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It is not Lemmy or kbin, it is the fediverse.

I don't think many people understand that if they use Lemmy or kbin, they are posting to the fediverse. There are other platforms and will be more to come. Referring to a post on "Lemmy" or "kbin" is like saying you saw a post on your Windows or Mac computer.

We should be referring to it as...

  • I saw it on the fediverse.
  • Hey fediverse users ...
  • A thread on the fediverse...

New terms may emerge but referring to the platform seems weird, almost ignorant.

edit: A better example is email. You wouldn't assume everyone is on Hotmail because that is the email provider you use. You say I'm sendingan eamail, not I'm sending a Hotmail.

133 comments
  • I think it's more like saying, "I saw this on my phone," or, "I was on the computer and read," which are both entirely reasonable.

    It's just stating what format you were using when you saw it. Like, "I was scrolling through Google News and read..." What you actually read was an article hosted on a different website, but you were using the platform of Google News to read it. It's the same kind of thing as saying, "I read on Lemmy," because you were browsing Lemmy when you read something.

    It's not wrong to say that these things are on this site. I often specify Lemmy.World because that's the instance that I use and other Fediverse sites function slightly differently. That's one of the both great and annoying things about the Fediverse is how every instance is slightly different. I'll say, "I was on Lemmy.World and..." I don't know, saw a post, made a post, had trouble because mod controls are minimal over here, whatever. Saying, "On the Fediverse," is more generic. It's usually considered best convention to go with more SPECIFIC terms than generic. I consider using my Mastadon account and using my Lemmy account to be different, but they're both on the Fediverse. I would feel really weird talking about my Mastadon account in the same terms as my Lemmy.World one since I use the two platforms completely differently.

  • Personally I think "fediverse" is a stupid fucking name. I'm tired of "-verses". I'll keep saying kbin, thanks.

    • No 😠 you are not allowed! This is FeDiVeRsE!

      /s

      Seriously tho, OP is dumb as hell lol

  • The thing is just because something is posted to the fediverse doesn't mean everyone can see it. For example, we don't see most Mastodon posts on Lemmy.

    • I think the portmanteau "threadiverse" works for this situation and it's what I've been using to refer to anything in the general Lemmy/kbin side of the fediverse, but I think people just referring to the platform is inevitable. People talk about posts "on Mastodon" even though there's like 15 different services you can use to post to the blogging side of the fediverse, like Pleroma, pump.io, etc. It's worth thinking about in situations where you're like "Hi Lemmy" because you're definitely talking to more than just Lemmy, but any time you're talking about your personal experience of where you saw a thread I think it's perfectly accurate to use the name of that platform rather than having to say you saw it "on the fediverse".

    • @Jilanico you're seeing this Mastodon reply though. hi!
      @Cat

  • I personally like to call it "Fedi". I was reading a post / thread on Fedi and it said...
    If someone asked where exactly it was I would mention the platform.
    And in my opinion, everyone should be mentioning the name of the platform they are on. Because when you mention what software or server you used, it promotes it to non Fediverse people. And it also tells current Fediverse users about other Fedi platforms that they may like, and didn't know about.
    That's how I found Misskey, and it's quite cool.
    So many options to explore, and try out interfaces that may work better for you.

    We are all on the Fediverse, we all should be promoting that in any way we can.
    Share, educate and take pride in our diverse community.

  • I say "Lemmy" or "Kbin" unless I wanna refer to both then I say the Fediverse.

  • Personally I agree, but we all know what someone means when they say "posting on Lemmy" etc. I simply make it a point to refer to it as "the fediverse" in my own posts. Eventually people will catch onto the right terminology, especially as more software platform options become available for the Fediverse ... like Threads (though those ppl will probably always call it Threads because that will be all they know and understand of it).

133 comments