I am one of the admins of Beehaw and I’m trying to get some feedback on our potential move.

Let’s start out with a little Beehaw history before judgements are passed, please.

A handful of us were beta testing Tildes when we decided to have discussions on a Discord server.

We decided that our ‘Northern Star’ or guiding principle would culminate as ‘Be Nice’ with purposefully vague/flexible interpretations. Our overall goal is to provide a safe space to disenfranchised persons.

We talked for a little over a year and some of our members became impatient. Then someone stepped in to suggest a couple of platforms that we could consider getting started with.

One of those platforms was Lemmy. None of us knew, at that time, anything about ActivityPub.

During the Reddit exodus (surrounding the API outcry and blackout), our instance exploded. We were, initially, crippled by the mass amounts of users seeking refuge.

Thankfully, someone stepped in and volunteered hundreds of hours of work to stabilize our instance and refine it further.

After many hours of talks, it became clear to us that our overall goal could be achieved outside of Lemmy/ActivityPub.

Right now, we feel that Lemmy and ActivityPub have downsides that are limiting us from achieving that goal.

    • @sorghum@sh.itjust.works
      0•1 year ago

      Came to say much of the same. If “be nice” is a guiding principal, defederation with a bogus reason then never refederating is a thing I’d like to see gone from the fediverse.

      So don’t let the door hit ya on the way out

  • @MiddledAgedGuy@beehaw.org
    1•1 year ago

    Beehaw is my home in the fediverse, and I’m happy here. I like that they try to maintain a positive community. But if Beehaw left the fediverse, I wouldn’t come along. Which is a change from thinking I might last time I saw this topic come up.

    If beehaw ends up in a silo I think it will just have too little to offer for me. And that’s ok. This isn’t about me, it’s about creating a safe space for your disenfranchised users.

    I hope Beehaw stays, but I understand if they don’t.

    • Exocrinous
      -2•1 year ago

      I was a beehaw user for about a day. I had a lot of very pleasant interactions with other users, it was totally surprising how different and good the vibe was. And then an admin decided that a perfectly pleasant interaction I’d had with someone was unacceptable, called me pompous, banned me, and deleted the thread. And I’m used to being called pompous, because I have NPD and it’s one of the symptoms of my disorder. I can be nice and pompous, but only if someone’s willing to look past my disorder and see who I am and what I’m doing, instead of how I look.

      So I would like it very much if the Beehaw admins left the fediverse and the rest of you guys stayed.

    • Dr. BluefallEnglish
      0•1 year ago

      …because they’re a large fediverse instance, with a significant number of users and well-known communities?

  • @Jordan117@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    Defederating Beehaw would not only weaken it as an instance, but remove its positive influence from the wider fediverse. The big platforms wield so much power and influence and money, the smaller upstarts need to connect as much as possible to stand a chance at relevance as a credible alternative. We’re all better together. I really hope you reconsider.

  • @Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
    1•1 year ago

    the only thing of substance are links to your websites and discord

    Ah okay so this is what this is about. Very creative way to peddle your shit.

  • @platypus_plumba@lemmy.world
    3•1 year ago

    Why do you care what other instances think about it? I’m honestly asking and expecting an answer here. This isn’t a sassy question.

    You built a wall and now you’re asking people outside of that wall what it feels for you to leave. Well, I’d care if I could see what’s inside the wall, but I can’t. I tried subscribing and it was impossible.

    So why do you care what people outside of your wall think? Again, I expect an answer here.

  • @Kwakigra@beehaw.org
    1•1 year ago

    I would not like it.

    I understand the issues for the people running Beehaw and they are totally real and understandable. That being said you have to appreciate that Beehaw is setting an example as one of the most popular instances on the Fediverse. What y’all are doing is not just limited to what you directly control but is also influencing this new and developing sphere that is the Fediverse. I understand that some people are resentful of how Beehaw enforces the rules of its own community, and I understand how a barrage of that can be extremely demotivating and tiresome. I have also heard about the absolutely despicable content that some mods have had to deal with which is extremely traumatizing which ideally shouldn’t have to be experienced by anyone. I would understand anyone who would want to never have to deal with that again since that would probably be my reaction.

    In terms of ideas, I really appreciate that Beehaw is making a firm stand in the interest of free expression without being bogged down by prejudice and economic interests. The success of Beehaw compared to other instances demonstrates that the project y’all are working on is desired not only by Beehaw denizens such as myself but also those from general instances. This is despite what I assume is a barrage of negativity, complaints, trolling, and legitimately criminal behavior by those who do not support the kind of place which Beehaw is. I know it’s a big and unfair ask to want you guys to continue experiencing the things that cause you to want to make you abandon the fediverse, and honestly I wouldn’t blame you if you do, but it is very clear to me that the existence of Beehaw as it is is a huge draw to the fediverse and is establishing norms which can’t be accommodated outside of what we have here. Reddit sure as hell can’t offer what I’ve been experiencing on the fediverse, and I think that Beehaw is a huge reason for why that is.

  • ⲇⲅⲇ
    0•1 year ago

    Lol, so good I left Beehaw already. Do whatever you want now, not going to miss it, neither their admins.

    • axont [she/her, comrade/them]English
      1•1 year ago

      Edit: I just realized this was blahaj, not beehaw. I can’t keep none of this stuff straight.

      That was lemmy.world. Beehaw was federated for a while but then if I remember right kept saying we’re not actually trans/gay friendly because we’re too tankie. Then they kept insulting one of our admins, who is a trans woman herself. Like they’d say we’re faking how queer we are. Then it turns out they have a really bad chaser problem and a bunch of our trans posters kept getting death threats or weird stalkers from over there. Also they’re so anti-tankie they occasionally swerve into outright saying reactionary stuff. They also like saying slurs.

      There was an attempt at damage control, then I think we decided to cut them off. Do I have all of that right? I really have problems remembering my Hexbearian lore, I’m sorry. We need a Bible

      • booty [he/him]English
        1•1 year ago

        Yup, that’s all blahaj. Beehaw was the one that pre-emptively-as-a-last-resort defederated Hexbear before we had even turned on federation at all

        • axont [she/her, comrade/them]English
          1•1 year ago

          yeah, now I remember. They said something like we’d push a certain ideology and that’s unacceptable for some reason. Yeah, we’re the only ideological ones

  • Infamousblt [any]English
    2•1 year ago

    I think the fediverse would be better off without Beehaw, so yeah, get off Lemmy and go build your own platform by yourself. I wish you the absolute best of luck, and thank you in advance for taking all the worst kind of people off the fediverse with you.