This site is currently struggling to handle the amount of new users. I have already upgraded the server, but it will go down regardless if half of Reddit tries to join.

However Lemmy is federated software, meaning you can interact seamlessly with communities on other instances like beehaw.org or lemmy.one. The documentation explains in more detail how this works. Use the instance list to find one where you can register. Then use the Community Browser to find interesting communities. Paste the community url into the search field to follow it.

You can help other Reddit refugees by inviting them to the same Lemmy instance where you joined. This way we can spread the load across many different servers. And users with similar interests will end up together on the same instances. Others on the same instance can also automatically see posts from all the communities that you follow.

Edit: If you moderate a large subreddit, do not link your users directly to lemmy.ml in your announcements. That way the server will only go down sooner.

  • Undearius@lemmy.caEnglish
    201·
    1 year ago

    I’ve experienced a taste of this already. I checked the instance list a couple days ago, and didn’t see one that stood out for my interests, so I created an account on the main lemmy.ml instance.

    I just registered the same username on another but as far as I can tell, there is no way to merge or link these two accounts. So all the setup I’ve done and all the communities I’ve subscribed to, I have to do over again.

    ------

    Another “issue” (a bug or feature?) I’m seeing is there are a lot of duplicate communities between the instances. I guess one will eventually “prevail” and become the defacto instance for that community.

    • 0xc0ba17@lemmy.mlEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      I guess one will eventually “prevail” and become the defacto instance for that community

      Fore niche-y communities, probably. For more generalized ones (like “gaming”), I can see several communities evolve in parallel, each with its own culture and preferred content.

    • PriorProject@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      I just registered the same username on another but as far as I can tell, there is no way to merge or link these two accounts. So all the setup I’ve done and all the communities I’ve subscribed to, I have to do over again.

      I believe what you did was necessary. There’s a bug for account export and transfer to another instance, but it’s still open: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/506. It doesn’t appear that Lemmy has an account migration feature like Mastodon does, and consequently you’ve got to migrate your settings manually and then leave some kind of post or link in your old profile to where the new profile is.

      • Obi@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        9·
        1 year ago

        But I understand that it’s possible, since it’s possible on Mastodon, right? IMO a smooth account migration process where you don’t lose anything on the account even if the server randomly shuts down, and it’s just another line in your account history solves a lot of the problems I see with Lemmy.

        Even for registration, it would lower the criticality of instance choice so you have more solutions like using a buffer server that gives people X time to choose another server, randomizing or even just to lower the pressure of it.

        • tmpod@lemmy.ptEnglish
          6·
          1 year ago

          Yes, it is possible, but was not a priority until now. The boom of users is basically just two days old, the devs have not gotten enough time to catch up yet hehe

          • Obi@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            For sure for sure, can’t be easy keeping up with the sudden influx as it is, let alone launching new features.

            • tmpod@lemmy.ptEnglish
              2·
              1 year ago

              I’m not a dev, no. But I’ve been here a while and like to help out :)

        • PriorProject@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          I’m no expert, but the dev commentary on that ticket suggests that it can be done but hasn’t risen up their priority list… and yeah… Mastodon accomplishing this with ActivityPub which Lemmy also uses suggests it’s possible. I agree it would be valuable, and opens up options when instances churn or get over/under populated.

    • JshKlsn@lemmy.mlEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      That’s me right now.

      Started on beehaw but switched to lemmy.ml because beehaw doesn’t have communities I want.

      • SFloss (they/them)@lemmy.mlEnglish
        91·
        1 year ago

        You didn’t need to switch. You could’ve followed the same communities on lemmy.ml straight from your Beehaw account. It’s one of the benefits of federation.

      • dan1101@lemmy.mlEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        I went for beehaw first too, couldn’t get registration to respond but then saw they didn’t offer downvoting. Strange decision IMO.

        • Lobstronomosity@lemmy.mlEnglish
          31·
          1 year ago

          Downvoting is just used as a disagree button, not for its original purpose of promoting discourse and hiding comments that don’t add to the conversation.

          Any comments that add to the conversation get upvotes. Any that don’t, can be reported and removed. I prefer it that way.