What’s missing from Lemmy that would make it unattractive to the average user?

I don’t think it’s always easy to pinpoint UX issues and user friction. Sometimes these things just don’t stick with mainstream users. I say it’s worth a try to see which platform the average Reddit user will prefer.

But if you’re gonna use from a phone, Lemmy’s selection of mobile apps is unbeatable.

https://piefed.fediverse.observer/list

The rate of growth does matter yea. If an instance gets worried, they can lock signups. Slow growth means the software has time to improve as they notice issues.

Lemmy had many issues scaling before, except Lemmy had huge surges with the Reddit API blackouts.

If people start recommending PieFed now, it’s on their own terms instead of a massive wave. They can backoff if they get too many users.

I think it’s unlikely that they would attract such a large number of users with 1 post on r/RedditAlternatives or something. Lemmy gets spammed everywhere and we usually don’t even gain 1000 users a day overall across all instances.

There’s already been some comments about PieFed and they didn’t result in huge surges.

We have data on what it costs to run a sizeable instance of Lemmy and it’s not a lot. How does Piefed compare? Anyone starting an instance who envisions it growing large has to contend with this question.

I don’t think this is a major concern yet. The largest PieFed instance has 308 active users, 2nd place has 34. They’ve got room to grow.

https://piefed.fediverse.observer/list

People can start posting about PieFed on Reddit and see how the Reddit users react.

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Does it make sense to host your own instance of lemmy for one user?

Not really lol, but if you think it will be fun then go for it