With previous Rexit's like the API debarcle etc. many users were left looking for an alternative, but with decision fatigue and bad UX etc. most did not find the Fediverse a viable option.

What needs to still improve, how can we be ready this time?

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[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

Instance selection at sign-up remains the primary barrier to entry.

I think there needs to be a quick question form upon sign-up, going over the biggest differences between instances. Such as: "do you want downvotes activated? Do you want to see NSFW? Do you want little, moderate, or heavy automated blocking of potentially objectionable material?" etc, then have the sign-up page provide you with up to three instance options based on your selected preferences.

Otherwise you're either forcing users to do this research on their own ("ew, homework just to sign up for social media? no thanks") or they're going in blind and selecting at random, very likely ending up on an instance with qualities/features they don't like.

A separate issue: during the big 2023 rexit (when I moved over), the primary instance that most new users joined, lemmy.world, was a buggy, buggy mess, practically unusable for the first few days. I don't know if that was specifically because of the influx of new users or if it just worsened problems that had skated by when there were only a handful of users before, but I imagine the bugs turned away quite a few potential new Lemmings. Hopefully that won't be an issue this time around, but I guess that depends on how big the exodus is and how much Lemmy infra has strengthened in the 2.5 years since.

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Like this? https://feddit.online/auth/instance_chooser

[–] fireweed@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Yes, but with many more sorting options. (What does "newbie-friendly" even mean?)

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago

There are SO MANY features that PieFed offers to help new users learn more about the Threadiverse - e.g. the entire set of community rules placed below each and every post that you read from it.

In this case, one thing that helps newbies is to either defederate or otherwise block new users from being exposed to the likes of !Chapotraphouse@hexbear.net, without being informed first about what that place is like. MANY people came here from Reddit, got chewed up by trolls, then quickly noped out and complained bitterly about Lemmy on Reddit, X, Bluesky, etc. Someone who is forewarned can handle that, hence the name "Choose your own adventure", but if you want an instance to hold your hand for you and protect you from anything bad that might happen, then "Newbie-friendly" ones are more like that than the alternative.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

One option is to do this for them, and just send the link to the instance most suited to your current audience when recommending using Lemmy, rather than trying to explain what instances are, because they don't need to know that to use it.

[–] FosterMolasses@leminal.space 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I think there needs to be a quick question form upon sign-up, going over the biggest differences between instances. Such as: “do you want downvotes activated? Do you want to see NSFW? Do you want little, some, or heavy automated blocking of potentially objectionable material?” etc, then have the sign-up page provide you with up to three instance options based on your selected preferences.

Dude. I'm saying this completely unironically: A personality quiz recommending you your instance "house" upon sign-up would be fun AF lol 🎉

[–] emeralddawn45@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 5 days ago

Ew no thanks. Leave the hufflepuff shit on tiktok please.