https://pixelfed.fediverse.observer/dailystats
Looks like Pixelfed’s growth spurt is slowing down. Absent any new external stimuli I’m guessing it’ll stabilize around 200K to 300K monthly active users – over a hundredfold order of magnitude from what it was just a month ago.
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That’s hardly a plateau. It’s not flat. LOL
The curve is leveling off in the typical manner of a plateau starting. It’s “plateauing”.
noice
The app is still doo doo. I end up just going on Firefox on my phone
IT’s still rough for being production. Getting to my mentions in Pixelfed is a real PITA
PixelNest is millions better than the Pixelfed app.
Pixelix is great too
I’ll have to check it out. When I made a post from the pixelfed app it cropped some of it for some reason
Like a lot of fediverse experiences - the initial need to pick a server is deeply problematic for new users.
Why pick one server over the other? How do get I, (pretending) as someone with no idea about the fediverse, get informed about this choice.
If I take a gamble, then I can’t log in using my mastodon account. Then the login fails with others.
I was happy to persevere, my partner not so much.
The thing is that picking a sever is kind of neat but it’s so tech-centric at the moment when it should be community-centric. A quick blurb about the community and their vibe/ideology would go a long way. Maybe a quick preview of some random content? Instead we’re playing a guessing game with a url.
But hey, it’s early days and these things will improve because we can all pitch in to help be the change.
Honestly just pick one and use it for a bit. Pick the most popular and learn more about the platform from there. That’s exactly what I did with Lemmy.
I joined lemmy.world first then I liked sh.itjust.works and now I’m on SDF. It took a little bit longer to find the instance I really liked but never stopped me from using Lemmy. Just pick one and use it
The defense of “it’s so easy just pick a server” is getting exhausting.
The average person wants something that works.
It does… Just work… Just pick one… And it works…
I think my point was missed. I was using “I” but my writing was a user story.
I’m talking about why adoption for fediverse platforms falters - especially for those coming from very slick, big money, apps with a whole team or teams focused on on-boarding.
IE. It’s not a user-centric experience (yet) - but we also don’t need teams focused on onboarding. Just small tweaks.
Support JPEG XL or HEIC/HEIF and I will join ;)
I was under the impression that Jpeg XL was written out of modern browsers due to Google pushing their image format instead or are you talking specific support with in Pixelfed app?
https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/issues/3102
https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/issues/749
here’s your issue trackers.
I must say though, this seems like a strange feature to draw the line on, is it really that important to you what image format is used?
Not for me but I can see how it would be for some people joining a platform focusing on image content.
I haven’t been posting as much as I was initially. That might be it.
Well then stop notting. Don’t not. Do.
Oh its your fault then
Other events will cause additional spikes for Pixelfed, Mastodon and others. Unless the US Oligarchs are going to stop supporting Trump’s bat shit crazy policies they will keep pushing group after group off of their platforms.
It will be easier for the next wave to join as their is already content and already people they know and many issues addressed.
Their platform is Mastodon tho
Frankly, whatever secret sauce it is that makes social media popular is also what drives them to be such shit and be so shit for society. I like Lemmy way more than I like Reddit, and even though I have to go back to Reddit from time to time to fill the needs of my niche interests (which can get no traction where there are not mobs of participants in the greater whole) I never ever look at my interactions there and go “I wish Lemmy was more like this.”
It’s a conundrum.
As per my other comment - the algorithm is only part of it.
A big aspect however is the slickness and ease-of-onboarding for mega-Corp apps. It’s a thing that would relatively easy to begin work on.
I’ve seen first hand the amount of time and money even growth-stage startups spend on onboarding and have lots of first-hand reports from peers at the big girls - it’s a critical part of success. Make it easy to get started and easy to stay using.
It’s missing from most fediverse experiences. Pixelfed being a serious contender for an on-boarding rethink.
“time-to-value” - we want that as low as possible.
Yeah, all apps advertise “no algorithms” - well those algorithms are what is pulling users back and back again and the more you get people to open your app - the more likely it is that they’ll contribute something.
I have to remind myself to open Pixelfed. Which is how I want it to be and how it should be. But I also understand that none of my friends will go there and look at nothing and then check in again a day later.
Lemmy reminds me of why I liked reddit in the first place. Back in 2010
I’ve been spending more time on reddit recently, and it’s not because I like it better. Somehow that algorithmic infinite scroll just makes time disappear despite being largely ungratifying. It’s the same with Youtube. Whereas with Lemmy I check the first, and maybe second page, and then I feel like that’s all I need for a while and go do something else.
