Lemmy and Kbin: The Best Reddit Alternatives?

pcmag.com:

Between widespread online protests and threats from its CEO, Reddit has been having a rough time lately. If you're looking for something like Reddit that isn'tReddit as it exists today, consider these two alternatives: Lemmy(Opens in a new window) and Kbin(Opens in a new window). Both recreate the so-called "front page of the internet" experience, but do it with open-source code and a decentralized approach that's very much the opposite of Reddit and other social media platforms.

Neither is a perfect replacement, and the most interesting features of both sites are also the hardest to understand. However, if you're looking for Reddit alternatives and a glimpse into what might be the future of online social platforms, here's what to expect of Lemmy and Kbin:

Reddit is a message-board-style website where people post links, images, or text to be shared with fellow members, and Lemmy and Kbin are both alternatives in that sense. A key part of the Reddit experience are the upvotes and downvotes given to posts by other Reddit members. Combined with a threaded comment system, Reddit has garnered a reputation for surfacing some of the most popular narratives on the social web.

Although influential, Reddit hasn't maintained a sterling reputation. The site has struggled with content moderation and has occasionally been a staging ground for some of the internet's worst elements.

Kbin and Lemmy, meanwhile, attempt to recreate that same community experience but without the corporate oversight that has long lurked behind Reddit's friendly exterior. These sites aim to use new, decentralized social platform technology (explained more below) and put more moderation tools directly into the hands of users, with mixed success. But