There are different opinions on Beehaw’s registration process. I kind of see how some people would find it dissuasive, specially after most of us are coming from Reddit. But I still think it’s very practical, at least for the time being.
Btw, this is only my opinion as a new user, I don’t know any of the admins/mods. Link to my original comment.
In my experience, a community with even the most basic and rudimentary filter to join has consistently higher quality people in the community. Kinder, more active, and better posts. A bigger community does NOT mean a better one, often the inverse has been true ime but blah blah analogies aren’t evidence.
I like that the mods are prioritizing healthy growth over just growth. It’s easy to look at number go up and get excited, then to open the flood gates. And whenever a community does that, a bunch of people whom are not wholly interested in the point of the community swoop in and push out the invested crowd.
The only downside would be wanting to answer something more personal, but making a throwaway account isn’t exactly easy with this system. That’s, really, the only downside I can immediately point to.