Preach brother. The reason I love this space is because it is so small. So much better visibility, so much less one-liners and rwddit garbage to sift through to find a real person. (fe I also choose this guys dead wife! Cue laugh track)
I’ve seen people in multiple conversations under the same post. It feels more alive and personal than seeing Click to show 3456 more comments
Plus all the newer redditors repeat the jokes not just at the optimal times, but just constantly, forever
And my axe!
I dunno… it’s like the difference between a chain restaurant and your favorite local cafe/pub/diner. The chain restaurant has its benefits, but you have the best interactions with your buddies at your local cafe/pub/diner.
You are very optimistic about the user retention 😅
What goes up must come down
Dans actions will decide user retention, I think.
People might stay there more than on Lemmy. Pixelfed seems in a better shape than how Lemmy was during summer 2023, with the constant DDoS on Lemmy.world and the language bugs preventing comments…
I think you’re on to something.
I also think there’s a difference in where the network effect kicks in for different types of social media. IMHO, Lemmy has just enough activity to not feel empty, and even then I wish there was more comments to interact with and more niche communities. With Pixelfed, I feel like as long as there’s enough interesting posts it makes sense for people to visit regularly.
It depends. I don’t feel forced to go on there because it has none of my friends. Obviously I’ll go once every few weeks to check out cool photography but I’m really not an active user there.
You’re 100% right about that. I’ve never ran out of nice posts to look at on Pixelfed. I think the medium & format is a lot less addictive and a lot more relaxing/positive, which might help to explain it.
The Pixelfed app isn’t very good right now compared to instagram was when it wasn’t terrible. Hope that Dan hires an actual UX designer to update the app with his kickstarter money. And that he can integrate loops with it as well.
I’ve been trying to set it up for 2 weeks now, the docker containers. There are so many backwards decisions, it’s pretty clear he doesn’t understand docker unfortunately. The entire app could be a snap to set up, but it’s such a convoluted setup that it scares a lot of people away. (It pretty much is scripted assuming you will run it on a VM, and a high cost one at that).
The fact that it’s built on PHP and Laravel in 2025 says a lot, and the fact that he started Loops this year on the same architecture also says a lot. It just doesn’t scale, it’s locked to a single host, and he’s finding that as the servers are tipping over.
Check out YUNOhost. I had a Pixelfed server up and running in 20 mins.
The entire app could be a snap to set up
I refuse to use snaps
Heh
I’m not a PHP fan but it scales better than Python or Ruby (Mastodon) does. I think Dan is a cowboy of an engineer, but blaming performance on his stack choice is a bad take.
Not php but Laravel. Like I said it forces workers to be on the same host with the same storage as the API, it doesn’t allow scaling of multiple API nodes or worker nodes, and his docker containers require me running special commands left and right. No other docker containers of mine do that
Haven’t tried self hosting Pixelfed. Just mostly been trying it out on the main instance. I’m really shocked that it’s a mess to deploy with docker if it’s on PHP/Laravel.
I hate PHP these days for dev purposes but I think laravel ought to be able to scale enough to run most Pixelfed instances. Facebook ran PHP when it was much larger than Pixelfed.
Facebook had to basically rewrite php so it would scale though, it’s called Hack now
Yeah not having stories is a huge shortcoming.
I don’t even know the point is stories. Why not post… A picture or video directly?
user retention
yeah, hard to tell… Lemmy peaked a little under 70k MAUs and is around 45k now… if pixelfed peaks at 300k it’s reasonable to think it levels at 200k (i.e. a hundredfold increase from a month ago).
ofc every situation is different… e.g. pixelfed has tighter Mastodon integration (pro) but may depend more on a network effect (con). also iirc the lemmy MAU count methodology shifted at some point, from post/comment to post/comment/upvote/downvote which is a confound for the lemmy dropoff count…
I feel insane that no one has commented this yet??? The data clearly only starts in November. At minimum this is our second plateau and I seem to recall more that have happened lmao.
Excellent point, do you happen to know where I can find longer-term usage data?
I couldn’t find anything :( oddly, fediverse.observer actually was logging data before that time but it’s only accessible to me via wayback: https://web.archive.org/web/20241010192709/https://pixelfed.fediverse.observer/dailystats
@diasporg@mas.to any reason fediverse.observer is limited to only a few months? (no clue if this cross-platform ping will work but giving it a shot)
Is it like an alt to instagram?
