notsorryforpartying

[META] Trying to gain traction for a niche community and posts are instantly downvoted from those outside the intended community

https://lemmy.world/post/9448645

[META] Trying to gain traction for a niche community and posts are instantly downvoted from those outside the intended community - Lemmy.World

I’ve fully moved on from reddit to lemmy, but the only thing lacking here are the small niche communities that did well from Reddit’s larger audience. The current community I’m moderating and starting is for the clothing brand Supreme. In it, we post news updates and talk about the new drops that occur on a weekly basis. Anyone who was a part of the reddit Supreme communities would know that this isn’t advertising, and it’s intended for news and discussion for our favorite brand. The posts I’m making are exactly what those people would want to see. And they are being immediately downvoted. I’m assuming it’s because to outsider, it looks like marketing or advertising, but it really isn’t, and these posts aren’t for them it’s for Supreme fans. I just wish people wouldn’t downvote just because it’s not their personal interest. Lemmy won’t get these small communities started if they lose ground immediately from outsiders downvoting.

Dec 11, 2023 at 7:38pmWeb
Show threadnotsorryforpartyingDec 11, 2023

I’m thinking it would legitimately be better to make it so all posts within the community only show up to subscribers. Because anyone interested would be seeking it out specifically and it’s not the type of community that will have random people contributing anyway from discovering through new posts.

Is there a way to enable that as the moderator? That might solve the issue. I used to post to the Supreme reddits and these were always highly upvoted posts. I’m convinced it’s outsiders through new.

Show threadpelespiritDec 11, 2023
Is there not an opt-out to be part of the front page? That does seem like an option mods would want to have.
Show threadnotsorryforpartyingDec 11, 2023

Yeah, I’m thinking this would solve my issue entirely. It’s simply not the type of thing anyone not already in the world of Supreme would care about so there won’t be organic growth from being on the front page anyway. I can market and promote in other ways to reach the intended audience. But the outside community is hurting that aspect.

Which is why I stopped consistently posting months ago but want to take another stab at it. I don’t mind the shouting into the void aspect.

Show threadpelespiritDec 11, 2023
Have you tried asking at c/fediverse if this is in the works?
Show threadsabreW4K3Dec 11, 2023

Is it possible you’re being overly sensitive? Your community doesn’t have a lot of content or discussion, in fact prior to your last post, the previous was 4 months ago.

In regards to downvotes, there’s pricks on here that think that All is a curated feed and vote accordingly. Sadly there’s nothing no one can do to fix that. All you can do, as a community leader is to post regular good content and engage with the members you do get. Building a community is always more about the people than the numbers.

Show threadnotsorryforpartyingDec 11, 2023

I’m not upset about the engagement that’ll come with time and posting consistently. Just the instant downvotes from new.

And that’s literally the entire point of the community is update posts. Which would seem trivial or shallow to an outsider, but look at the Supreme reddit communities for reference. That’s what happens in them. Zero comments and staying at 1 doesn’t bother me. But if the subscribers aren’t even seeing it on their feed bc it was immediately sent to -2 that’s more my concern.

Show threadgivesomefucksDec 11, 2023

Lots of people browse by r/all because Lenny is small

Your post looks like an ad. So people down voted it. Like 3-4 people by what it looks like.

And the last post was 4 months ago, and you average 1 user every six months…

Doesn’t look like anyone besides you has ever posted or commented…

Reddit can have specific subs for everything because its a big site that grew organically.

Lemme just isn’t big enough for subs about fashion brands, at least not your favorite

Show threadgivesomefucksDec 11, 2023

Is it possible you’re being overly sensitive?

What?

OP waited a whole 15 minutes before posting this to complain about the handful of down votes their post got…

How on Earth could someone like that be overly sensitive?

/s

Seriously tho OP, I’d have down voted that if I saw it on r/all because it looks like an ad for an overpriced clothing brand.

I’m betting thats why it’s down voted.

Show threadnotsorryforpartyingDec 11, 2023
Yeah, I understand that. I think the solution for my community is to wait until I have the option to take it off the front page as the mod because I understand other people won’t be interested in that content. I guess it’s just the nature of how it’s currently setup.
Show threadSchwim DandyDec 11, 2023
I ran a niche VW community and for a quarter of a year, I singlehandedly posted multiple posts daily. No downvotes, subscribers gained, 50+ up votes on some but practically 0 community engagement or content. Lemmy is too small still to support anything but politics or tech of a certain slant.
Show threadCaptObviousDec 11, 2023
Do downvotes actually impact visibility on Lemmy?
Show threadnotsorryforpartyingDec 11, 2023
I haven’t seen negative valued posts show up in my feed personally but that’s a good question