I've tried both [Lemmy and PieFed], and the UX is incredibly unintuitive and unpleasant. The main problem is that it's quite hard to discover content you want while avoiding content you don't, Bluesky at least has really good custom feeds that are easy to add (the default feed sucks). Another big issue is the general site layout, it's hard to figure out how to do things as simple as saving a post for later or how to go back to the feed without being redirected back to the post I'm trying to exit.

Maybe they didn't see the "Feeds" feature in PieFed? The top navigation menus in PieFed are a bit messy. Although shareable blocklists could be cool too, or maybe toxic?

That's excluding the horrible lack of contrast most frontends use, which makes reading and parsing the site elements unnecessarily difficult (no Lemmy, grey text on a grey background is not good for readability).

I like the Lemmy colors, but maybe it should be easier to change, because they might like the darkly-pureblack theme.

Fediverse feels slower, but not in a good way. More of a ‘if I don’t use this for a week, I’ll see new things’. If I log in after 2 or 3 days, I’ll scroll for 10 minutes and see the stuff I saw last time.

Maybe this is a UX issue of not finding the right feed they would like.

I've tried using lemmy and have exactly the same issue. After blocking all the politics stuff, left wing meme stuff and tankie stuff there's bugger all remaining. Even with all the blocks I've made it just seems to be a bunch of toxic left wing people calling each other fascist because of some minor difference in opinion.

I also want nsfw stuff now and then. I hate how censored the internet has become, at least with reddit if I want to see a bit of porn, I can.

Again maybe a UX issue of not presenting what communities they could subscribe to.

I tried twice to join those forums within the Fediverse and I can't get past the captcha test. The fact that you need approval to validate your access doesn't seem designed to encourage you to recommend it.

The captchas on Lemmy are AWFUL, I can't do them either.

(that's the "Medium" difficulty)

Lemmy v1.0 is adding the ability to do invites, so maybe there will be an invite-only instance that gets some momentum, that could be cool. Invite sites seems like a cool old-internet type of culture.

The fediverse stuff is way too complicated for me, Reddit is very easily accessible and actually has active communities for the topics I'm interested in.

Of course these are naturally going to be all negative because they're users that bounced off the Threadiverse, but there's probably hints to what can be improved

Which one do you recommend?

Are they using a 3rd party app like Voyager? It makes a big difference.

most of them no, which is maybe another issue of not showing that's an option, but really the default UIs need to be good

I'm not sure I understand your question.

You're on Lemmy right now so if you're happy with that then stick to it. Or you can try PieFed if you want https://piefed.zip/

Or just stick with Lemmy and try a different app/frontend for it https://join-lemmy.org/apps

I've tried both [Lemmy and PieFed], and the UX is [...]

That's excluding the horrible lack of contrast most frontends use, which makes [...]

IMO both of the UIs are going to feel weird and limited to someone coming from Reddit / Instagram etc. I find that custom front ends like Photon are a lot better for newcomers.

I know Lemmy is working on a completely new frontend.

Fediverse feels slower, but not in a good way. More of a ‘if I don’t use this for a week, I’ll see new things’. If I log in after 2 or 3 days, I’ll scroll for 10 minutes and see the stuff I saw last time.

I have a constant flow of new content, and see something new every time I open it (which is often, after years of having that muscle memory from reddit).

I'm subscribed to a lot of communities + using scaled sort

I also want nsfw stuff now and then. I hate how censored the internet has become, at least with reddit if I want to see a bit of porn, I can.

This one was weird to me. I remember seeing complaints that reddit has been banning and shutting down its NSFW side, while it's accessible here.

I tried twice to join those forums within the Fediverse and I can't get past the captcha test. The fact that you need approval to validate your access doesn't seem designed to encourage you to recommend it.

I want Lemmy to support HCaptcha

Past that, most people are ok with applications once you explain why they're necessary.

Also a lot of social media platforms started out as invite only as marketing strategy lol

Most issues aren't "real" issues, Lemmy and PieFed have great feature-sets. They're issues with UX/presentation and onboarding.

Reddit? The Lemmy alternative?

I won't go there, but someone go into that thread and try saying something good about Lemmy and see if it sticks.

I left a bunch of replies about Lemmy/PieFed, but usually it doesn't work. It's not easy to change peoples' minds.

The reddit UI sucked in the past and sucks more now. The main reason that reddit grew was because of the incredible apps that 3rd parties made like RiF.

Lemmy now has a bunch of mature and efficient apps that are easy to use.

It doesn't work until reddit gets to that specific person's make/break feature and breaks it.

I think it's the default as "active" that screws people up. They think it's stale because they've probably not seen any new content for hours.

first they came for 3rd party apps, and I did not switch because I did not use 3rd party apps

then they came for anonymous users, and I did not switch because I'm always logged in...

A couple of the apps were even made by reddit app devs that abandoned the platform. So some of the lemmy/piefed apps are literally those remade.

Summit

My favourite "feature" is sorting by Top 6 hours and Top 12 hours and actually seeing an end of content

summary: ui is ass and there are no recommended apps on the main page. nothing new we did not know.

I do that as a 20 min recap at the end of the day.

It's the perfect place. Sometimes I even see comments I might've written myself before.

Reddit has a bad reputation due to the quality of the platform itself, and the quality of 'redditors'

Bluesky is a steaming pile of shit if you do not set it to 'following', yet again because of the quality of its users

Lemmy and Piefed both allow you to change the colour scheme

If a user is not seeing enough new content, then they should probably look around more. I still use reddit (it still serves a point for distros, gaming etc), but the vast majority of the time I go there, the screen is blank... because I do not follow many subs.

