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.
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
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
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.