cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1119656

The [email protected] community on this instance thrived for a while and reached almost 19k subscribers very rapidly and it was very active.

Recently the Reddit mods of r/Android created another community with a few hundred members on another different instance where they are mods and that one was then astroturfed on c/android by a person seemingly unrelated to that community’s mods.

Apparently some discussions then took place between owners of both communities and the mods of [email protected] community then unilaterally closed the community, thus, according to their own sticky notice, succumbing to the flawed reasoning that the Reddit mods are “more experienced” and therefore the rightful representatives of an Android community.

I find this behavior sad and it just shouldn’t be allowed here for two reasons:

  • this sets the precedent for more Reddit mods to just come and claim “ownership” of communities by bullying existing ones into closing;
  • does not respect the almost 19k subscribers who didn’t even have a say in this, and especially those who had already expressed that they joined [email protected] because they did NOT want to be moderated by the old Reddit mods.

[email protected] needs to be reopened now and the mods removed since they expressed that they no longer want to moderate a community on lemmy.world.

  • ijeff@lemdro.id
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    1 year ago

    Crossposting my comment here, as I just noticed the conversation has moved to this thread.

    I think you’re mistaken on a few things here:

    1. The offer was not made behind closed doors, nor was there intimidation. You can see the offer here. Ultimately, moderating depends on a lot of effort by many volunteers. Lemmy moderation tools aren’t quite there yet and we need each others’ help to keep these communities safe and informative.
    2. It’s a good thing to share the burden. Ruud and team are making outstanding efforts to keep lemmy.world operational, but this is very costly and arduous work. It’s a good thing to distribute that load across multiple servers.
    3. We’re working to encourage more communities transition from Reddit to Lemmy. For those of us around for the Digg to Reddit migrations (both the 2007 and 2010 waves), we’re hopeful about helping solidify Lemmy’s place going forward while challenging the current Reddit administrator’s overbearing approach to communities for the sake of business interests. We have nothing to gain from volunteering. We just like to help foster the types of communities we ourselves like to be part of.
    4. Lemmy works differently from Reddit. This is perhaps the most important point that I think some folks migrating from Reddit might misunderstand. You do not need to be on the same instance as the community you’re accessing! In fact, [email protected] exists within Lemmy.world. Nobody needs to make a new account, and nobody is leaving. That’s the beauty of the Fediverse!
    • AlmightySnoo 🐢🇮🇱🇺🇦@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Look, this all leaves a bad look on your new instance while all of this could have been handled much more smoothly without the need for astroturfing a few days ago (I know you claim the user isn’t affiliated with you, but it still felt weird that literally after that you answer with another ad for your instance “it’s not us we’re sorry, anyway here’s why you should join us”) and then coordinate this shameless closure of [email protected] over your private chat. It could have been handled in a friendly way just like many c/Technology communities coexist across instances without the need for one to feel the need to extinguish all the other "Technology"s.

      • ijeff@lemdro.id
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        1 year ago

        That will be a decision for lemmy.world admin to decide. However, I think it’s important that mergers be considered distinct from closures/abandonment. Previously on Reddit, moderators would sometimes merge their teams to keep up with workloads. This would mean locking one subreddit. If such a community were to be requested on r/redditrequest, it would be denied because it wasn’t abandoned, but instead repurposed as a way to redirect members.

        Opting to fulfill such requests would be more in line with the current Reddit admin approach of overriding existing moderators. It’s a valid path to take, but one that I would be very hesitant to support. I think a community could be opened up if truly abandoned (i.e., the place it redirects has been retired and the moderators are no longer logging into the Fediverse).

        • trouser_mouse@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          It’s definitely a complex issue - and totally agree, mergers are not the same.

          It does feel disingenuous for you to dodge a yes or no question.

          I’m not trying to be rude, but setting up a new instance without clear (edit - server level) policies and rules and no GDPR compliance and then expecting people to move over rather than choose to move doesn’t look great.

