Indeed. Data longevity is a concern for me in general. There have been enough Lemmy instances that have disappeared (including once I used to be on) that our ability to become a massive first-hand knowledge center (like Reddit) is endangered.

I know user portability is getting active attention. I'm hoping at some point there's a cohesive solution where all our data is in our own hands and we can plop it on to any instance of any service with a few simple steps.

[–] SorteKanin@feddit.dk 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

There have been enough Lemmy instances that have disappeared

I'm not so worried about this tbh. This is to be expected in the start when all instances were new. Something that's only a month old is not so likely to stick around. But as time goes on, lemmy instances will get more mature and established. Some will stand the test of time and users will go to those instances.

In 5 years, the instances that have been around since now will likely stick around for a long time more.

I hope we won't need users to move instances. Instances themselves need a migration path instead.

[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 9 months ago

I actually see that as a positive. I don’t always want people to be able to drag up my comments from a decade or more ago. Just look at all the people who got in trouble for Twitter posts when the social winds shifted.

My comments are mostly for now, not forever.