A Request to the Fediverse Community

[rosahaj@lemmy.blahaj.zone]

just hopped into a few, thanks for the recommendations!

[blaze@feddit.org]

Happy to help!

[serfraser@sopuli.xyz]

I'm back after a year away. My two favourite niche interests (wrestling & fantasy books) still don't have hugely active communities but I'll start pitching in again with some lukewarm takes.

[rosahaj@lemmy.blahaj.zone]

welcome back, and good luck!

[jubilantjaguar@lemmy.world]

You're not shy, you're just a normally adjusted human.

It's normal to want to avoid being abused and insulted for, say, having an opinion which is marginally different to the in-group consensus. But unfortunately that's what happens when we post on text-based social media. Apparently the medium does something to people's minds, turning them into nasty vindictive unpleasant versions of themselves.

I'm a pretty self-confident person in real life and even I think twice about posting anything here that contradicts the prevailing groupthink. The inevitable insults and abuse and mockery are sometimes just not worth it.

[blaze@feddit.org]

[email protected] seems quite active !

[tisi@reddthat.com]

It's been out for a while. And to quote Blaze

[email protected] could definitely benefit from some nice reposts!

There's only one person posting there, I think it's the mod. I'm sure they'd appreciate some support.

[ekzepp@lemmy.world]

[blaze@lemmy.dbzer0.com]

Unexpected [email protected]

[imaqtpie@midwest.social]

Nice list

[southendsunset@lemm.ee]

I get this. I used to use Threads and someone got very angry at me cause I said Labour, supposedly the left wing party in the UK, are “upsetting the right people”, I should have clarified that I don’t think that they are doing a good job, but never mind.

[southendsunset@lemm.ee]

I’ve had abuse for posting a short story that validated the group think. Several times.

[surewhynotlem@lemmy.world]

That's a horrible take and you should feel bad.

But I'm a stranger on the Internet and probably a moron so it's ok to not take me seriously or respond to me.

[cheems@lemmy.world]

I do that quite a lot too

[rosahaj@lemmy.blahaj.zone]

Personally, I have hope that if a larger variety of people are posting and commenting (typical lurkers and such) then hopefully the echo chamber aggression will weaken a little, and hopefully foster a positive and friendly community. I'm trying to lead by example

[rosahaj@lemmy.blahaj.zone]

Never got very into short-form content, but I'll give it some consideration!

[slym@lemmy.ca]

I’m in, lets this be my late new year resolution

[tisi@reddthat.com]

Me neither, but when I'm scrolling some videos look interesting.

[mentorkitten@lemmy.world]

A lot of times I'll write out a comment and end up deleting it. Most times it's because I feel like it's something that's already been said or not worth reading but I'll try to be less of a lurker.

[jubilantjaguar@lemmy.world]

Refreshing optimism!

if a larger variety of people are posting and commenting (typical lurkers and such) then hopefully the echo chamber aggression will weaken a little

Unfortunately I'm not sure the hope is warranted. Putting a lot of people with different views in front of each other, over text, does not, in general, by default, seem to go that well. At least not going by the experience of the first 30 years of the social internet. You tend to get the worst aspect of human group dynamics and speech-policing without the self-moderation that comes with in-person contact - i.e. the effect of audible voices, and visible faces and body language.

I'm not a complete pessimist or I wouldn't be here. But I think these issues can only be solved by activist moderation that enforces rules with a light touch while remaining tolerant and always assuming good faith. And, of course, that kind of moderation is time-consuming and very, very hard. It's a skill that hardly any communities have access to. But it is at least a reasonable goal.