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Everyone says that, but I haven't run into any issues and .ml is the main one I use

On r/RedditAlternatives people say e.g.:

1. it's software made and run by tankies
2. it's way more difficult to figure out how to use, than e.g. Reddit, much like Bluesky is easier than Mastodon
3. it looks so much more empty, especially for topics not about using Linux or generic memes - where content at?
4. they don't need apps and will continue so long as Reddit hasn't killed off old-Reddit yet
5. they don't want to bother with change, and their niche sub is where their current community is located, with very few others willing to move, hence they do not either (crabs in a bucket)

Obviously all of these have at least a germ of truth, as well as being mixed in with laziness and believing falsehoods, like that Reddit isn't already changing underneath them, so that even using old-Reddit as they have for years, it's not the same anymore as it was.

Also, Lemmy isn't doing well in terms of adding new features to capitalize on attaining more users - e.g. in many ways the software here is even more authoritian than there, since while there is a modlog there is no modmail, no notification upon removal or locking of your content (notice the similarity here to being shadow-banned?), and the modlog simply says "mod", so there is zero recourse to understand or appeal a mod decision. Plus lemmy.ml routinely instance-bans people from communities that they've never even heard of, for a single criticism of something going on in Russia, China, or North Korea (which ofc would be perfectly understandable for a rule violation, except that's never stated anywhere in any rule set!?!?!? how are people supposed to follow the "rules" when nowhere are they ever written down!?).

And don't even get me started on the TROLLS here!!!! That is the express purpose (this one even written down, tbf!:-) of Hexbear, to have the opportunity to "dunk" on liberals - which itself is totally fine, so long as both parties give consent to it, but the trouble comes when it spills out from those communities, or when someone stumbles into them by replying to a post seen in the All feed, without the ability to read the side-bar text first explaining what it is all about.

Lemmy requires ENORMOUS efforts to curate someone's feed, by blocking users, communities, and even whole entire instances (speaking of, the Lemmy feature that "does that" actually does not do that - it would have been better named as a community mute, since it still allows users from the instance to appear in communities not located specifically on that instance), and in the meantime people get bullied and name-called for their beliefs. Surprise: most normies do not enjoy that happening to them, hence just walk away rather than put up with all the gaslighting and other crap coming at them from Lemmy users. We aren't terribly welcoming here, in many ways.:-(

Because the user experience didn't change, so it wqsn't obvious unless you kept up with specific news.

Also, it's still where all the porn is.

They've also really amped up the content moderation bots and are on the warpath for anything perceived to be bot accounts. Shadow bans are being given out for accounts that are hours old and haven't even posted.