Social media is not the right place for porn

maybe also because a lot of instances default to "Local" instead of "All"

I genuinely don't care what their feedback is. lol

Well, the platform abandoned them.

I thought it was more to see if it gets deleted like .ml.

Not sure if you have tried the For You algorithm on bluesky but it's really good

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:3guzzweuqraryl3rdkimjamk/feed/for-you

I don’t really want Lemmy to grow it’ll just become shitty

it's kinda funny how they're freaking out over Lemmy and Piefed's "incredibly unintuitive and unpleasant" UX compared to... Reddit?

If they really love the ads, bots, and default feed of Reddit then I'm happy they're staying there. I just hope for their sake they don't get site-banned by an overzealous AI moderator.

the problem is theres barely content on lemmy. while reddit has the SLOPFLEST, and niche content combined.

I’ve tried both [Lemmy and PieFed], and the UX is incredibly unintuitive and unpleasant.

Have they forgotten about old reddit's "idiot filter" UI ?

honestly compared to mastodon I can check Lemmy all day and see new things that are actually interesting.

I recently switched to a PyLova instance (a soft fork of PieFed), and so far this seems the most user-friendly of the three :)

Each to their own I guess; one of the things I like about Lemmy is the default UI - it's like old Reddit refined.

I use Voyager and I feel like it’s easy enough to use and has a great UI.

Sometimes I just use Lemmy with Firefox and that’s when I feel a tad lost. It’s still useable if you put the effort, but it’s clearly not as intuitive as Voyager.

So maybe the Lemmy browser UI should be improved. Also it would be good to have an official Lemmy app for mobile phones as people can get lost with choices.

The problem with the Fediverse is always the onboarding and understanding the basics. Peertube or Lemmy are great but really intimidating for non geeky people.

Also the lack of some content can be problematic. On Lemmy I can find almost everything I want even if some comminities are almost dead, but on Peertube I can only satisfy 1 out of my 4 point of interest (Basketball, Cars and game reviews being the missing one and Linux being the fullfiled one).

RiF is the worst example possible of better UI and "incredible", it was always the ugliest and least nice to use reddit app by far, IMO.
I seriously don't understand how anyone could stand it, it was like trying to use some shitty win95 shovelware compared to most others. Easily one of the ugliest apps I've ever seen too.

If I log in after 2 or 3 days, I’ll scroll for 10 minutes and see the stuff I saw last time.

This is the whole reason I use Lemmy! I hate the endless algorithmic slop feeds designed to ensnare users for as long as possible. Let me reach the end! Let me see how posts I've already seen have developed! Let me be done with a website for any amount of time!!!

I actually left Reddit when they killed 3rd party apps, even though I never found one I liked.

None of them miss the ads? Weird.

As for the NSFW, I don't blame most instance admins for banning it. There IS an NSFW instance, and .world allows softcore stuff. On the actual NSFW instance, there are a few users who post fauxbait exclusively. That is to say, adult women who try to make themselves look like teenagers/prepubescent children. No ink, no piercings, waxed genitals, and completely or nearly flat-chested. Sure, there are legitimate adult women who fit some of those, but do they also wear their hair in pigtails, clutch stuffies or a blankie, or other childlike behaviour? Generally no. I saw an interview with a very interesting young lady who looks 10 or 11 but is in her 20s, and she fights every day to be recognised as a valid adult. I think there are a few people who have illegal content on their drives and they are very careful about what they actually post, and maybe some illegal stuff does get through... IMO, they make the entire NSFW scene look bad, and they are the reason for the 'censorship'.

!lemmyapps@lemmy.world

People will complain no matter what.

Bro Reddit has horrible UI/UX

On UI: dunno if it's a me thing, but it would seem to me as that every site's bad until you get used to it. Piefed for example I find kinda bloated but once I learned where to look, it became much easier to use.

On avoiding content: yeah, requires some patience people usually don't have to block everyone and every place that lowers the quality of the user's feed.

On slower feeds: maybe an autism thing, or maybe because in Mbin, I consume both threads and microblogs, but I feel the opposite, too much to see, enough that I am forced to curate.

On seeing posts again: a bit of a tangent, but both Lemmy and Piefed have post-hiding features. The option is "hidden" in the 3 dots menu of each post, which would imply people are forgetting these 3 dots mean "more options"? Perhaps in this line, having a "more" button like on Mbin would be better?

On porn: FediNSFW. 🕵‍♂

On being complicated: migrating and integrating usually is, but if you do, you need to bear with it.

Would make those comments there if I still had access to my account. Oh well.

I think the UI is better than new reddit
, but if it's more complicated, maybe that'll keep stupid people out. Let them stay on reddit.

Oh no, I upset some redditors.

Mbin. Totally not biased. 🫣

I agree, but what do I know? I've only got a master's in UX.

Also tried checking the post but every Redlib instance I tried is broken, like Reddit itself broke something. RIP.

While changing people's views when they're antagonistic to the ideas shown is an uphill battle, it may help still to those quietly reading the comments.

"Then they came for me"

People are invited to fill whichever niche they find lacking.

I think 2x3 times more active would be nice. I don't want it to become reddit.

The Fediverse does require a little effort, as there is no algorithm spoonfeeding you content. Personally, I like that the barrier of entry requires some human effort as it feels like a natural filter for the sorts of elements we don't want integrating here from platforms like Reddit.

I'm not a big fan of Mastodon, but I never liked microblogging in the first place