Human Web CollectiveSo, is it getting quieter here in the # Fediverse ; is it even dying?
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Martin Holland
So, is it getting quieter here in the #Fediverse; is it even dying? That I don’t know, but I can add some data: At least for @heiseonline it seems to be the opposite; the number of comments and likes keeps on growing.#Mastodon #SocialMedia @fediverse
I think we need to ask this question separately for the microblogging fediverse and the “threadiverse” (i.e. Lemmy-compatible communities).
The microblogging fediverse isn’t dying, I scroll through it every day, it’s one of my main sources of news (some of which I then post on Lemmy). I wouldn’t be able to keep up with much more than what I currently get into my feed there.
The threadiverse meanwhile could definitely use much more activity. I hope it eventually becomes a place to discuss even the most niche topics imaginable, like web forums in their era…
!fedigrow@lemmy.zip tries to assess the activity levels of regular posters, and it’s a bit quiet lately sometimes indeed
What we can probably expect is some consolidation of inactive or barely active communities to get more activity in one place
Same. Mastodon is pretty good and useful. Lemmy is pretty meh.
I tried to get into Mastodon but it just feels awkward for whatever reason to me. For myself, I prefer this somewhat anonymous thread style of the fediverse.
Mastodon is great if you follow people you have have actually met IRL.
The threadiverse feels as active as usual imho. We still can’t really attract non-early adopters (i.e. privacy and FOSS enthusiasts), but the next reddit exodus is inevitable at some point.
I dunno, look at all that the Musk does to X (or better yet, don’t) but then people remain stuck on that platform, held hostage by the network effect or whatever other reason. Enshittification has progressed far enough that Lemmy is not well regarded on Reddit, a fact enhanced by posts talking about it being removed. People may be cutting back on Reddit, but they do not seem to be bringing those discussions here. Perhaps people are discoursing more IRL rather than social media.
Or Facebook, Facebook groups are massively popular
@Die4Ever @OpenStars
If you so dislike what Reddit is doing that you quit it, why would you be okay with FB?
FB is still where the normies are, if you want to stay marginally up-to-date on status of family and whatnot without actually talking to them…you do that on facebook
I guess people leave Reddit for all different reasons, or mostly it’s about new users starting with Facebook groups instead of Reddit
There seems to be a January effect of sorts, being the highest peak of both years. Is journalism more interesting in January, are people bored in winter after Christmas, is it random, or is something else going on? Could be interesting to know. I’d love to see whether this happens again in 2026.
My interpretation of usage trends is that the novelty is wearing off, and the people left using these sites are largely just using them normally. Less and less content is meta-discussions about being here and not being elsewhere. Of course some users leave as the novelty wears off, but enough seem to have stayed that I’m pretty optimistic it won’t go back to being a dusty corner reserved for only the biggest open source fanatics.
Oh, and here’s the graph of comments over time, as only the first picture federated to where I’m reading from:
@rimu@piefed.social - I’m assuming this is a known bug :)
I wonder if it’s New Year’s resolutions to quit Reddit?
Either way, I like it here.
As this is a graph of comments and likes to posts by @heiseonline@social.heise.de - who don’t post to Lemmy/Piefed - it’s probably not related to Reddit. But quitting X is also a good new years resolution I guess. :)
They definitely do post some of their posts directly into threadiverse communities, but xes most of the measured interactions here will by masto etc software
I didn’t realize—that’s pretty cool!
Huh, didn’t realize it was a cross post
@panda_abyss @cabbage
I always thought, that there's no month, where less people are on vacation, and that's why so many are reading the news.
For us as a tech magazine, it's also CES which is in January.
Both are good explanations, thanks!
@mho @heiseonline @fediverse well, my fediverse timeline isn’t dying for sure! 😀
And I always enjoy reading your stuff here and also just recently discovered some more of your colleagues here thanks to that author feature!
It might be more like users are consolidating.
