However, I think this is also a double-edged sword. The creation of multiple communities on the same (or similar) topics can also fragment the userbase, leading to very sparsely populated communities.

I’m not intrinsically adverse to multiple communities on the same topic because they can approach a subject from different angles and eventually we’ll have sub-communities (either as a core feature or in the apps). However, they do have to be active and none of the HP ones are. That is the key issue here. An active community tends to draw in more posters as people know which one to post in and they gain momentum. If none are active then no-one knows which to post in.

Looking over the communities (and bearing in mind that federation issues might mean I am not seeing all activity), it seems that no Mod has been active in the last month and some have been MIA for a long time.

So I’d suggest the solution is to get some active Mods in place. It would make sense to focus on the l.w and literature.cafe ones for now.

This might require a but of a change in thinking about communities and Mods - quite a few people seem them as the territory of the Mods and are hands-off (I tend to leave content decisions to Mods) but that can lead to them not being replaced when they have been gone so long it’s clear they aren’t coming back. My take is that the instance isn’t “mine” I am help to run it for the members and that extends to Mods - they are caretakers of the communities not their overlords (the kind of thinking that can lead to abuse). After all, if Lemmy is a success, they could easily outlive the Mods and Admins. So, because of inactivity, we’ve replaced Mod teams on communities like !okmatewanker@feddit.uk and !coffee@feddit.uk and that has given them a new lease of life.

So sort the Modding out, get the communities active again and they’ll develop their own gravity as people will know where to post. You don’t really need to shut down the smaller communities (although the Admins of those instances could look into it) they’ll just stay parked and inactive.

I suspect that many of these were created during the 2023 Rexxit

Yes, it’s something I’ve seen while going through the feddit.uk communities - there seems to have been a wave of enthusiasm with people starting communities and then posting once or twice (if at all) and then going inactive 8-10 months ago. I suspect there will need to be

This is a good idea I theory so that these small communities gain more activity by being merged into a larger one. But the question is how to actually do it in practice. Many of these small communities are essentially abandoned, with mods that havent posted in months (or never posted at all). The only option is then to have admins of each community instance help with the migration.

Ah yes let’s blow up the very foundations of what makes a decentralised network good and give you all the moderation power over anyone remotely interested in a topic. ✨What could go wrong?✨

!harrypotter@feddit.nl is very small, but European. (Might feddit.uk be an option?)

As we can’t move or merge communities, I don’t think starting another HP community somewhere like feddit.uk will help.

This seems to be a question for the Lemmy devs and instance admins rather than community mods.

I could absolutely see a case for federated communities spanning multiple instances.

Consolidation would defeat the purpose of decentralized fediverse instances. Instead, I would like to see a method for allowing the automation of cross posting between related communities on different instances. There would not be dependency on a single instance; each mod would retain control of their community; and the segmented communities can connect with one another with ease.

Paging moderators and/or admins (main subs):

• !harrypotter@lemmy.world: @Hurts@lemmy.world, @Historical_General@lemm.ee
• !harrypotter@literature.cafe: @queenie@literature.cafe, @Firebolt@literature.cafe, @gabe@literature.cafe, @Arthur@literature.cafe
• !harrypotter@lemm.ee: @Historical_General@lemm.ee
• !harrypotter@feddit.nl: @Lady_Margot@feddit.nl
• feddit.uk @Emperor@feddit.uk
• !harry_potter@diagonlemmy.social: @blueberry@diagonlemmy.social, @blue_berry@feddit.de, @blue_berry@lemmy.world.

Paging moderators and/or admins (niche subs):

• !hpfanfiction@lemmy.world: @the_phony_pony@lemmy.world
• !hp_magicawakened@lemm.ee: @Grumbles@lemm.ee
• !harry_potter_languages@lemmy.world: @GabrielBell12fi@lemmy.world
• !dramione@lemmy.world: @Kthxbye@lemmy.world
• !slytherin@lemmy.world: @BottleOfAlkahest@lemmy.world
• !slytherin@sopuli.xyz: @wren@sopuli.xyz

Paging recent/active contributors:

• @MrJameGumb@lemmy.world
• @Blaze@lemmy.blahaj.zone
• @brbposting@sh.itjust.works

I’ve gone on before on how the idea of “consolidating” can be a problem because it leads to centralization. We already have a problem with instances like lemmy.world being too centralizing and taking people off a community and tossing them into another one with a different culture, or even worse into one where they are defederated from their instance, is not going to solve the issue.

And I want to emphasize the point about culture. All those HP communities “might” be the same but they have every right to be different, and to conduct themselves differently, in various ways. !harrypotter@literature.cafe has one focus but !harrypotter@feddit.nl could have different focus or even be able to discuss subjects that literature.cafe can’t because of jurisdiction. We could even have !harrypotter@nsfw.it (for example) and certainly that can’t be clearly merged with either of the above.

So, IMO, any “solution” for the idea of consolidation has to allow instances and communities to exist as they are, and does not have to norm that content that can be posted to one community has to be valid for all communities. Else, we’re returning to the Reddit and the Facebook that we left.

This is just a call to centralize power. Authoritarian thought.