The fediverse is small, and thats both a blessing and a curse - one of its several blessings is that in a smaller space we all individually have a bigger impact on what the culture of this space is like.
On this comm (and on lemmy broadly) there’s a lot of discussion about how to grow the fediverse, what to improve, but an easy thing you can do for the fediverse is right in front of us-
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Be kind
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Ask people what they think, and why
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Approach folks you disagree with with curiosity rather than hostility (EDIT: no, this is not specifically referring to Nazis. I get it, they’re the first thing that comes to mind. I’m not telling you to approve of Nazis I’m just saying be kind to your fellow lemmites)
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Engage sincerely
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Ask yourself if there’s something nice you can say
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Make this small space worth being in
A platform lives or dies by what’s available on said platform and often we have this conversation in the context of “content” or posts - and we may never have as much content as reddit does. But content and posts aren’t the only thing this kind of platform offers- it also offers people. It offers community, and human interaction.
Culture and community is lemmy and the fediverse’s biggest differentiator, and we all have a role to play in shaping the culture of this space.
The biggest thing you can do to help the fediverse is make it a place worth being.
Yeah try telling people here to be kind
This place is still nicer then reddit but it’s still got problems with a**hole users
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The ones that spam a certain viewpoint amd downvote people who disagree with them and I’m not talking about bigoted users who you should downvote as they want dystopia but users who have different viewpoints to them
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People who act like assholes if you don’t share their holier-than-thou viewpoint that they try to enforce everywhere
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The users here who insist everyone here be atheists, I’m not atheist nor am I religous (I also have a dislike for organised religons) but I still do dislike those kinds of users
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The people here who act like like a**holes when you critique something or give feedback
I’m sure there’s more I’m missing but those are what I remember from the top of my head that I dislike about certain lemmy users and why I think not everyone here is capable of being kind
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Love this post!
We also need people sharing their niche interests and creating discussion… Reddit thrives on these small communities that only find an accessible entrypoint on their platform.
I honestly feel like I can do better in this area. Thanks for the post. Gives me something to think about.
Speaking past each other is IMO the biggest source of friction and division on the fediverse.
I have mysteriously vanished for like 2 or so months now (which is a good thing, please take breaks from the internet every once in a while), I don’t really remember NOT being kind here.
And this post reminds me of why Lemmy is a good place to begin with.
Tell that to the people who make a dozen sockpuppet accounts to insult me just because I disagreed with them.
Best I can do is rewind.
Okay I agree, so let’s start from Linux related any post, tell them if somebody asks a problem don’t tell them just install mint , or how one is crazy because they are facing the problems in Linux or if you are not using Linux what idiot are you. I stopped participating because
- Linux dude bros are just idiots troubling me
- I can’t find content which is though not niche is just is plain not news or Linux
- It’s very confusing to use fedverse as I don’t know of i can go all subs via my boost app or do i need something else , if so where to access them.
So let’s make it ACCESSIBLE, NON DERAGORTY FOR ANON LINUX USERS ALSO
This applies to real life as well. Results may vary.
So I can’t be myself?
Fuck you!
On the one hand, yes, yes, yes, absolutely.
On the other hand, way too often people are absolutely vile here and nobody sticks up for themselves or for others. Really a shame that r-word-it bullshit behavior is often times totally accepted and approved and even rewarded here.
No, I don’t think I will.
I disagree with your premise.
It should be “The best thing that you can do for humanity is to be kind”.
Seriously. We’re living in a time when fascism is in an upswing and at least one religious leader has publicly called empathy a sin. Kindness and empathy are rebellious acts.
