How to search the Fediverse?
How to search the Fediverse?
A week ago I could just use google to search for something specific and just append 'site:reddit.com' in the query and found the answer.
Multiple subreddits went from private to restricted recently so new posts are pretty close to zero and no new content is added.
If I assume people migrated to kbin/lemmy, how can I find an answer to my question/problem/wHaTeVeReLsE? I'm not speaking about searching for a Magazine/Community, or title of article, but users' answers.
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You can use your instance's search feature. You can search by posts, comments, communities, etc. You have the option to limit the search to specific instances or instances you're federated with. I haven't had a need to search for something niche yet so I can't vouch for how accurate/relevant the results are, but a quick test shows me it works (tried searching for "diablo 4" and "bootloop" via comments).
You also have the option to search by instance via google (eg: "how to xxx site:lemmy.world"). I don't think it's possible to search that way for the whole fediverse, though.
Sounds like your instance's search feature is more advanced than kbin's is currently.
Would this work, say, if one instance were to defederate from the instance you're registered on?
That's a great question. I honestly don't know. I can't check rn because my instance hasn't blocked any yet (on mobile so I'm pretty limited atm). I'll try to check later, but I'm guessing it's a "no."
It would be nice if there were a way to search fediverse-wide. Being able to type a question + reddit into a search engine is such a good troubleshooting tool.
I suppose it could be worth it to have a datahoarder/archival instance for posterity. It crawls and federates with everything, denies deletion requests, and gets used just for searching/indexing the rest of the fediverse
No it won't. You will have to go to that federate directly and make your search.