Lemmy Support

you've already got an account, click [email protected] and then the Subscribe button

are you using a mobile app or just the lemmy.world website?

I dont know what Instance I am

you are on lemmy.world

but am being asked for a instance

it sounds like you were trying to Subscribe without being logged in

so I'm guessing you have your login in an app instead of the website and then you opened the community in your web browser instead of in the app which already had your login

the link I provided should work in your app or wherever you're commenting from

I try to explain this in a structured way, so that you hopefully don't feel too overwhelmed. Feel free to ask if something doesn't make sense.

Lemmy

Lemmy is like e-Mail, there are multiple websites where you can make an account, but you can still communicate/participate with users from other sites. (This is called decentralisation.)

Instance

An instance is a website that you use for logging in to Lemmy. You only need an account on one website to participate (e.g. writing posts/comments) in Lemmy.

So, since you already have an account, that means you already have chosen an instance, it's lemmy.world.

Community

Like users, communities can be created on different instances. There can even be a community with the same name on two different instances.

For example:

• lemmy.world/c/Autism
• lemmy.dbzer0.com/c/Autism

These communities can still be accessed on your instance, they are all synced. (With some exceptions which I'm not going into right now.)

How to participate in communities of your instance

1. Go to your instance (lemmy.world)
2. Log in
3. Go to the community you want to participate in (lemmy.world/c/Autism)
4. You don't need to "join" a community, but you can subscribe, so that new posts show up in your feed

How to participate in other instances

1. Go to your instance (lemmy.world)
2. Log in
3. Go to the community you want to participate in but add the instance to the back like this: lemmy.world/c/[email protected]
4. You don't need to "join" a community, but you can subscribe, so that new posts show up in your feed

So in summary it's the same Aso for communities of your instance, just make sure to always start/login on your instance.

Direct links

Since constructing the URL like described above is quite annoying, Lemmy can use special links that work across all instances. They are as follows:

• [email protected]
• [email protected]

Apps

There exist many Lemmy apps. They can facilitate things (especially when you want to browse on your phone), but this also means that the look&feel is different. Some step by step guides might not work exactly the same on different apps.

I followed it from my instance without issue just now. The link you sent asks me to enter the instance I am on so that I can follow it. The main mod @[email protected] seems quite active. I think you will be welcome there :)

Don't worry! The fediverse and lemmy are confusing. You are not alone.

You can read c/autism and post comments there without joining anything at all.

I'm surprised it's asking you for an 'invite', though. Never seen that. I'd suggest sending a note to the listed moderator. Just click 'send message' on their page.

Lemmy is kinda confusing, but it's worth the hassle. (:

That's probably your app's UI being more confusing than it needs to.
Your account is on lemmy.world (at least the one you posted this from).
You can just open it in a browser and go to https://lemmy.world/
I find the web version less confusing than most client apps.

Hey Jenny sorry you're having issues with the sub. c/autism is an open sub, so you can subscribe to it and see posts in your subscribed feed. When you click subscribe it should change to "joined" (it should be "subscribed" but that is the instance not the sub) But otherwise you should be able to post to the sub just like you did here. If you have any concerns or questions you can DM me. I may not have the answer but I will do my best to find it!