• AbnormalHumanBeing@lemmy.abnormalbeings.spaceEnglish
      0·
      17 days ago

      As someone who runs their own Lemmy instance, I do. People tend to join up with large instances, thus making the whole “decentralised” aspect a bit ambivalent and the system more prone to single points of failure…

      But I also understand why - while my instance indeed has lots and lots of resources still available - there are many real-life advantages of choosing instances with established mod- and admin teams and an active community.

      • Coelacanth@feddit.nuEnglish
        0·
        16 days ago

        there are many real-life advantages of choosing instances with established mod- and admin teams and an active community.

        This is the thing here, like, for most casual users “decentralisation and spreading the load” is not just far down the list of priorities, it’s literally nonexistent. Content, uptime, reliability, active moderation and low risk of the instance just disappearing one day is what they care about. It’s unfortunate, but I really don’t see a way around it.

        • Blaze (he/him) @lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          0·
          16 days ago

          Lemmy.zip does an amazing job with reliability and transparency, see their latest report https://lemmy.zip/post/35411310?scrollToComments=true

          They still aren’t that popular, 12th with 740 MAU https://lemmy.fediverse.observer/list

          Programming.dev had a database corruption issue for 4 months (see !meta@programming.dev ), 1098 MAU. And I’m not saying that people should leave PD, but that issue was concerning for quite a while.

          I think on top of what you said, people just don’t want to move and only do so when the instance actually goes down.

          • Coelacanth@feddit.nuEnglish
            0·
            16 days ago

            Well yes, I was thinking more along the lines of what makes people gravitate to the already big servers when they first create an account. When people are already somewhat established there is another form of friction, or more like inertia. Like you say, people just don’t want to move once they’ve settled down somewhere. Even though it’s very easy to switch instances, and with no karma to care about there is nothing keeping you.

            • OpenStars@piefed.socialEnglish
              1·
              16 days ago

              Name recognition, for one.

              A proven track record, for another, and less likelihood to shut down. Many smaller instances legit did shut down over the years - like I recall one I was wondering if I should join, dmv.social, that chose to shut down during the waves of CSAM attacks, just prior to the automated tool that dbzero created to save the Fediverse.

              Smaller instances may also have lesser hardware and less technically-capable admins maintaining it.