This place has roughly 3,000 people and was intended to be an entire replacement for DaystromInstitute and StarTrek as they were going dark indefinitely. Well, within 4 days the moderators have walked back those statements and opened both subreddits up. I see no incentive for people to come to this website now and while a few may come here in the future, most people will go to r/startrek with 600,000 people.
Given the option between hanging out with 3,000 Trekkies who are willing to plunge headfirst into a strange new ecosystem and 600,000 Trekkies who find making an account to be an onerous process, I'll take the former, thanks
I can't believe the negativity coming from the /r/startrek community regarding the blackout and the idea of switching to Lemmy. Forging a new brighter future free of corporate control should fit into the Star Trek ideals of every fan.
I cannot speak to the internal decisions of /r/StarTrek, but I can speak to /r/DaystromInstitute's decisions.
As of yesterday, noncompliant moderation teams are under threat from /u/Spez and his lackeys. We reached the decision to reopen, in a limited capacity, to prevent the community from facing a hostile takeover by those who do not properly appreciate its use or its value, and to hopefully funnel traffic here, and we intend that soon those will be the only purposes of the subreddit. In coordinating this move I trust my collagues on the other subs to act in the best interests of the community first, this instance second, and the profiteering bastards last.
This place is definitely not dead. Quite lively, in fact. I'm not sure why there being a bigger star trek community somewhere means that this one would be useless
Reddit is dying. Its goals as a growth-oriented corporation are inherently contrary to its original nature as a community center. I have to give them props for dragging it out as long as they have (and will). All the factors that made Reddit possible and desirable still exist; in fact, the ActivityPub federation protocol enables an even more powerful form of collaboration that transcends a lot of the negative aspects of Reddit's design.
Give it time. Make content! Tell people about this wonderful new generation of media. Consider it an opportunity to engage with the glory days of a new form of internet media. Which it is.
This was just the dress rehearsal, it seems like people forgot that. The protest isn't the event, the policy changes are the event. The protest was just to let them know that the users do care about the impending policy changes. When those changes take effect, lots of people are going to discover that the app they use to browse reddit doesn't work anymore. Some will install the official [cr]app and go on with their lives, but some won't. It won't be a mortal wound, but a lot of users will be lost at that moment. That's when a wave of users looking for a new permanent home will arrive. Since Lemmy has been mentioned all over reddit, and in articles about the reddit drama, a lot of the trekkies among them will end up here. All we have to do is wait. Lemmy may not be the site/network with the biggest trek presence (yet), but i'm confident it will grow to a healthy size in short order.
And yes the subreddit reopening was not part of the original plan, but there's not much we can do about it besides make this a better space that users will feel comfortable signing up with.
I first joined r/startrek over 12 years ago when it was about 3000 subscribers. I had a lot of fun. Every post could be seen and not drowned out. No troll issues. Those early days were really nice.
When r/startrek went dark, thought at the time to be forever, I came here. I wasn't looking for a new reddit. I was looking for a new home to talk with other Star Trek fans. And, that is here. Now that r/startrek is back open, I'm still staying here. I like it here. I don't see a need for an us versus them showdown. How many r/startrek accounts there are isn't important to me. How active is c/startrek is important to me. And, I think c/startrek is doing well. With more Star Trek fans finding their way here.
Do I think c/startrek is sustainable and will continue to grow? Yes. Because Star Trek fans tend to love interacting with other Star Trek fans, and with those new to Star Trek. I have my doubts about there being an all out rush back to r/startrek because the initial reason for leaving wasn't a temporary oopsie, like a technical issue. It was, for me and likely others, because of Huffman's actions and reactions. That was an eye-opener.
I think on some level many people know that they are just commodities to for profit social medias. The end goal is to gather valuable data, and concentrate eyes on certain spots to sell ads. Monetization. There's a facade in place. I think problems arise when that facade is frayed and torn. For me, Reddit's facade is shredded.
I like that here the main goal isn't to target me with ads. And, I'm thoroughly enjoying the interactions here. Yes, there's a lot to Lemmy I haven't learned. Truth be told, I may never learn all or even most about it. However, it only took me a few minutes to figure out the most important things to me on c/startrek -- how to read and make comments.
