Lemmy is an open-source social network that functions as a global web of independent forums, allowing you to interact with a federation of sites where no single entity holds total control.

Edit: I think it flows a little better without “next-generation” so I removed it.

The decentralized forum for countless communities

Forum for the fediverse

“A forum for the Fediverse” is my preference

it’s decentralized reddit. or better yet, a decentralized network of forums.

i usually make the email analogy, where you can use any provider to access the same email network preventing vendor lock-in, but i don’t think that’s very catchy.

leave it be. there ain’t any one reason for the influx of new users or the absence thereof. do your thing to the best of your ability and if you happen to stumble onto something better along the way, that’s a job for then. for now, it does its job.

“Discuss interesting topics and join communities on the Fediverse.”

IMO it’s better than “link aggregator” because we don’t only share links here, but also images and text.

Communities, free from corporations.

Too long; Didn’t read: Read last paragraph.

We need to understand the target audience if we want to get a good description. Speaking for myself, I would set the target audience to chronically online people who want to leave corporate walldoms, but I’d also choose a type of communication that focus on the actual service instead of comparing it to other serices. I’d not copy paste description from inspiration source. I’d be willing to reimagine what it is that we are developing.

I’d use communication that is less branded, and more understanding of the soul of the service. Its like saying “orange soda” instead of “fanta”, “search engine” instead of “google” or “car” instead of “Toyota”. The difference is by using this kind of language, we move ourselves away from dependency on the producers towards dependency on the tool.

Understanding the soul also requires that we have a culturally connected understanding of that which we discuss. That is to use less technical communication and more down to earth communication. To not play into sophistication. Less abbreviations, less techno jargon, more plain english, more understanding the equivalents of real life. For example, in the Gemini Protocol of small web, they use the word “capsule” instead of “instance”, which it feel more physical and more real. “Instance” on the other hand makes it sound like a computer thing and not related to reality.

About the soul, we should ask ourselves what the service feels like. Lemmy feels like small townhalls, or like a guy in the street yelling “Guys! What do you think of this drawing.” Perhaps a little gossipy or something like that. Ask yourself, what does lemmy feel like for you? Or what do you want lemmy to feel like? From here I choose “townhall” simply because it works for the purpose.

The above example also gives weight to the idea of physicality. When something feels physical, it feels real, and we feel drawn to it. In contrast, the abstract “instance” makes it more of a curiosity. We can talk of “towns”, “homes” or “hives” instead of “instances”. We can talk of “continents” of loosely connected hives instead of fediverse of platforms of instances. From here I choose “hive” because it distinguishes itself clearly to prevent misunderstandings.

With the physicality and smallness of “hive”, we can also encourage small scale thinking. Because no hives has a million bees. If you see a hive of a million inhabitants, you are going to be drawn towards smaller hives.

I’d also center the attention away from platforms and towards the hives and their interconnectedness. In this way we emphasize the decentralization aspect. The willingness to associate with other hives. I frame this as a hive being “open”.

This means we can talk of fediverse instances as open hives. Mastodon becomes shortletter hives, pixelfed becomes open gallery hive, peertube becomes open video hive.

So to be blunt, I’d suggest open townhall hive.

I would honestly drop the “link aggregator” part completely and just call it “discussion forum” or “discussion platform”. “Link aggregator” sounds pretty technical and like it just collects links which seems almost pointless. And the links aren’t even mandatory when creating a post.

Drop the “Fediverse” verbiage, or even “federated”.

You may be speaking to potential instance admins but only those familiar with AP know what federation means. Otherwise it’s a term with no meaning.

Ironically, even “Lemmyverse” means more than “Fediverse”, so “linked together through the Lemmyverse” actually works better.

Lemmy - Free federated open source social media. Find your community now!

Every time I described Lemmy or Reddit to my friends I’ve always said that it’s something like “A forum with more fora inside”, and then I explain the federated part.

Cool stuff from the web & interesting conversations, no charge, and signing up is easier than you’ve been led to believe.