Fediverse Challenge: Prove there's still good in the world
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Yes, there is the economy community that only post politics on it
To be fair, politics shape a lot of the economy. But it pops up everywhere, TV show communities, hobbies, everything.
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Maybe. On the other hand, I can see a mod being reticent about nuking a post that has a high upvote ratio and a healthy discussion going.
Lemmy’s mod tools allow for much more nuanced responses than just nuking a post. For instance, I think locking the post and adding a comment pointing folks to the same post in a more relevant community is something most people would react positively to. And, it’s definitely okay to have some communities be for very small groups of people with a very restrictive mod policy — there’s always a bigger, more permissive community available for people that want to discuss whatever.
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Lemmy’s mod tools allow for much more nuanced responses than just nuking a post. For instance, I think locking the post and adding a comment pointing folks to the same post in a more relevant community is something most people would react positively to. And, it’s definitely okay to have some communities be for very small groups of people with a very restrictive mod policy — there’s always a bigger, more permissive community available for people that want to discuss whatever.
it’s definitely okay to have some communities be for very small groups of people with a very restrictive mod policy
I'd say that's not only ok but desirable. I forgot about locking posts, that would indeed be effective.
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Or its a .ml instancrlol
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Or its a .ml instance
And moderation of certain topics is very active lol -
Yeah, to pretty much all that.
My experience here is generally pretty pleasant, but it took a LOT of work blocking untold numbers of communities, users, and instances to get here. Other on-boarding difficulties aside (for less savvy users), it's just a big ask to expect them to do all that work just to not be hit in the face with all the negativity and raging and dig deep for everything else. Reddit may have numerous flaws, but at least I can go to the front page and it doesn't feel like I'm walking into the midst of an angry mob.
My two cents is basically this: We did this to ourselves here. Elsewhere, we might have blamed the algorithms for pushing rage-bait front and center, but here it's 100% organic (unless there's just a massive bot problem which I don't have reason to suspect).
rage drives engagement.
it's just how the internet works. angry people post and reply a lot more than non-angry people.
and angry posts tend to be shorter, easier to comprehend, and induce more angry responses.
thoughtful and non-rage takes don't drive engagement from people. it mostly bores them.
people come to be entertained, more than anything else.
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I've been blocking so many news communities because I go on Lemmy to have a good time. Every second post recently has been politics and I'm so sick of it. I am so for this
i'm from the US and I agree. Lemmy has really gone downhill the past few months and its FULL of ragebait posting of craptastic 'news' articles.
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There have been a couple of posts somewhat recently asking what can be done to attract new users to the Fediverse. My answer was basically "make it something new people would want to see and stick around for". The crux of that was basically less news, less politics, less rage and more, well, anything else.
So, I would like to propose a challenge to all: Let's try that. At least for a week.
Sound good? Here's how you can participate:
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If you're one who posts a lot of news/politics...stop or at least slow down. Post literally anything else. Or try to post less rage-inducing news and try to dig up the good news that's happening. Sorry !upliftingnews@lemmy.world but it's the regular news communities that are flooding the zone with every single bad thing that happens anywhere in the world, so we may be stealing some of your content with this one.
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Think before posting something. Are you only posting it because you're mad about it and you think other people should be mad about it too? If so, maybe post something else. Is there already similar coverage of that? Chances are, we don't need more of it.
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If you're a lurker, post something. Add your voice.
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Refrain from upvoting / booting all the negativity. Yes, it may feel good to upvote for visibility because "people need to know this" but the end result is the feed turning into a list of things to rage about. If you see good/non-rage news, upvote that for visibility. I've seen many posts like that languish with a few tens of upvotes at most while the rage-inducing news gets hundreds of upvotes.
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Post what makes you happy rather than what you're angry about.
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Avoid dogpiling on people if they express a different opinion. I'm not saying feed the trolls or pat them on the head, just merely "disengage" or avoid the impulse to virtue dump on them and such.
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If you have a hobby, share it! There's plenty of hobby communities that would greatly benefit from additional contributors. If you're boring like me, well, there's !Dullsters@dullsters.net or !dull_mens_club@lemmy.world (the latter welcomes all as the name is just a reference to the original)
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Anything else you can think of to make the homepage/experience feel more welcoming and less like an angry mob (suggestions in the comments are more than welcome).
I know not everyone will participate, and that's okay. Simply adding more positivity and posting/boosting less rage can have a positive effect on what shows up on
/allwhich is what potential new users see by default.So, let's try this for a week and see what happens. Who knows? Maybe the established userbase will find it refreshing as well.
Who's with me?
The Fediverse is one of the precious few bastions where real talk can happen without algorithmic shaping and interference. News and politics are a fundamental part of society, and inseparable from real discussion. I disagree with the idea that to make the Fediverse better, we have to sacrifice these forms of discussion in favor of "anything else".
Your call for stopping, slowing down, or posting literally anything else is inadvertently also a call for self-censorship in service of your personal ideal. You saying that this is the answer to the problem of attracting new membership is you expressing your own preferences and applying them broadly, and isn't borne out by fact. People are not avoiding any of the major social media platforms due to these things, and it seems unlikely they are avoiding the Fediverse for this reason either.
