4d ago

Another Redditor gives up on Lemmy due to signup issues

old.reddit.com

Reddit Isn't Safe

https://old.reddit.com/r/50501/comments/1jg6r8o/reddit_isnt_safe/mj6qhaw/?context=10000

Already signed up. Got the login verification email, followed through and did the security thing, “type the word from our sidebar below” passed all that and can not login.

I appreciate that but don’t bother. I tried with the instance listed in this post and still got the same login issues even after receiving the email to login and passing the security check etc. I deleted the app. I’ve tried enough times and never had any success so I won’t be trying again.

I think they signed up at 50501.chat.

It's a shame that Lemmy is missing out on new users just due to signup issues.

89 comments

Meh, oh well. Good luck to them.
You can never expect perfection on any service. Especially a non for profit. It takes time and sometimes technical difficulties.
Also, there's a bunch of other instances to try or even trying to find contact information should have been first instinct.

Hey, one of the instance admin here of 50501.chat
Sadly, our SMTP provider is giving issues with holding emails. I have reached out to everyone affected and they should be able to re-sign up. I hope this does not deter people from signing up again on the instance :)
We try to be balanced but its hard to keep bots/bad actors at bay vs open-ness.
- Thanks for chiming in with an update! Hope things go well.
  I hope this does not deter people from signing up again on the instance :)
  I hope so too. Looks like we might have lost one, though :)
- Glad to hear, good luck with this!
  How are you finding Lemmy so far?

Frankly? Good.
I hate to be the asshole, but if someone is either that stupid, or that unwilling to put in even the most basic effort, I don't want them here.
My mom signed herself up for lemmy. In her early seventies, kinda ignorant of tech stuff, and did it all on her lonesome. So did my 12 year old niece. So did my cousin with Downs.
Yeah, a kid with downs syndrome could manage to sign up for lemmy. Didn't need any help beyond "hey, hairball, which lemmy?". That's it. Just wanted to know what instance he should pick.
But he sure as fuck got logged in just fine.
So, when I see these people on reddit that can't be bothered to do what you would do on any website that you have trouble logging into, I'm perfectly fine with them not being here. They aren't going to be bringing anything useful with them at all.
- The fact that this trash comment got 60 up votes IS the main issue.
  A large group of Lemmy actively wants to stay a elitist circle jerk...
  
  This is going to be a big problem because like it or not, it is the large group of "laugh and upvote" people who make platforms successful, the ones who never create content or have strict dedication, yet still influence the platform by way of voting patterns and occasional comments.
  Without these people the platform ends up being emptier, and less people will want to create content when they get less attention. So the elitist attitude that "They need to be dedicated to join, fill out the application to determine your worthiness" ends up hurting the Fediverse much more than it helps it.
  
  TIL that expecting a tiny slither of effort from participants is "elitist"
- I have many people in my disability support groups I recommended lemmy too and they were unable to use it.
  (Our disability comes with severe cognitive problems and reduced energy, and trying to sign up was too much)
  
  Well, ngl, my disability/chronic pain support group doesn't run high to cognitive troubles. There's some, but it isn't a majority.
  That being said, the only questions I've had are where about which version of a community to use. Like how there's a handful of C/s for a topic, which ones are worth using. Even the MS folks with significant brain fog haven't expressed any issues getting started.
  But it may be a thing where some cognitive issues are more likely to have trouble with the signup process than others, I dunno.
- What a juvenile and elitist attitude. It's a fucking link aggregator, not a litmus test for someone's intelligence or value. Grow the fuck up.
- I'm not sure, I've met some lovely people whose technical incompetence is nothing short of incredible. And if you try signing up for an instance you've been recommended and the sign-up process is broken, I understand that it can be disheartening.
  Sure, Reddit is full of bad actors who just want to discredit alternatives, and clearly these people are not trying hard and they probably don't completely understand what Lemmy is, but I think it's still worth listening to their concerns.
  At this point I'm willing to believe your mother and cousin with downs are both more likely to figure things out than the average 20-something, for the simple reason that they are not used to everything being so goddamn easy and not offering the slightest resistance. When you see the discourse on Reddit, a lot of people seem to be unaware of the difference between platforms and apps. Which shouldn't be a problem, if they can contribute to a meaningful discussion about whatever they do have an interest in.
  
  Agreed
- This is wrong and bad and not the way. It should be easy. The entire Fediverse should be the easiest to use, not the hardest.
  
  I'm not sure how a subjective opinion can be wrong, but whatever.
  It is easy to use.
  Seriously, the only difficulty is in being patient. That's it. It takes some instances longer to approve an account than others, which can mean it'll be a big longer after that before you can log in.
  Like, I just made an alt account for this user name recently took overnight to be able to log in. No weird crap, just patience. I've had to wait longer on independent forums for hobbies. Same experience with a recently made alt of my author user name, only it took maybe an hour before I could log in.
  There's zero difficulty in the process that isn't also present everywhere online.
  Lemmy is a community driven, usually small admin team network. Big whoop, a little delay. It isn't like you can't scroll passively while you wait. You have access to that much, and if someone has the sense to do that, then maybe they have the sense to pay attention to instance and community rules as well.
  
  As someone who still uses these occasionally : It's much easier to use than Reddit, Facebook or Twitter without their privacy invading apps. Their browser experience is laughably bad on smartphones (especially Reddit which is barely functional, and that is not an exaggeration), Lemmy is buttery smooth by comparison, even if we take in consideration the occasional home instance/federation hiccups.
- Yeah I’m torn. I agree that the Lemmy onboarding process should be easier. But a BIG part of me also agrees with you. I hate the defeatist attitude people have -me being your average person with limited tech experience who was able to figure it out. I didn’t feel frustrated, I felt excited learning about Lemmy and its features, and the Fediverse as a whole.
  Don’t care for people who complain about their situation then do nothing about it.
  
