I just had my first experience blocking an instance, and it made my realize now nice the lemmy content curation experience is vs the centralized model.
Recently I started noticing a lot of posts from that I just found annoying. There was nothing inherently wrong with them, they just came from a culture I don’t understand and so I found them cringey. Since they all came from one community, realized most of them come from the same instance. I just added that instance to my blocklist and the problem is solved!
Now think about in the centralized model. I would be forced to either just accept that these posts are in my timeline, or block each community and user individually. The instance gave me an easy way to manage my content.
I also appreciate that instances can manage the blocking for their users. So the most horrible stuff I don’t even see. But it also preserves free speech, as those users who want to say horrible things can do so in their own instance, and most people will just block it.
Anyway, just impressed again by the fediverse!
So block the communities instead of the ENTIRE INSTANCE.
Smug libs keep shutting out their own neighbors without realizing the disastrous effects of siloing large swaths pf vulnerable people from reaching ANYONE. Tribalism has had such a terrible effect on the world yet I see smug otherwise very intelligent people climbing over one another to engage in it.
IMO, the only way to stop ignorance and hate is to actually know people from MANY walks of life and face those differences head on. If you dismiss every last one of them wholesale at the slightest sign of differences, you are intellectually weak and deserve the dystopian future we are all being herded and astroturfed into.
That’s the same talking points the alt-right uses and we don’t tolerate it.
And I’ve been on the Internet long enough to watch so-called “progressive” spaces get hijacked by the right wing under the guise of “free speech”.
When a culture grows toxic, it’s simply toxic no matter their talking points.
So the fact people have the power to block entire instances at their discretion, this is a good thing.
You are not entitled to my attention, nor am I entitled to yours.
I do not think it’s a good idea to isolate people in cults in their own echo chambers… although my faith in humanity and basic decency has seen better days, I still believe good examples matter.
A user blocking an instance does not block the users from that instance from interacting with the user who blocked.
It’s not well explained, but my understanding is that an instance block just prevents communities from that instance, and posts made by users on thay instance, from showing for the user that blocked the instance. Comments from users of that instance still show for the blocking user, and the block is one way anyway.
Cults aren’t isolated by others. They self-isolate.
Freedom of speech is an “alt-right” talking point?!?!?!
Are you listening to yourself?
To illustrate my point: I heard Elon is against the obvious CIA front organization USAID so I 100% guarantee you’re now pro CIA.
🤣
You have freedom of speech. I also have the freedom to walk away from your speech and listen to someone else.
And that is a wonderful thing. Use the town square analogy and you’ll see that I’m not against THAT. I’m against victory laps advertising the blinders over a whole instance.
People need to know this feature exists and that it’s a good thing.
They’ve literally been banging the freeze-peach button constantly. Every single time there’s consequences for their actions for a decade or two now. Where have you been?
I hear they drink a lot of water too. I think we should give up water to own the nazi’s.
It’s not my concern if you decide to continue self-sabotaging. That’s on you. You’re definitely not helping yourself and not fostering any actual discussion that’s for sure. You must be an Anarchist ironically. Just out for chaos. And not for Mutual Aid and understanding.
Insult me all you want. You didn’t change my mind.
Ps. Look at the rest of the discussions I am having with people. It seems the tone of this particular thread in the conversation is destined for toxicity because you’re not ready to admit the ugly truth about your perspective.
You’re the only one insulting yourself. The toxicity is heavily attached to you. A lot of the rest of us are having a fine conversation.
This! I hate that LW defederates from Hex, and Beehaw and any others. LW needs to update the Lemmy version and federate with all.
Open debate is critical for ethics and intelligence. I wish we were much more capable of open minded debate here. I would totally play the role of high-Mach devils-advocate to get people talking about controversial and high tension subjects while being abstracted and attempting not to offend as best I can while playing the role of the bad guy. I’m afraid users here are totally incapable of this level of engagement depth. The concept of a safe place to take such a controversial position of true free speech seems beyond the capability of most here. Like a transgender person should have the opportunity to debate their politization issues from both sides. Or like, I hate what has happened in Gaza, but I also hate a culture that coexists with honor killing without absolutely reforming purging the practice with distain. I should be able to argue as a devils advocate from many angles even when I find them repugnant. I am very good at this kind of debating. I have my own issues with my life situation where I would need people to understand the scope of such a community and participating users. It is a difficult balance to argue hated positions and others understand that those positions and ideas are not your own. When such debates are had, it leads to a much deeper understanding of issues within a community as a whole.
The high school I went to was in a very poor all black community and was designed to uplift the best and brightest of that community while drawing in similar students from the surrounding region to make up around 20% of students. There were some very racist views and tensions at times mostly from black students towards white. The Wednesday seminar/debate classes from start of the day until lunch were the ultimate solution. We debated politics, religion, racism, rape, authoritarianism, communism, anarchism, and a bunch of other stuff. It got super heated at times. When no one wanted to take the negative interlocutor perspective, the teacher would try but I quickly learned I saw the situation more clearly than them and was good at being the bad guy (or the good guy). By arguing the opposing perspective it reveals much about what one believes and how to argue it effectively.
