I don’t think people will share usernames, but they’ll say “go here to use Lemmy”

I just think it will organically happen.

People will happen to join one server, they get their friends to join that server, and before you know it, it’s naturally become the most popular one. Because people have signed up to that one, they also start making their own communities on there.

Then it shows up as the first result when people google “Lemmy”, and carries on growing larger than the others.

The best way I see of avoiding that, is having servers that focus on a topic I.e. sports, tech, memes, porn, knitting etc.

That would prompt people to use different servers, but also keep some logic and organisation.

To be honest, I think a main server isn’t just required to build a decent user base, I think it’s inevitable no matter what.

That being said, the benefit I see from Lemmy is that if people are unhappy with the main server, it’s an easy switch to something else. And not completely migrating to an entirely different platform.

I absolutely do not think that the admins made Reddit successful.

However, I think a degree of centralisation is required to enable growth and bring a wider audience in. And without that, Lemmy is at risk of fizzling out or just never reaching a decent user base.

I think communities “fusing” like you mentioned would be a good idea, but I still think one server needs to stand out from the rest as a place for people to join.

Most people in this thread seem to be content with Lemmy not being Reddit though, and I just don’t think they realise how quiet it’s going to be if new users trying to leave Reddit aren’t snapped up ASAP.

Personally, if I go to a community and there are 5 posts a day with only a few comments, then that seems utterly pointless and I won’t be coming back. I imagine some people will give me shit for that and say that I should be the change I want to see, while also being the exact same and likely giving up on Lemmy after a few weeks.

That makes sense, it just seems that a lot of people are expecting Lemmy to replace Reddit, when it isn’t up to that task and isn’t what it’s designed for.

If people want it to be close to Reddit, then I think a ‘flagship’ server is the only option, but it seems like even that is fitting a square peg into a round hole, and isn’t something that anyone is taking responsibility for.