• MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    10
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    The bots have inflated the total users count (around 2.4 million), but they aren’t active (yet). So for now active users is a recommended way to measure the fediverse. But once the bots start posting, we’ll have to find another way to track real user activity.

      • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Yeah, it’s absolutely disappointing and gross. Bots have been actively probing for obscure instances without registration validation and flocking to them. Good thing the top real lemmy instances (like lemmy.world, lemmy.ml, beehaw.org, sh.itjust.works, lemmy.ca) have been much more vigilant about that.

          • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOP
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            Yeah, those instances are defederating from the bot-filled ones, but new ones are still popping up (although seems to be slowing down a little for now).

      • NotAPenguin@kbin.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        24
        ·
        1 year ago

        I don’t see how that could be done, the bot owners can always just spin up their own new instance where they control sign up requirements.

        Other instances can then defederate from the spam instance but they can quickly spin up a new one.

        Gonna be interesting to see how it’s solved.

          • NotAPenguin@kbin.social
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            arrow-down
            19
            ·
            1 year ago

            The fediverse is decentralized, anyone can start their own lemmy/kbin/mastodon/whatever server and make an account they just approve themselves.

            If you mean some kind of global approval then that destroys the whole point of the fediverse.