I have an entire framework for such a community saved in rough drafted notes on my phone that I made weeks ago but I don’t think Lemmy is capable of this in practice.
Folks like you and the hundred other people also “just asking questions” or playing devils advocate" and expecting trans people to engage in a debate as to whether or not we actually deserve equal rights is exactly why this shit never works.
It’s interesting to you because it’s purely intellectual. To the person having to endlessly argue that they do in fact deserve equal rights, it’s a shit fucking experience that we actively seek to disengage from when possible, because it’s all around us, all the time.
I thought about you, moss and sunshine as who I would reach out to before starting a community, if I were to do so. I have no intentions of hurting anyone ever. I understand better than you might think. I grew up a Jehovah's Witness which is quite the outcast way to live. I only ever had a few friends and my closest literally traumatized me by deciding we weren't friends any more one day without a reason or care. Now I'm atheist and stuck living with JW parents and have a sister that is determined to see me homeless and dead. I had a shit social network turned to none. I've never celebrated a holiday or a birthday. I'm always in this world within a world. I can never be myself. I can't have a conversation IRL about any of my interests or who I am without getting preached at despite the fact I know the bullshit far better than the people preaching it. I only get what I need to survive most of the time. Despite spending all of my time in bed, I'm constantly berated like I am just fine when any of my needs are inconvenient. I'm mentally soup after doing anything and I tend to get so little done each day that it is hard to tackle much in the way of projects any more. I'm worn down to the bone. If you knew the slightest about my love life and history OMG is has been my hurricane against a cult like religious hailstorm. I adored my highschool gf, the forbidden outside of faith "worldly" love. Like I moved 2k miles back across the country for her. She was my key to escape the mental cult like prison. There were many more, and stories... I have always had to be closeted about love and interests despite being cis just because I was the wrong kind of cis and even when I was right I was fucking them which was wrong.
Anyways, what I would have looked for in reaching out is where to create safe boundaries because there are so many diverse people here. Maybe it is post tags, maybe it is a ban on certain topics and subjects.
I need people to speak up for me IRL when it comes to some things like disability or to be understanding here because I may not have slept much at all in several days at times and it can be difficult to know how I am doing under that circumstance. I will gladly speak up for you or anyone else and have tried to when I see the chance. I won’t be melodramatic, but I will make a dominant argument.
In my personal style, if I play devil’s advocate, I enjoy taking the plausible argument that fits the flawed narrative as I see it. Then I take that narrative to the extreme of a systems thinking approach and show where it really leads. I want to make the people who think I am supporting their disposition repulsed enough to second guess themselves not by arguing against them, but by taking their hand and then refusing to let go of their dogma until they are releasing the gas valves in the concentration camp and hate themselves for it within that metal exercise.
If we’re going to talk about abortion, then the subject is your own mother with a terminal fetus and you are given the choice of killing your mom or the unborn child and I will make that story vivid and personal.
There are many little details about transgender stuff I would like to explore more in depth without polarity in a safe space. Like where should we completely eliminate gender dichotomy. I think cycling as a sport should be integrated completely because there are niches for every body type. Most sports probably should be integrated. The whole restrooms thing would have bothered me before cycling and atheism because I was insecure. Now I wear my tightest undies in public daily so IDGAF in the slightest.
Also BTW, I say a lot about being very liberal as a mod and trying to get others to do the same. I am a quiet mod with a big stick. I have not and will not be passive about standing against bigotry. I’m for free speech but only in the context of debate with some very clearly defined limits to what that means.
If anything I want better arguments and understanding when I have the opportunity to speak up. I don’t want to be the person that argues. I want to be the person that asks the one question that destroys a bigot’s confidence. I need a deep intuitive understanding of the issues for that kind of insight. I don’t want that at a cost to you or anyone else. I will find other ways to learn over time if need be.
Like I said, I don’t think Lemmy is capable of this at all anyways. That is why I did not reach out, that and there is too much tension already on Lemmy right now. When I make debate like discussions or philosophical posts, I mostly get dumb responses and negativity in reply here.
Anyways, I’m trying to say, I understand, and genuinely care more than you may realize. - with love from an internet friend
The first half of your post is you talking about trauma you’ve received from other people, telling you that you’re wrong/evil/broken/perverted etc.
The second half of your post is explaining how you think it’s ok for you to do the same thing to others, because you do it “for the right reasons”
When you confront a bigot with transphobia pushed to the extreme, what you do is add to the trauma that every trans person already has to deal with daily. You don’t magically convert someone from bigotry. Bigots aren’t bigots because they reasons their way in to bigotry, and so you can’t stop them from being bigots by reasoning them out of it.
Beehaw defederated from LW, not the other way around IIRC
Yeah but it was because of issues on LW that went unresolved. It is very likely that the problem individuals are not even on LW any more. Plus the user tools have changed. Reaching out to mend the bridge should be a top priority for the top instance as should unbanning any and all possible. Such behaviour is the only respectable way to stay at the top and grow Lemmy. If bridges can’t be mended, at least document that the effort was made so users of both instances are aware.
Thank you so much!!!
I couldn’t have said it any better. ✊🏽