Eh, it's not all bad. They want a certain tenor to their instance, and don't have the tools to effectively deal with folks who want to screw with that. Lemmy is in a period of exponential growth, and open registration policies seem to be the exception rather than the norm.

If it's an actual problem (I haven't seen anything particularly problematic yet, but I'm your average good natured sh.it.head), they're within their rights to use the few tools at their disposal to calm things down, work with the instances of concern, and retool their approach.

This is all a learning experience for everyone involved. I have no ill-will or butthurt over this move, just disappointment that we can't have nice things right away.

[–] gorkx@kbin.social 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@Cracks_InTheWalls sigh. So basically the jerks that were banned from reddit are trying to ruin things here. and getting themslves banned and a few instance to not talk to eachother till their gone. Oof.

@Puffymumpkins

[–] Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I mean, that's one part of it, but I do recommend reading the link on my comment here if you haven't already. Before the redditors came, moderation was comparatively easy - lemmy traffic was pretty small. Additionally, most instances had (still have) a vetting process to try and weed out the trolls. sh.itjust.works is a free for all in comparison, and that's one of the reasons I love it. Give a username and a password, and you're off to the races (for how much longer, idk).

But imagine you're a Lemmy instance admin in a pre-APIocolypse world. You're building a community with certain values/norms, most everyone is agreeing to play ball, and you've got a nice little group. Then you have a bunch of sh.it.heads sign up. Some of them want to be shitheads. It gets extremely difficult to separate the shitheads from the sh.it.heads, because all of your tools are geared towards managing your previously small, mostly pre-vetted userbase and a small, mostly pre-vetted number of outsiders. End of the day, you're one of only 4 hobbyist admins. So chaos ensues - not even just because of the shitheads, but just the sheer jump in activity in general. And there are some immediate choices to make.

I think this is a good object lesson in the realities of federated services and gaps that need to be addressed to make it as positive an experience as possible. Better to happen now than later. Lots of lessons to be learned over the coming weeks and months.

[–] dameoutlaw@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why do they need to grow a pair? They did what they felt was needed and used the tools at their disposal. Tell the people that caused the issues to act mature and as if they have functioning brains. Not sure how people are at fault for wanting to use the internet in peace and enjoy doing so.

[–] iie@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it's anti-competitive, which goes against the "no one group is in charge" spirit of the fediverse. Beehaw is a large instance with a lot of sway.

[–] jarfil@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

It's not "anti-competitive", it's what freedom of speech looks like: you are free to be a shithead, you are not free to force others to listen to you.

Keep in mind that "defederating" is the opposite to a "site-wide ban" on places like Reddit, the shitheads can still behave any way their admins will let them on their own instance.

There is no "sway" when everyone can start their own instance.