Where we came from

In the beginning there were the forums, and the forums were many. We flew freely between communities where we could share builds, advice, tech, and stories. We were resilient; if one host went down the others absorbed the lost traffic. We lacked certain conveniences but we had good fun. All was well.

Then came reddit, a then-unconventional website founded on bold ideals, a customizable feed that combines content from any number of interests and sorts by “hot,” a smooth and user-friendly aggregator of many conveniences. Growth was slow at first because people did not understand reddit; then it was faster. Then it was faster still. We and many other communities became centralized. Volunteers contributed tools and bots to make reddit great out of love for the communities that it hosted. We had convenience and a host that we could count on. All was well.

Then spez mucked it all up.

In a scheme to improve profits he changed reddit in ways that lost accessibility and moderation features. We protested and were dismissed us with lordly disdain. Our anger and his heavy-handedness of his “solutions” grew in lockstep. This story is ongoing as I type this, but I know one part of the outcome for sure: we can never fully trust reddit again.

Lemmy is a now-unconventional network of websites founded on bold ideals, a user-friendly system that offers the conveniences of reddit while having a hidden true form much like the ancient forums. Growth has been slow because people did not understand Lemmy - but it is becoming faster.

We have good reason to be hopeful.