been less about making people inquisitive and more about just throwing in their face that they don't understand something the same way you do without explaining anything.

                                      lastly, civility is not an unmitigated good unto itself. civility is the false peace – it masks tensions, pretending they don’t exist. real peace is not civility – it’s a state in which tensions are brought to the fore so they can actually be resolved. civility is a white, middle class sensibility – our world is incredibly fucked up and the people affected by it do not owe anyone that masking of the horrors of our world.

                                      I disagree. Yes, there's no space for niceness as you need to be ready for conflict to test your ideas and beliefs. But it doesn't mean we should completely disregard civility. Are you really going to take me seriously if I call you shitstain in this post, bitch lover the next, steamy turd the next etc? I know I wouldn't take anything you say seriously if you came with such disrespect. Similarly I have no problem trolling the living shit out of you, but that already means I have zero respect for you or your beliefs and nothing you say or do will even get true critical examination, outside of how to better troll back. I could easily derail this discussion, drag you down into shit slinging contest and then sling shit until you stop responding but that's pretty far from civil discourse and not at all constructive. Discourse needs to have some mutual respect and if none is given then none is received, which means the discussion will go nowhere. The world is fucked but slinging shit between eachother doesn't really unfuck the world.

                                      nor do we owe anyone an education they will neither ask for nor appreciate

                                      And this is probably where we completely disagree. Your stance is that nobody asks or appreciates it so we shouldn't give it unless they really ask. I believe we should give it regardless because it's still a chance for them to open up to something new. I would've never familiarized myself with Das Kapital if not for someone else explaining to me that Marxist understanding of "capital" is not the same as "capital" taught to you in school. Had someone told me "How did they get the fucking money mf?" I would probably still believe capitalism is not that bad. Explaining socialism to someone who won't listen doesn't take a piece out of me, so why should I act like it does? To me it's a net positive. If someone listens and becomes a socialist that's good and if someone doesn't listen then really nothing actually bad happens because as you said, the world is fucked regardless.

                  • SmokinStalin [comrade/them]
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    Those are good questions that you could get good honest answers to if you wanted. Other hexbearians are much more articulate than me.

                    We are aggressively welcoming to anyone who's genuinely just trying to learn. stalin-approval

                  • GarbageShoot [he/him]
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    So as long as they don't ideologically agree with you it's acceptable to be toxic towards them, because their "wrong ideology" makes them toxic?

                    Think about this in the context of, idk, race science or something. Let's say you have someone who is openly a big fan of Charles Murray, owns a copy of The Bellcurve, gets the whole nine yards. Would you deny that such a person is necessarily toxic?

                    • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
                      ·
                      1 year ago

                      Actually, without any other context, I would. I would label them as misguided. Just because they believe in what I believe as the wrong thing doesn't mean they're automatically toxic. If they're unwilling to even consider alternate perspectives or decide to just be antagonistic then they're toxic.

                      • GarbageShoot [he/him]
                        ·
                        1 year ago

                        So if they come in swinging about how they "don't deny" that black people are genetically less intelligent and say that their opposition is either propagandized or propagandists, that would tilt the scales for you?

                        • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
                          ·
                          1 year ago

                          Why would it? If they're open for discussion there's clearly something to discuss.

                          • GarbageShoot [he/him]
                            ·
                            1 year ago

                            We might be running into a Nazi Bar, paradox of tolerance type issue here. If you treat him that way, there's a fair chance that he's just going to use the opportunity to propagandize to whoever will listen.

        • HornyOnMain🏳️‍⚧️@lemmy.ml
          ·
          1 year ago

          I actually wish we would become very much like Reddit used to be back in the day.

          A libertarian infested hell site that was most well known for just being 4chan lite and actively harbouring pedo communities?

    • mars [none/use name]
      ·
      1 year ago

      Long time hexbear user, I've actually had pretty good luck getting input on non-political questions. No sick fish, but I've asked quite a variety of questions and gotten help. Maybe I would have gotten a higher quality answer on Reddit, but my experience with modern reddit (last 6ish years) has been hit or miss. Reminds me in a way of the forums I used back in the really 2000s. Even though the forums I was on were primarily oriented around tabletop gaming, the "general/off-topic" sections would have quite a variety of people and interests. And those people, since they all had a common interest, were far more talkative and generous with their time than what I've experienced in Reddit. IMO this makes up for the smaller population. Hexbear has that vibe for me, just with a non-sectarian socialist shitposting focus. Which works for me.

    • Blaze@discuss.tchncs.de
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      12 of us

      I'm fine with 12 of us if everyone is active.

      Hopefully by then we'll have a few active communities and not hundreds of ghost towns like now