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Fedigrow @lemm.ee
threelonmusketeers @sh.itjust.works

How (and when) to consolidate communities? (A guide)

Why consolidate communities?

One of the advantages of a decentralized platform like Lemmy is the ability to create parallel communities on the same topic. "You don't like how a community is being moderated? Go to another instance and start your own community!" (with or without blackjack and hookers)

However, this is a double-edged sword. The creation of multiple communities on the same (or similar) topics can also fragment the userbase, leading to very sparsely populated communities.

How consolidate communities?

While consolidating communities can counteract userbase fragmentation, it is not an easy process for users to do, and so I thought I'd write up and share this guide.

Taking inspiration from @popcar2@programming.dev's excellent blogpost, let's imagine a hypothetical scenario where the pancake userbase on Lemmy is heavily fragmented, could benefit from consolidation.

Step 1: Identify duplicates

Search lemmyverse.net/communities for 'pancakes', as well as common synonyms (hotcake, griddlecake, flapjack). In our hypothetical scenario, we get the following search results:

  • !pancakes@lemmya.net (active)
  • !pancakes@lemmyb.net (inactive)
  • !pancakes@lemmy.food (active)
  • !flapjacks@lemmya.net (inactive)

Open each community on its home instance, note the frequency of posts, and check whether the moderators are active. From this, you will often get a hunch for what might be the best community to consolidate to, but you should still keep an open mind as you proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Solicit input

Create a post on !fedigrow@lemm.ee. The post should contain the following:

  1. A brief reminder on the detriments of userbase fragmentation and the advantages of consolidation.
  2. The list of duplicate communities you've identified for a given topic.
  3. An invitation for discussion and, optionally, your recommendation of a community to consolidate to.

Example post here (electric vehicles).

Once you have posted, create a top-level comment for each community in which you reach out to the moderators, administrators, and contributors for their opinions.

These comments will hopefully spark discussion among the pancake enthusiasts on Lemmy.

If any two communities agree to consolidate, you can move onto step 3.

Step 3: Consolidate communities

When a decision is reached between any two communities, one community can then be closed, and redirect users to the other. You should recommend that the moderator take the following actions:

Changing the community display name is particularly helpful for users when they are searching for communities.

When to NOT consolidate communities?

If there exist two active communities on the same topic, and they have a different significant difference in geographical focus, political leanings, or moderation style, these communities should not be consolidated. This would be an example of the advantages of parallel communities in the Fediverse.

TL;DR:

  • Find all the communities on a given topic (easy)
  • Convince people that consolidation is a good idea (medium)
  • Get people, many of whom may be reluctant to see a community on their home instance locked, to decide on a which community to switch to (challenging)
  • Contact the moderators (or the admins, if the mods are inactive) of each of the n-1 communities and get them to lock each community, with appropriate links to the decided upon community (simple, but tedious)

It can be a bit of a pain-in-the-ass to do properly, and I've seen many more failures than successes, but given the potential benefit for the Fediverse as a whole, I thought I'd write up and share this guide. Feedback is welcome :)

72 comments

  • I believe you will still end up at the same logic as Beehaw on this path. We do not need a micro niches first approach IMO. We don't need c/pancakes. We need ultra liberally moderated and very strong c/food first and foremost. We don't even really need c/3d printing even though I'm a mod there and it is one of the larger communities with regular daily user participation. It could easily be within a DIY, Hobbyist, or Projects community without dominating or detracting from the user base of the broader community. In fact it would probably benefit from the interchange.

    I believe that we try far too hard to replicate reddit when Lemmy is its own thing. The more we embrace that, and build independence as a platform, the more Lemmy can grow of its own accord. We don't need to be just the reddit alternative like some second class bottom feeder. We can be more if we chose to.

    • We don’t even really need c/3d printing even though I’m a mod there and it is one of the larger communities with regular daily user participation.

      I'm surprised about this, I thought that 3D printing was active enough on its own

      Agreed with the rest of your comment.

      • It is only 1-5 posts per day. That would not overwhelm a larger community like a maker space that included CAD, CNC, machining, woodworking, laser cutting, metal casting, optics, electronics, PCB etching and assembly, repair, hacking, upcycling, Arduino, and SBC hardware. All of these overlap in interests to various degrees. If they were a composite, the community would likely feel much more active and engaging where the user is more motivated to share their little projects and interests more actively, especially when their interests overlap spaces where the interest is not specifically in one niche. Plus you get cross pollination of methods and ideas.

72 comments