And, if you are comfortable with sharing, what are some of the worst things that you’ve seen?

        • lemmyknow@lemmy.today
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          2 days ago

          Well, now I wonder what it is that an instance may offer over others. I just picked an instance from some resource that said to pick something popular but not too popular and had some suggestions. Wonder what I’m missing from other instances

          • Kalcifer@sh.itjust.worksOP
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            2 days ago

            I wonder what it is that an instance may offer over others

            Here is a non-exhaustive list of things that I think are important when considering an instance:

            • Stability — eg uptime, how quickly outages are addressed, etc.
            • Speed and responsiveness — eg how quickly one can download resources from the instance, how quickly pages can load, etc.
            • Accessibility of the admin(s) — eg how easy is it to get in touch with the instance admin(s)? are they open to communication?
            • Cost sustainability — eg how is the instance funded? Is their model sustainable?
            • Infrastructure sustainability — eg how is the instance powered? Is it in a stable location?
            • Local Laws — ie what laws is the instance subject to?
            • ToS — ie what rules does the instance impose on its users?
            • Who is the instance federated and defederated with, and what is their criteria for federation?
            • Other smaller things like ability to upload media, number of local communities, number of users, front-end/appearance, etc.
          • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net
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            2 days ago

            Things I personally look for in an instance:

            • An active admin that has a level head and seems like a good person (preferably multiple admins to prevent Bus factor)
            • Instance runs a fairly recent version of Lemmy. If they run a very old version, that could be a sign of problems
            • Is defederated with troll or drama filled instances
            • Having a unique theme or vibe instead of being a general server is a big plus that makes it stand out, but not strictly necessary