Yes a fediverse version of Instagram. It relies on the activity pub protocol under the hood. Which makes it possible for example to follow like and comment to a pixelfed account from a mastodon account if you have one.
I’ve only used insta for it’s reels so idk how it’s really an alternative for me
There is loops but its very very new so not as polished as other apps.
Good we need to be sustainable not be like other social media.
Yeah I try my best but have yet to convert anyone. Was already weird as a redditor previously.
Was already weird as a redditor previously.
lmao, so true lol. It especially didn’t help when I used to show my friends the most traumatizing posts of /r/shitposting. Now they don’t trust Lemmy.
That’s how Reddit was in the beginning.
Back then, you used to show someone “the front page of the internet” and it would literally be jailbait and tech news.
I’m out of the loop, what happened in January to cause that sudden growth?
I have an account but I’m not active. Just not much of a social media guy in general.
Meta ended their fact checking program and decided that hate speech against queer folks is “freedom of speech”
Then people left in droves
Long and short… Pretty much all the big tech heads sat in the front at trumps innaugeration, including Zuck. Shortly afterwards there were a bunch of coincidental “bugs” of things like, all results being hidden when searching for democrats and LGBT, and people being set to follow trump.
I’ve installed it and looked around, I don’t get it. It’s random people’s pictures.
It has gotten really, really good for photography. There’s a bunch of incredible photographers posting their stuff on the Fediverse these days, and they enjoy the appeal of it that it’s closer to what Instagram was before it became an influencer hub.
As for random cats and dogs, I guess some people enjoy that as well.
Well, it is a photo sharing platform.
Pixelfed is definitely a good example of “its what you make it”.
Try searching for and following some hashtags that you’re interested in. I have an awesome home feed made up of art, design and photography hashtags and artists.
Sounds like instagram or imgur?
The old Instagram before they added the video stuff. Pretty much a 1:1 clone of that I was told (I was never on Instagram so 🤷).
Insta
I love art so it’s very much for me. I can see how it wouldn’t seem attractive to people that aren’t into that type of stuff though.
Seems pretty close to Instagram
that’s because you’re supposed to follow people you want to see. you know, social media.
That’s exactly me as well. Tried it, looked at random people’s cats and dogs. Not for me.
That’s exactly me as well. Tried it, looked at random people’s cats and dogs. Not for me.
I think that’s kind of the challange we’ve got with regards to making social media from a nerds perspective. We’re a bunch of nerds that don’t understand the appeal of the things we want to make alternatives to, and wouldn’t be interested in using them even if they weren’t run by horrible evil tech corporations.
The fediverse has had a very low retention rate. My bet is that after a year MAU will come down to 60k. That is if meta doesn’t embroil itself in another controversy.
The retention is bad because the new user experience is abysmal. It takes a lot of effort, even for a tech savvy user to get Lemmy & Mastodon to a usable state. Most people are not going to do that and will churn out when there’s no interesting content and the app does weird things like shows you the same posts over and over, if you don’t manually change settings for things like “hide read posts” in Voyager.
I can get about one user at a time, if I sit with them and explain it. The Fediverse is essentially the scene in Silicon Valley when Richard sits down with the focus group to explain to them for 3 hours how his software works. It’s really cool. It should be the way forward, but the masses have no idea how this works and don’t care to. They want a button to install. They want to search for their friend and find them immediately. I haven’t found any fediverse software that can just do that much, let alone everything else that’s expected.
Idk, Lemmy also inreased it’s userbase by a factor of 30, mainly from a single event. It had like 1,500 MAU before summer 2023 and now we’re at 45k. So I’m not sure what to make of this. I kinda agree though, it’ll stabilize at a lower number than during a hype period. And Pixelfed aside, the more popular places on the Fediverse seem to be stagnating right now. I hope we’ve learned from the past and drama that happened and we don’t need to repeat the same things.
the more popular places on the Fediverse seem to be stagnating right now
Dunno, from Fediverse Observer, it looks like lemmy and mastodon are growing slowly over the last couple weeks. (the mastodon stats look a little weird tho – there’s a plummet on Jan 30th that looks like a data collection artifact.)
There has definitely been an uptick in sign-ups - first around the Inauguration (despite being a UK instance) and then with Reddit’s pornmaggedon. In between it didn’t drop back down to the old rate in between. db0 have seen a.massive spike recently too.
Though, I’d argue if we were awesome and had something truly nice to offer, we’d grow on our own. And not just if someone else messes up and becomes unbearable. But it’s complicated.
