cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/1119656
The !android@lemmy.world 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 !android@lemmy.world 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 !android@lemmy.world because they did NOT want to be moderated by the old Reddit mods.
!android@lemmy.world needs to be reopened now and the mods removed since they expressed that they no longer want to moderate a community on lemmy.world.
Having had more time to read over the arguments in the other thread, I do think that the community c/android here on lemmy.world should be reclaimed. Maybe after a little while, so the redirect has the intended effect - it was their community, and I think it’s fair to give them a little time to try and get people to consolidate to where they wish, but after that let someone else have the name.
What I do not agree with is your framing of the situation. You have instantly escalated things by insisting this was bullying when that has been confirmed to not be the case, and are trying to pin the mods who decided to do this as intentional bad / rogue actors without actually giving them a chance to resolve the situation in a manner you find acceptable. Did you even message these mods first?
Why do we need to carry over this intense hatred and assuming the worst of others from Reddit? Can’t we leave this bad habit behind and try to actually solve problems reasonably before resorting to inflammatory posts?
I disagree because it’s also the 19k users’ community as well and many never asked for any of this and are being interrupted from participating in it because of the whims of one single person. It should be reopened immediately and the former (because I don’t recognize he has any claim anymore as he officially abandoned it) mod can promote his new community elsewhere just like everyone else does. No one owes them a “redirection pause” and that’s inappropriate vis-a-vis the 19k members who are still being coerced to move elsewhere.
Unless there is some kind of federation issue any user could just follow the redirect and subscribe / participate in the other community with practically no hassle. I was able to subscribe to the communities on the new instance just fine. Any interruption of browsing would be solely due to stubbornness of not moving off principle. And maybe that principle is justified - maybe the new space will be moderated differently, in a way you find worse - but it does not change the fact that ultimately this is a small issue and you are blowing it out of proportion, on purpose, for no good reason.
It’s also worth noting that the migration also means being open to beehaw users as well. We’d do a proper automated redirect and import over existing history if we could. The aim isn’t to cause disruption. What’s great about Lemmy is the ability to both not switch instances when accessing other communities and the ability to switch instances as needed.
It’s not blown out of proportions because many, me included, simply never asked to move. If this is allowed then parking community names to force users to go to other communities should also be allowed.
It’s not like you’re being forced to move to a new house or something. It’s like two clicks on a website.
I’m not saying that this issue isn’t a real one, I’m trying to say you’re being much too angry about it and (intentionally or not) stirring up a little witchhunt when this could be handled much more casually.
We can disagree on the term but it was, and I still insist, essentially soft-bullying when they push bogus arguments like their instance “being better because of custom patches” and highlight that they are r/Android mods. It doesn’t have to be openly malicious, in fact they were doing it while being cordial. That’s still intimidation.
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:
Would you have a problem with the current Android community re-opening under new owners?
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).
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.
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.
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:
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).
And !android@lemmy.world 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.
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?
I didn’t even say this, but now that you ask me, closing the community without asking for the approval of the members, and then tell me that he still believes he doesn’t think he is “obligated in any form to offer the community a say in the decision” (his exact words) is something I’d attribute indeed to a bad actor.
Quick epistemological clarification - nothing has been “confirmed” to be or not be the case.
It has been asserted by one of the actors that the action taken was not malicious or underhanded or whatever. In the simplest terms, in response to the accusation that they acted in a malicious way, one of the actors said the equivalent of “Did not!”
That might well be true. It might even be argued that it’s likely true (though I would say that the combination of the backroom dealing with which it was done, the capricious way in which the decision was just presented to the community literally at the last second as a fait accompli, the opaque nature of the new instance and the arrogance and disdain displayed in the linked response all serve to undermine that likelihood). But the simple fact of the matter is that it’s just an assertion, and the truth value of that assertion cannot be known for a certainty by anyone else, so it does not and cannot rise to the level necessary to serve as “confirmation” of anything.