4 ms·

I don't really know how this all works, but can't I (a hypothetical human) just create a user account on each disconnected sub-graph? Why is this significant?

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> can't I (a hypothetical human) just create a user account on each disconnected sub-graph Managing multiple identities is challenging. It’s solved-problem challenging, but that implies a single client which sort of defeats the purpose of de-centralising the back end.
dmix 3y ago
Imagine your mom emails you and asks why she can't access her favourite subreddit anymore and you have to explain she now has to make 2 different accounts to access different subreddits. I mean 'instances'. I just picture my own trying to wrap her head around "why". It sounds like a minor hurdle to our demographic but most people are super lazy and bad at juggling online authentications. I would never recommend Mastodon to any non-tech person for that reason (beyond the other UI issues) unless there was a specific niche community they were interested in.
- diggernet 3y ago
  Imagine your mom emails you... And you never receive it, because her email service had defederated from yours. This whole defederation thing is going to guarantee a win for centralized services.
- ric2b 3y ago
  Well, if your mom asks you why she can't view a banned subreddit you can only tell her "tough" or "that community went to that other website", so you can say the same here. But you also have the option of using an instance that didn't ban the community you're interested in, which you don't with reddit.
- orangepurple 3y ago
  You don't need to make 2 different accounts to access different instances unless you want to post.
  - dmix 3y ago
    Or upvote? "You don't need an account on social media unless you want to interact with people on the internet"
- burnished 3y ago
  I can explain it to your mom: "they broke up and stopped talking to each other".
jpk 3y ago
Alternatively, one account on an instance that still federates with both halves of the split could still see content from both sides? One could even do this by running their own instance? Or is there something preventing this?
burnished 3y ago
I think this is 'significant' due to a large volume of people who want Lemmy to be their reddit killer and replacer, regardless of the goals of the project itself.
friend_and_foe 3y ago
Yes, and what's more, you don't need to use a single account to manage an identity and all feeds like you would with a microblogging account, so it's not even a significant source of UX friction. These sorts of applications are tailor made for multiaccount usage, most reddit users even have more than one account to manage different communities.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> can't I (a hypothetical human) just create a user account on each disconnected sub-graph Managing multiple identities is challenging. It’s solved-problem challenging, but that implies a single client which sort of defeats the purpose of de-centralising the back end.

dmix 3y ago

Imagine your mom emails you and asks why she can't access her favourite subreddit anymore and you have to explain she now has to make 2 different accounts to access different subreddits. I mean 'instances'. I just picture my own trying to wrap her head around "why". It sounds like a minor hurdle to our demographic but most people are super lazy and bad at juggling online authentications. I would never recommend Mastodon to any non-tech person for that reason (beyond the other UI issues) unless there was a specific niche community they were interested in.

diggernet 3y ago
Imagine your mom emails you... And you never receive it, because her email service had defederated from yours. This whole defederation thing is going to guarantee a win for centralized services.
ric2b 3y ago
Well, if your mom asks you why she can't view a banned subreddit you can only tell her "tough" or "that community went to that other website", so you can say the same here. But you also have the option of using an instance that didn't ban the community you're interested in, which you don't with reddit.
orangepurple 3y ago
You don't need to make 2 different accounts to access different instances unless you want to post.
- dmix 3y ago
  Or upvote? "You don't need an account on social media unless you want to interact with people on the internet"
burnished 3y ago
I can explain it to your mom: "they broke up and stopped talking to each other".

jpk 3y ago

Alternatively, one account on an instance that still federates with both halves of the split could still see content from both sides? One could even do this by running their own instance? Or is there something preventing this?

burnished 3y ago

I think this is 'significant' due to a large volume of people who want Lemmy to be their reddit killer and replacer, regardless of the goals of the project itself.

friend_and_foe 3y ago

Yes, and what's more, you don't need to use a single account to manage an identity and all feeds like you would with a microblogging account, so it's not even a significant source of UX friction. These sorts of applications are tailor made for multiaccount usage, most reddit users even have more than one account to manage different communities.