I joined lemmy after severe frustration with other platforms. It feels like genuine online human forums that are devoid of bots simply do not exist anymore. It also feels like people are more ok with understanding less and less about the world around them, so long as they have an echo chamber in their phone that aligns with their worldview. Is lemmy actually a better environment? You’d think that if you care enough to end up here that you also care enough to notice the world around us dramatically changing. I’m not looking for an answer or an action, just an acknowledgment that the world feels to be on a downward spiral.

  • iocase@lemmy.zip
    4·
    6 小时前

    Its going to be hard to get an objective answer with sampling bias this extreme. I think Lemmy is better than almost any other social media I’ve used just by virtue of being small and niche. It tends to attract people who are intelligent, but also groups in people who are abrasive or confrontational since they got banned from other platforms, especially Reddit.

  • CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world
    15·
    2 天前

    It’s ok. Just remember it’s a small population. Once you get used to the basics and block the few bad faith posters and subs you don’t like, it’s a solid experience. With any luck the userbase will grow.

  • CombatWombat@feddit.onlineEnglish
    15·
    2 天前

    Uh… obviously our answer is going to be yes because all the people who answered no left and didn’t come back.

      • CombatWombat@feddit.onlineEnglish
        9·
        2 天前

        Oh wait… um… yes, here on the threadiverse you can gamble with your time! Will you see anything worth seeing? Maybe! And it’ll pay off at unexpected intervals in random amounts so you’re addicted! Mwahahaha

      • skooma_king@piefed.socialEnglish
        7·
        2 天前

        The fedi is objectively leftist, for better or worse. It’s that way to the extent that groupthink really starts taking over, and you commonly see opinions shift so hard as to observe people cheering when people die, or wishing physical harm on those they disagree with.

        • applebusch (she/her)@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          81·
          2 天前

          wow its not about just “disagreeing”. there are existential threats perpetrated by real people. its not wrong to wish someone would die who is actively trying to kill you.

          • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            5·
            2 天前

            That’s a fair argument, but regardless of whether it’s wrong violent rhetoric does have the effect of intensifying echo chambers through intimidation, especially if there isn’t a restrictive line for who it may or may not be applied to that limits it from being applied to a broad segment of the population. Also offputting to people used to spaces where it’s forbidden. Probably a lot of people are ok with that though.

  • Bluefruit@lemmy.world
    11·
    2 天前

    Welcome!

    I have really enjoyed Lemmy so far. Most folks here are good to talk to, understand nuance and are generally not giant dicks.

    That said, we still have trolls or the occasional spam account making the rounds but that has been a small part of my experience.

    I will say, most communities are more left leaning, so if you dont lean that way, you may find that people disagree with you but as long as you are civil and argue or discuss issues in good faith, I think people are willing to listen for the most part.

    With all that said, there are still echo chambers here. But most of us know the world is burning, and we do our best to inform each other and build good community. We can only do so much.

  • Suck_on_my_Presence@lemmy.world
    12·
    2 天前

    Acknowledged.

    But an addition: humans aren’t meant to handle the mental crush of globalization, IMO. It’s nice to know what’s going on so one can be actionable, but it also takes a severe toll after a while. I didn’t come here for any echo chamber, and I love how down to earth lemmy feels, but I also don’t visit any politics or world news subs.

    I help where I can locally and I do my best to make other people smile because we’re all on edge, but I’m not able to to stay mentally well enough to do so without shrinking down the world around me and becoming ignorant of the greater picture.

    • datmarrow@lemmy.zipOP
      41·
      2 天前

      Thank you. Sometimes I feel like that’s what I should do to maintain serenity - control what I can control. However, sometimes I think about how little is truly controllable in our modern world and get a bit uncomfortable. I get especially uncomfortable when others seem to not even notice, yet alone care that it’s happening. I’m in a moment in life where I can control very little. With that in mind I feel especially motivated to connect with people who at least notice what’s happening. The idea of decentralised services gives me a sense of escaping the matrix for lack of better term, and I am curious what others do for similar feelings or how I can maximize decentralised services personally.

  • rynn@piefed.socialEnglish
    7·
    2 天前

    I’ve been called a pile of garbage and had some really great civil discussions here so far this year, so I guess it’s better than the alternatives?

    Also I don’t feel like I’m being spyed on as much? And I love the support for Linux here?

    • datmarrow@lemmy.zipOP
      41·
      2 天前

      Well I’ll start by calling you beautiful. I also like the not being spied on feeling. My exploration into Linux did open the door to the fediverse. Sounds like I’ll be alright.

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
      2·
      2 天前

      Depends where the instance is hosted, if Cloudflare is involved, and of they give up info to the 14 eyes. Oh and total information awareness is still a thing.

  • bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works
    4·
    2 天前

    Join the small comms. Block US, drumpf, ai llm, war, news, and then enjoy internet. Human brains can’t handle world news and aren’t supposed to. We are community oriented by nature.

  • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
    4·
    2 天前

    Well, Lemmy is still run by humans, and many of the issues that you’d see on platforms like Reddit are just standard human issues. Plus it’s easy to make bots for Lemmy and to circumvent Lemmy instance bans.

      • Rimu@piefed.socialEnglish
        2·
        2 天前

        Definitely not.

        It varies depending on the instance but generally bots get banned.

      • rumschlumpel@feddit.org
        2·
        2 天前

        I’d say there’s a better users-to-bots ratio in Lemmy threads, and the smaller amount of comments encourages actually interacting with the other users. And it really helps that there’s the option to switch or block instances, though that also makes Lemmy rather fragmented.

  • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
    3·
    2 天前

    It also feels like people are more ok with understanding less and less about the world around them, so long as they have an echo chamber in their phone that aligns with their worldview.
    I’m not looking for an answer or an action, just an acknowledgment that the world feels to be on a downward spiral.

    lol on your lack of self awareness

    but to answer your question: but there’s plenty of doomers here. the only people pulling me back from the brink of despairing nihilism are the commies who want me to believe in their utopian vision of the future, but at least we can agree the present sucks.

    • datmarrow@lemmy.zipOP
      21·
      2 天前

      lol i think the inference here is that I point to the group who enjoys their echo chambers as I hunt for my own? Well my hope is that this is not an echo chamber and that I can get actual feedback. I don’t even want to wade in nihilism but I’d appreciate a conversation where someone highlights an issue and doesn’t blame it on a color of politics with no tangible connection.

      • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
        3·
        2 天前

        lol i think the inference here is that I point to the group who enjoys their echo chambers as I hunt for my own?

        Exactly that!

        I think it’s generally more lefty here and perhaps more pessimistic than other places.

        The real difference is that there are just FEWER people, so conversations aren’t so liable to get into votebaiting and there is a broader range of discussion. You can still get downvoted, but your comment won’t disappear under a hundred of other comments within minutes, so you don’t have to be so performative.

        Anyway, here’s a pretty typical conversation: https://sh.itjust.works/post/65630392

        • datmarrow@lemmy.zipOP
          1·
          2 天前

          Thank you! I agree that the smaller user base does make for a less chaotic experience. I look forward to engaging further and appreciate your reply. If you have any suggestions for a new user id be open to checking them out

          • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
            2·
            2 天前

            I found using an app, like Voyager, got me over the hump, but I’m finally comfortable with the desktop web by now.

            Other advice: three main categories are suscribed, local, and all. Go to local because first, because it’s kinda fun to run into the same people all the time, and susbscribe to what interests you. Then when you run out out of subscribed threads, look for more groups you can subscribe to in all. And I’m pretty aggressive about blocking groups I will have no interest in.

            You can also block declared bot accounts in your settings.

  • Schwim Dandy@piefed.zipEnglish
    3·
    2 天前

    Is lemmy actually a better environment?

    Well, it’s populated by humans, so you’re going to find roughly the same behaviors. The main difference is the alignment of the echo chambers.

    The admins and moderators of the platforms do try to nip unlabeled bots and bad actors in the bud and the majority of the userbase helps with that by reporting posts or comments that break the rules and your presence here is not being exploited for any reason, much less for profit but only you will be able to decide whether it’s a place you want to hang out.

    • datmarrow@lemmy.zipOP
      31·
      2 天前

      W response very helpful

      Thanks. I guess maybe echo chamber isn’t the right word because a group spewing the same rhetoric whether true/false is an echo chamber. It may be more accurate to say that im interested in a space that promotes better dialogue and isn’t filled with slop that muddies the conversation.

      • Schwim Dandy@piefed.zipEnglish
        3·
        2 天前

        The majority of the platform does foster more honest dialog but to be clear, there are 0-value communities on the platform as well. You can block the communities, people and instances you don’t care for and the filter system works great so a large part of what you see is completely dictated by you. The fediverse is still small enough that you can create a filter list and browse all/new without seeing anything you don’t want to see.

      • BurgerBaron@quokk.auEnglish
        2·
        2 天前

        Most drama you’ll see on Fediverse will involve leadership, moderators, and power-users within the following groups who don’t like each other:

        Anarchist faction: db0, quokk, nexus, etc

        Tankie faction: .ml, Leningrad, hexbear, etc

        Liberal faction: status quo enforcers .world, the biggest instance unfortunately. Feddit, etc.

        Powertripping/insane mods and admins. A modicum of online power goes to people’s heads here same as anywhere. Stick around long enough you’ll pick up on the repeat offenders via osmosis even if you don’t actively dig up dirt.

        Manipulative narrative control obsessed web and app developers. Lemmy and Piefed both have awful people as lead developers. Then there was Tesserect which… recent drama. I’m not getting into it unasked.

        Good news is you picked a good home instance with .zip as far as I know.

          • BurgerBaron@quokk.auEnglish
            2·
            2 天前

            I know, I had hoped the first sentence covered that but yeah to be clear it’s not like everyone on a specific instance is hive-minded with the instance admins.