It’s been my dream to build an alternative to Reddit since back in 2015 when the moderator of a subreddit I was passionate about went completely unhinged (it turns out the mod’s account was likely purchased by a PR firm with malicious intent to astroturf) and there was nothing that could be done about it except plead with the site admins. The admins did absolutely nothing about it, of course.
Lemmy is such a joke that solves none of the problems that Reddit fundamentally has as a social media platform. Like, if every Reddit user packed their bags today and moved to Lemmy, it would solve absolutely nothing. Seeing such a barebones shell version of Reddit (in the form of Lemmy) with none of the community there is actually unsettling and eye opening to the antiquated design Reddit is as a platform.
So it’s been 8 years since I’ve wanted to build an alternative to Reddit but I have nothing to show for it. Turns out what I wanted to build would be a massive undertaking far, far beyond my scope. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Execution is everything. If anyone around here knows how to build it by all means take a stab at it. I should maybe make a write-up or a whitepaper of the dream I have in hopes someone else could build it, but in the meantime I’ll give an elevator pitch that’s a bit too long to be an actual elevator pitch.
The human mind itself is a network, and this network demands quality connection with other human minds. Not just any connection will do. Embrace bubbles. Stop demonizing them. A forced melting pot of irrecoverably opposed ideologies leaves people spiteful and agitated. The most beautiful and interesting species of life evolve in isolation on remote islands. How do you accomplish this on the internet, where any one person can connect to any other person at any time? Personal databases. You start by fingerprinting yourself. Your interests. Your ideals. You do it in a way that’s enjoyable. A little bit of time commitment every day. When you like a video on YouTube, that like gets recorded to your own database which you own and control. You can like videos on any platform, not just YouTube. Same when you dislike a comment on any website. I call this activity “digital gardening”, where you grow the stuff you like and weed out the stuff you don’t. Then, in a decentralized manner, you match make your personal database fingerprint with others around the world and you discover people adjacent to you. You’ll never find someone exactly like you, and that’s a good thing. But you also won’t have to interact with people you constantly have ill wishes towards. It’s in our human nature to make connections like this. These sorts of people are called “friends”. Real friends.
BTW I do think it would be fun to have a slider you can adjust where you can find “islands” of people diametrically opposed to you. But with how this platform I envision works, they wouldn’t be able to see you comment unless people in that community have adjusted their slider as well. You’re completely free to visit communities outside your bubble for as long as you can stomach. Do this when you’re bored. Maybe you’ll learn something. But you can leave anytime and go back to the comfort of home.