One of the advantages of a decentralized platform like Lemmy is the ability to create parallel communities on the same topic. “You don’t like how a community is being moderated? Go to another instance and start a new community!” (with or without blackjack and hookers)

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.

Example: I am open to being wrong, but I don’t currently see a need for five distinct Harry Potter sublemmies with (nearly) identical names:

• !harrypotter@lemmy.world
• !harrypotter@literature.cafe
• !harrypotter@lemm.ee
• !harrypotter@feddit.nl
• !harry_potter@diagonlemmy.social

There are also some other miscellaneous HP related communities:

• !hpfanfiction@lemmy.world
• !harry_potter_fanfic@diagonlemmy.social
• !harry_potter_memes@diagonlemmy.social
• !leaky_cauldron@diagonlemmy.social
• !dramione@lemmy.world (ew, but you do you, I suppose)
• !hp_magicawakened@lemm.ee
• !harry_potter_languages@lemmy.world
• !hufflepuff@lemmy.world
• !slytherin@lemmy.world
• !slytherin@sopuli.xyz
• !slytherin@lemmy.ml

I suspect that many of these were created during the 2023 Rexxit, when instances were less stable, and there was a temporary period of massive growth.

Now that Lemmy is more stable, would the moderators of the above communities consider some form of cooperative consolidation? If not, what distinct purpose do the separate communities serve?

A couple arguments in favour of consolidation: (credits to @Ashyr@sh.itjust.works and @otter@lemmy.ca)

https://sh.itjust.works/comment/11171955

I think until there’s some tool or system that helps collate all the information out here, fragmentation is detrimental to growth.

I’m not going to copy and paste the same comment with every mirrored post.

So sometimes commenting feels like a waste of time.

Centralizing helps ensure that there’s vibrant, consistent discussion which is what Lemmy should be about.

https://sh.itjust.works/post/18388026

I like this because people showing up to those communities might think that topic doesn’t have activity on Lemmy, when it actually does.

I sometimes think that unmoderated communities should be closed, and just be left and locked with a pointer to the active one. In case an issue arises with the active one, they can still be unlocked and used as back up.

The next question is, of course “Which instance should we consolidate to?”

• !harrypotter@lemmy.world is currently the largest sub, but also the largest instance, and moving off of the largest instance would be good for the Fediverse as a whole.
• !harrypotter@literature.cafe seems appropriate, given that Harry Potter is, well, a book. Large sub on a small instance.
• !harrypotter@lemm.ee is a small sub on a large instance.
• !harrypotter@feddit.nl is very small, but European. (Might feddit.uk be an option?)
• !harry_potter@diagonlemmy.social is also an option, but risky given the fragility of the instance. Could blue_berry provide some assurances that the instance will be stable for the foreseeable future, and perhaps improve the bus factor of the instance?

My hunch is that a stable, medium-sized instance would be best. What are your thoughts? Is consolidation worth a try?

If nothing else, the experiment could serve as a test for whether or not consolidation is effective in boosting engagement and discussion.