The Fediverse's lower membership is likely more of a complicated problem involving things like a broad lack of awareness of it, and the average person being put off by the technical-seeming complexity of it, which makes it appear less accessible. They are also reluctant to step outside of their existing communities, which is exacerbated by the fact that those communities tend to settle into those platforms that appear easier and more familiar.
Bottom line is, I respect your right to your opinions and your right to engage with the Fediverse according to your own needs, wants, and perspectives. I however strongly disagree with your call for community-wide self censorship in the name of filling the Fediverse with positivity at the expense of real talk under the premise of attracting new membership.
You're more than welcome to spread as much positivity as you want wherever you want, and to distance yourself from anything you don't personally favor. By all means start a community, encourage others to start communities based on your preferences. But calls for self-censorship on the Fediverse are problematic at best, especially given the circumstances we are currently living in.
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There have been a couple of posts somewhat recently asking what can be done to attract new users to the Fediverse. My answer was basically "make it something new people would want to see and stick around for". The crux of that was basically less news, less politics, less rage and more, well, anything else.
So, I would like to propose a challenge to all: Let's try that. At least for a week.
Sound good? Here's how you can participate:
-
If you're one who posts a lot of news/politics...stop or at least slow down. Post literally anything else. Or try to post less rage-inducing news and try to dig up the good news that's happening. Sorry !upliftingnews@lemmy.world but it's the regular news communities that are flooding the zone with every single bad thing that happens anywhere in the world, so we may be stealing some of your content with this one.
-
Think before posting something. Are you only posting it because you're mad about it and you think other people should be mad about it too? If so, maybe post something else. Is there already similar coverage of that? Chances are, we don't need more of it.
-
If you're a lurker, post something. Add your voice.
-
Refrain from upvoting / booting all the negativity. Yes, it may feel good to upvote for visibility because "people need to know this" but the end result is the feed turning into a list of things to rage about. If you see good/non-rage news, upvote that for visibility. I've seen many posts like that languish with a few tens of upvotes at most while the rage-inducing news gets hundreds of upvotes.
-
Post what makes you happy rather than what you're angry about.
-
Avoid dogpiling on people if they express a different opinion. I'm not saying feed the trolls or pat them on the head, just merely "disengage" or avoid the impulse to virtue dump on them and such.
-
If you have a hobby, share it! There's plenty of hobby communities that would greatly benefit from additional contributors. If you're boring like me, well, there's !Dullsters@dullsters.net or !dull_mens_club@lemmy.world (the latter welcomes all as the name is just a reference to the original)
-
Anything else you can think of to make the homepage/experience feel more welcoming and less like an angry mob (suggestions in the comments are more than welcome).
I know not everyone will participate, and that's okay. Simply adding more positivity and posting/boosting less rage can have a positive effect on what shows up on
/allwhich is what potential new users see by default.So, let's try this for a week and see what happens. Who knows? Maybe the established userbase will find it refreshing as well.
Who's with me?
Great ideas and well articulated
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There have been a couple of posts somewhat recently asking what can be done to attract new users to the Fediverse. My answer was basically "make it something new people would want to see and stick around for". The crux of that was basically less news, less politics, less rage and more, well, anything else.
So, I would like to propose a challenge to all: Let's try that. At least for a week.
Sound good? Here's how you can participate:
-
If you're one who posts a lot of news/politics...stop or at least slow down. Post literally anything else. Or try to post less rage-inducing news and try to dig up the good news that's happening. Sorry !upliftingnews@lemmy.world but it's the regular news communities that are flooding the zone with every single bad thing that happens anywhere in the world, so we may be stealing some of your content with this one.
-
Think before posting something. Are you only posting it because you're mad about it and you think other people should be mad about it too? If so, maybe post something else. Is there already similar coverage of that? Chances are, we don't need more of it.
-
If you're a lurker, post something. Add your voice.
-
Refrain from upvoting / booting all the negativity. Yes, it may feel good to upvote for visibility because "people need to know this" but the end result is the feed turning into a list of things to rage about. If you see good/non-rage news, upvote that for visibility. I've seen many posts like that languish with a few tens of upvotes at most while the rage-inducing news gets hundreds of upvotes.
-
Post what makes you happy rather than what you're angry about.
-
Avoid dogpiling on people if they express a different opinion. I'm not saying feed the trolls or pat them on the head, just merely "disengage" or avoid the impulse to virtue dump on them and such.
-
If you have a hobby, share it! There's plenty of hobby communities that would greatly benefit from additional contributors. If you're boring like me, well, there's !Dullsters@dullsters.net or !dull_mens_club@lemmy.world (the latter welcomes all as the name is just a reference to the original)
-
Anything else you can think of to make the homepage/experience feel more welcoming and less like an angry mob (suggestions in the comments are more than welcome).
I know not everyone will participate, and that's okay. Simply adding more positivity and posting/boosting less rage can have a positive effect on what shows up on
/allwhich is what potential new users see by default.So, let's try this for a week and see what happens. Who knows? Maybe the established userbase will find it refreshing as well.
Who's with me?
great idea. I'm new to all this fediverse stuff. started with mastodon. social media needs to be more social again and less rage bait. we need good news. we need uplifting stories. we need cat pics.
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