This is probably a dumb question, but I’m still figuring this all out. How do I subscribe to a small community that I found in the community browser but cannot get in search?
Eg: https://midwest.social/c/lansing
It exists but does not show in any community search via sh.itjust.works website, liftoff, or sync. I can view the community from the browser but trying to open it just takes me to their instance. !lansing@midwest.social doesn’t appear in search either.
The explanation that I saw is that your home instance doesn’t index every community. Those you see when you search have already been accessed by someone else on your instance. But when you search using the specific community link, your instance now knows someone local wants that community and adds it to the index. So when you search again a little while later, it has been indexed and is in the search results.