For the past few years, one of the only ways for most people to join different parts of the fediverse was to create multiple accounts for multiple instances. I had to do that over the past couple of years in order to join whatever instance using whatever platform that I happened to be on. On top of that, at the start, I wasn’t sure what the platform I was on was like or whether or not I wanted to stay with it, so I created a burner account. So when I started heavily using the fediverse two or three years ago, I had a ton of accounts, most of which were just short lived accounts because I didn’t know I wanted to stay with any one instance or platform.
Mbin… Kbin … was a famous example … it started out as a promising alternative to a reddit like system and I started a couple of accounts there, only for the whole thing to die off and becomeKbin.. Mbin … [EDIT: I got Kbin and Mbin mixed up - thanks @Blaze@piefed.zip ]So for the longest time, I’ve always been cautious and just started temporary or burner accounts everywhere because I wasn’t sure it would last. Now everything is maturing and I’m feeling more and more confident every day and now I spend almost all my time on the fediverse. Which means I’m using fewer accounts and the accounts I’m using are becoming permanent
Nice comment
just FYI, it’s the other way around
Oh nice … I screwed up … sorry about that … in addition to missing out on Kbin, I was so discouraged by them dying out that it took me a while to get back to them as they became Mbin
Will correct my original comment … thanks
@mho @heiseonline @fediverse
To be honest, I rarely look anything up on heiseonline (never commented). Simply for lack of time. Perhaps this is true for many. Many people rarely looking make some wiggly graph. Right?
If, however, you would be plotting a year-to-year comparison per month, the plot would look even more compelling.
The Fediverse is improving. Slowly. Not as fast as the enshittification elsewhere.
@rupdecat @heiseonline @fediverse
I don't understand: This is a year-to-year comparison by month.
I think they mean comparing Jan 2023 with Jan 2024 and Jan 2025. Then seperately Feb 2023 with Feb 2024 and Feb 2025. Etc.
@mho @heiseonline @fediverse The lack of consistent federation between microblogging and threadiverse doesn't help either. For example on microblogging I can't see the comments from @Blaze towards @schnurrito because they were announced by the @fediverse to everyone, but mastodon just ignores it unless it's address to the OP.
@db0@hachyderm.io said in So, is it getting quieter here in the #Fediverse; is it even dying?:
> For example on microblogging I can’t see the comments from @Blaze towards @schnurrito because they were announced by the @fediverse to everyone,
Wait, doesn’t that mean you should see it? If a user on the Mastodon server is following the category then they should receive a copy of everything.
In fact it’s that they shove every boost into the home feed that is the problem…
Yes, but if you don’t follow the community/category and stumble onto the post some other way (for example someone reposted it), then you wont see any of the comments
Iirc. you’ll see comments towards the OP only (i.e. root comments, and replies to the OP explicitly). You will also not see comments non-OP microbloggers will send towards threadiverse users on other instances than where the community is in.
Okay, that’s fair. The hard requirement for a microblog user to have to follow the community is often too high a barrier (if only because it’s not immediately apparent that this needs be done)
That said, Mastodon gets around patchy federation with mention spamming. Threadiverse gets around this with the distributor model (the community itself).
I don’t know how to reconcile this from a technical perspective… yet.
Also @db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com this is in response to you as well.
I honestly feel if the two paradigms did a little bit of effort on interoperation, we could figure this out. But all sides of this atm are like “the other side is doing it wrong” and refusing to look at this.
You’re absolutely correct! (Great, now I sound like ChatGPT)
That said I think that’s where implementations like NodeBB and Mbin can apply a bit of pressure and act as intermediaries… we want federation to work well too, and we have to straddle both federation styles!
That gives a somewhat unique perspective on problems and solutions.
@mho @heiseonline @fediverse Auch hier bei uns ist ein leichter, aber stetiger Anstieg messbar.
I feel like there’s some kind of a ripple going through the Fediverse. Here’s my answer from a week ago
@mho @heiseonline @fediverse
Auch auf unserer Instanz ist die Aktivität weiterhin hoch und steigt seit Monaten.