  I don't see it as a defeatist attitude about their situation. It's more about how they heard lemmy is a viable alternative, so are checking it out. That first interaction is a test drive. If it's janky at all, it gives the impression that lemmy less smooth of an experience, so go back to the perceived superior site. Using the site that offers the smoother experience is what they're doing about their situation.
- My bigest hurdle was choosing instance. I get paralyzed by not obvious choices.
  
  I had the same problem. I just went with .world as the "default" and then spent some time learning about the different instances and moved to dbzero.
  In all of it, I never had any problems.
- Came here to say essentially the same thing. It's not that we don't want those people here, everyone is welcome, but it's a community effort.
  It is a little disappointing, this person clearly had enough motivation to want to climb out of the walled garden, and this place exists specifically to be a home for such people. But I don't think we should be too upset or hard on ourselves. It was never going to work out. This person came here with a set of expectations that were never going to be met.
  Their first instinct after coming across an issue was to throw the concept of Lemmy into a volcano and take to an external platform to act like we owe them a refund. If that tiny amount of jank is enough to send them into an indignant tailspin, this is definitely not a place where they would thrive.
  Maybe they'll find the resilience to try again later when reddit bans them for even mentioning the word "lemmy".
- that unwilling to put in even the most basic effort, I don’t want them here.
  That's the sort of gatekeeping that keeps a service as a tiny niche forever.
  
  I would think that my comment makes it obvious, but I'm okay with that. Lemmy is working fine. Piefed and mbin interact with it seamlessly in most cases. Mastodon links up okay.
  Niche is working. Not everything has to be market dominating
  
  There is a difference between someone keeping a gate, and someone not caring enough to learn how to open a latch on a gate.
  The user from the post could have asked if anyone knew why it wasn't working, asked for help, tried a different instance, googled the reason why that might be occurring, tried a different browser, or any number of things, but instead they just hit the first speed bump and decided to get out of the car.
  For that user to have been gate kept, they would have had to have asked a lemmy user for help, to which the lemmy user refused to help them. This did not happen. The only person remotely gate keeping that user is themselves.
  
  Eternal September is the goal?

Idk, I'm on lemm.ee because I tried sh.itjust.works and just never got an email. It is frustrating when it happens
- Hey there! I'm sorry that you didn't receive the activation email. Can I ask how long ago this was? I recently changed our email provider and want to make sure it wasn't after the fact. Thanks!
  
  change your url to sh.itdont.work
- I accidentally did one for ml and world's and never got a response, realized those are authotarian sites
  
  Really dodged a bullet with ml

Could just be paid actor. Reddit has been ticking off all the other red flags already, so why would it not try and destroy reputations this way?

What a wimp. I couldn't sign up on my first instance so I lurked for a week and tried another instance. Just think of how much the fediverse would be saved of my pleasant quips if I gave up so easily

On Reddit you see tons of people giving up due to signup issues, usually due to emails I think. Instance admins should really double check their process and make sure it's all working often.
And the app devs too, if you can signup through the app gotta make sure it works on instances with captchas/email verification/etc

I had a similar issue, if I wasn’t determined to promote this place as a Reddit alternative then I likely would have stopped trying too lol. For what it’s worth, the Voyager app changed its recommendations for signing up.
Still, it’s a bit silly all of these servers have people write any blurb about joining or about obeying the rules before they’re let in. Most of the rules I’ve read don’t even specifically mention what they want you to say to be able to join the server. It may be preventing some bots, but many real users are getting stopped by this. I believe a good UX does not try to create arbitrary barriers of entry for new users.
- This is the only instance I could login to, I don't know ml and world's which I never got a response is are political instances

I had the same thing happen (50501.chat) I answered all their questions and got denied.
Considering their situation it's an odd behavior
I've made tons of Lemmy accounts with no issue on different instances

missing out on new users just due to signup issues.
George Carlin has a lot to say about half the people on the planet.

Seems more like an issue with shitty 3rd party apps then lemmy itself.
- Seriously, boost is less than beginner friendly. Took me some figuring out a few weeks ago

Good. Let the stupids hit the darwinian great filter of "figure out how to make an account with more than 2 brain cells" and never make it here. Will hopefully mitigate yet another eternal September.
- Ugh, fuckin Reddit losers

.
- ?
  
  (☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞

Does Mbin or Piefed have the same issues? I know you guys prefer Lemmy, but if Lemmy keeps alienating people because signups don't work, then maybe it's time to recommend one of those two instead of bleeding potential newcomers.
- Interstellar is only available on Android.
  Piefed still doesn't have mobile apps.
  I'm not that attached to Lemmy myself, but mobile apps are a deal breaker for a lot of users
  
  I really hope mbin or piefed add support for lemmy's api.
  
  Oh, I didn't consider that one.
  
  I still haven't tried to use Lemmy in a mobile app, I just use the web interface.
- I would be interested to see if the Reddit crowd is more receptive to Mbin or PieFed

Who cares

When i signed up it was a little buggy under safari (captcha mostly) but everything was fine when i switched to firefox. Then i waited about an hour or two for what looks like manual input from an admin and everything was fine.

Oh no. Anyway.

Good. If you can't overcome the tiniest of technical barriers to use Lemmy, then Lemmy is probably better off without you.
- Seems like a feature, not a bug if you ask me.

I'll say it again and again, the mistake was decentralizing the front-end as well as the back-end.
- Oops, the frontend went down and now all the links are broken.

Most of these people are too stupid or didn't even try. No one cares blud

89 comments