There will likely be another influx when 3rd party apps die, and further trickling in if more and more moderators hang up the towel and reddit becomes more unmanageable with spam. It is difficult to migrate a whole community at once but I'm sure it will happen slowly, as more people become used to the concept of federation (you would think r/startrek would understand this "federation" though).
More people probably will stay on Reddit, but I like startrek.website so much I joined the patreon which I've never done for anything before.
Lemmy is new and a bit confusing to start with but I really like it. It aligns with my morals and techie side much more than Reddit ever could.
I checked r/startrek last night at was a bit shocked at the hate the mods were recieving for doing what I consider to be morally correct. To each their own I suppose!
The change hasn't even gone into effect yet. Let people deal with the ads and shittiness that is the official app. They'll be looking for alternatives.
I’ve been visiting Reddit since 2006 and had an account there for nearly 17 years. I remember it before subreddits were a thing. It was for tech nerds and other associated weirdos before entering a genuinely charming period for a few years, but those days are long in the past. I’d rather try out something new with a smaller group of interesting people who are also into trying new things, and I hope this site is able to keep chugging along regardless of whatever is happening at Reddit.
Doesn't seem to have died to me. It's actually dramatically more active than it was even days ago. Not sure what you're responding to other than "this thing isn't the same as that thing and I still like that thing".
I'm here, and as long as this community keeps going, I think I probably will remain. Especially since my login is through a community that I am trying to actively participate in growth of.
Keep in mind that they just set new rules that allow them to replace mods who are participating in the blackout. Subs will open again very soon whether their original mods want to or not. The end goal of a protest is to affect change. Not being a part of their system is change. When the content is created by the users, the users have power.
It's going about as expected. Mastodon experienced many waves of new users coming in. A lot of them don't stay, but at lot do. I expect the same thing to happen here.
Whether the original subreddit is reopened or not, there are going to be plenty of people that don't want to go back to reddit, or never were over at reddit in the first place. It's possible this one will die off, but hopefully it won't and will stay its own thing, regardless of the status of the subreddit....
I was incredibly proud of the trek community for boldly going into the new frontier of the internet. Taking the entire subreddit for the ride could have really helped mass adoption of decentralized social networking. I expected the sub to reopen eventually, but I'm pretty disappointed by the reaction of those currently posting in that thread. If any fanbase should be willing to move forward with the times, we should.
"I see no incentive for people to come to this website now "
Well, you are free from any more corporate BS here and back on Reddit you are in the same precarious situation that you were in before. If you go back, you will have to compromise.
As long as there's people contributing quality contents and discussions, this place won't die, although the culture will start diverging from the subreddits.
I think for now if people know about this and they’re fans because of the spirit of Trek, they’ll come here, and maybe both places. But if they’re a casual fan, they’ll likely stick with Reddit. What’s nice about all the drama is the awareness it brought to Lemmy and the Fediverse as a whole. At least more people know they have a choice.
Give it time for sure, OP. I’m new :) I actually made an account 2 days ago, but it was bugging due to server load so I couldnt stay logged on.
Today though, I tried again and it works great, and I’m finding so far, it’s not as complicated as some redditors made it out to be. I think that was the reason for my hesitancy, so I think because of the cautions, people will be slower to try it out
@Nmyownworld, I’m still not able to reply to a reply with Mlem, I’d like to say the same - for me it’s been about trying to find a new place to have conversations in a board that’s diverse, well moderated and values keeping a balance of different perspectives that don’t shout down others.
Being in a conversation with hund of thousands isn’t my main goal. Being in a place where fans of diverse demographics and perspectives can respectfully interact is.
Us vs them, lack of openness to other perspectives seems to have always been where Star Trek fandom falls apart, going back to the early mimeod fanzines. I’m glad you flagged that in your comment.
I’ve been finding the conversations in the fandom increasingly challenging to join into, and had been wondering where I should continue to participate or not. (“The cancel this to give us that because all true fans want what I want!” demands in less well moderated social media have been accelerating.)
Star Trek wasn’t what drew me to Reddit as much as I have enjoyed the conversations there. I wonder where I will be able to have conversations about other hobbies or my local community. So, being motivated to join Lemmy and look around for those from a safe home base is a gift.
In short; The root cause of the protest wasn't enough for the mods to sacrifice their accounts for. Maybe one they'll find something they truly believe in, but this wasn't it.