          If you want everyone over to your instance because of whatever reasons you should be very transparent why and have it set up appropriately before that move starts - and be plain that you don’t want competing communities.

          If you are happy to have multiple communities, it’s easy just to say you support that.

          • ijeff@lemdro.id
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            1 year ago

            Sorry if it sounded like a dodge (it’s also 5 AM here so I’m half asleep). Certainly wasn’t my intent. My opinion is that admin shouldn’t be taking away communities from moderators unless they’ve truly abandoned, not merged. But I also recognize this will be something for each instance’s admin to decide.

            But the question of multiple communities in terms of starting a different one or supporting another alternative? That’s great and an integral part of the Fediverse - each community will be a reflection of their particular rulesets and approaches to moderation.

            Folks are absolutely welcome to access the community from other instances. There’s no need to switch your login. One my fellow mods actually runs his own instance that he logs in through.

            Some other options: https://lemmy.ml/c/android (probably the oldest on Lemmy) kbin.social/m/android squabbles.io/s/android

            I shared some more insights about rationale for the instance in my earlier posts if you don’t mind checking my history. I’d get you the links but I’m about to pass out! I didn’t manage the Mike and Devgard’s transition but I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. Just leave them here and I’ll respond tomorrow.

            • AlmightySnoo 🐢🇮🇱🇺🇦@lemmy.worldOP
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              1 year ago

              merged

              Bro, not to be rude, but that’s literally abandoning the current one. You can sugarcoat it and use all the fancy words however you want, the fact remains that you closed the community for 19k people and the decision was made only by 2 mods after you’ve shamelessly asked them to do that over private chat. 19k users didn’t even have a choice and one of your new mods even made it openly clear that he doesn’t give a shit what 19k users think and that it’s bad luck for those who don’t like the forced closure:

              I’m not aware of any charter that says I’m obligated in any form to offer the community a say in the decision. Should I have? Morally, there’s obviously an argument for yes. But did I have to, no. The choice was mine, and I made one. It’s your bad luck that I started the community, I suppose.

              This one-man decision can never be called a “merger”, just stop deceiving yourselves. Again, it’s a forced closure by 2 current mods and new Reddit mods who couldn’t imagine a world where they don’t own the community. I repeat, you robbed 19k users of their choice to stay here, it is a forced closure. There is no “merger” just because you agreed with how Reddit was running things in the past (and conveniently leave out that right now they don’t allow for locked communities either).

    • AlmightySnoo 🐢🇮🇱🇺🇦@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      And [email protected] exists within lemdro.id, that’s also the beauty of the Fediverse. I don’t trust your instance (and I don’t have to even think about it, no offense) and I, and I’m sure many too but they weren’t even given a voice and you see nothing wrong with it, were already happy with our community here. You have no right to expect us to close it for you to grow your 3 days old one.

      • ijeff@lemdro.id
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        1 year ago

        I’m sure more folks will chime in when they’re awake due to time zones, but the majority who are voting on their announcement seem to be supportive thus far?

        • trouser_mouse@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I absolutely support you setting up a new community, but absolutely don’t support closing down the original one here on this instance - people should be able to decide which community they prefer. One will naturally grow to be the dominant one.

          .world are transparent about funding and approach, have clear policies in place. I can’t currently see any of that on .id, and the only thing I have to go off is posts you have made and the conversation around it.

          To me, it feels very disingenuous and currently your instance is not at all transparent and more importantly not GDPR compliant from what I can see - therefore, how can I trust it?

          • cole@lemdro.id
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            1 year ago

            Hello, I’ve built software to be GDPR compliant before… so far as I can tell, NO Lemmy instance is GDPR compliant yet due to no way for the original server to delete user content from remote servers. Is this wrong?

            • trouser_mouse@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I think you’re right. Some instances do what they can to be compliant, e.g. .world have various notices and wording in place but no cookie information and consent etc.

              The data and how it is transferred and processed and stored, along with deletion requests I have no idea how that is going to be compliant!