It’s rough right now politically in the US. A lot of people around me seem like they’re ready to give up hope. It makes me incredibly angry seeing Zuck up there with all the other billionaires, and Elon is a parasite that has infected the government.
I often find myself wondering how I can make a difference. How can we regain control of our world?
Idk if I’m being dramatic, but the Fediverse really seems like it could be our response to these fuckers controlling the narrative on social media. It could be more than just an interesting decentralized social media platform. I really think this could be a key step in reclaiming our democracy.
Am I being dramatic lol? Do you all feel the same way? I was kinda getting emotional even. Like we could bring real change. That gives me hope, which is something we are desperately lacking right now.
It’s not just Lemmy. It makes me happy to see all the Fediverse platforms (specifically activity pub based) blowing up.
Friendly reminder if you have the financial means, donate to your instance, donate to the Lemmy devs, donate to Pixelfed or any other social media app fighting big social media. And better than a one-time donation, set up a monthly contribution even if it’s just $2/month. It really helps open-source developers when they have a steady income.
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I don’t live in that country, but while I like Lemmy, no, I don’t have hope any more. I’ve not had that for a long time now.
It’s interesting though, to see the US slowly turn into our enemy, and to consider that Germany will be one of our strongest democratic, antifascist allies against the new axis of evil when the time comes.
Thankfully I’m too old to be forced to fight in the next war against fascism, but I suppose poverty and climate change might kill me before then anyway. There truly is no hope left for me.
Using the Fediverse feels like a small step in the right direction. Big changes are built on lots of small steps. I would say move in the direction of using the Fediverse more, the old alternatives less, and think of more small steps in the right direction you can do. I don’t think just using the Fediverse is enough, but it is an important step to take. Keep going.
I agree! Another small step - though I do enjoy the like-minded crowd - would be to get some different perspectives here. Even if I don’t necessarily agree with all those ideas, I don’t think it’s healthy for my own ideas to be trapped in an echo chamber.
Nothing gives me hope.
At least there is some small respite.
In general yes, but I would prefer if it had a wider variety of viewpoints on societal issues. I don’t even always disagree with the prevailing circlejerk here on everything, but I would occasionally like to read counterarguments to it too.
I agree. I like the crowd here, but I also worry I won’t be able to argue my ideas if I never leave the echo chamber.
Yes. The fediverse is a pretty difficult thing to be controlled by a single group: that’s sorta the idea. I see it as almost a refuge from all the bullshit. The lack of ads, tracking, content farming, censorship and control etc is refreshing. Here’s to hoping the fediverse continues to spread.
There’s plenty of censorship here though. Some instances are worse than others but even on a community basis, your average moderator is just some random dude who is free to remove your posts/comments and ban you just because they don’t like something you said and there’s not really anything you can do about it.
Not all moderation = censorship 🙄 You play by the rules or you face the consequences. Nowhere on the planet are the consequence-free zones - at least not forever.
If you really want fediverse instance where absolutely everything is permitted, make it. I bet you after the first CP post you’ll rethink your stand on “all moderation = censorship”.
Yeah but there are a few notorious large instances that censor things that aren’t stated in their rules at all.
Like criticising china or russia will get you banned from the ML instances but their rules don’t mention that.
The Fedi is the only hope right now.
There are a few specific people on fedi who do give me hope.
Finally some god damn recognition
We don’t have control of our world, we never did. Just distance yourself from the madness and embrace the good in the world. Focus on those things and it becomes your reality.
Why can’t I do a bit of both? Maybe start by voting with my money by supporting less unethical businesses.
The Fediverse and open source world do give me hope. But my worry is seeing people not adopt them. I know they aren’t pertect but compared to the big tech alternatives they’re a no oasis.
I like Fediverse because I get much better engagement with people here than anything else
It feels much more social being here not despite the smaller audience, but because of it.
People have time to respond to me if I have a question, and I have time to give really good and complete responses to anyone that asks me about something I post.
I made a post about a blender project I am working on from my Mastodon and tagged the Lemmy community. This project is pretty dear to my heart, and I wanted it to be seen by many people, so I made the same post on Reddit.
I got 35 stars on Mastodon + 80 upvotes on Lemmy + many cool comments.
I got literally no upvotes on Reddit. maybe skill issue on my side but the Fediverse is, in my general experience, so much better when it comes to engagement.
It seems like the only semi-viable alternative to oligarch run social networks.
I am not American, but behaviour exhibited by oligarchs such as Zuckerberg/Musk (and these are just the ones that get in the news) is not at all surprising.
it does. as an mbin cheerleader, its heartwarming to see the disparate AP based servers communicating with my server. lemmy/friendica/mastodon etc… knowing that no entity could control all those products. the key of course is the protocol and maintaining ActivityPub as functional, standardized service.
I don’t think you’re dramatic.
For me it’s about reclaiming my right to participate in online discourse on my own terms. In a way the fediverse is freedom.
I plan on trying to self host a mastodon instance for myself and rebuild my blogs.
I don’t think I’d ever want to self host a lemmy, I like being anonymous to a reasonable degree. But I like that lemmy lets me have a voice without acquiescence to reddits enshittification.
Also the community is largely great. I love the memes, I love the comments and discussions, and I like that I learn things from fellow internet users again.
As someone who suffers from CPTSD, I feel safe, definitely. No one has ever insulted, harassed or trolled me here, compared to reddit, where even safe spaces are overrun with trolls. The design of Lemmy also makes me less attached to my device, I don’t feel anxious about notifications and interacting with people, which was very common on reddit. When I signed up, I tossed a coin that it was either the place I’d been looking for or a repeat of the past. I’m also on Bsky, although I’ve never been on Twitter before because some people I follow on YouTube went there. I plan to host my own community in the future to escape the mainstream platforms. I have been banned from many social media sites for no apparent reason. I long for the days before mainstream media took over the internet.
…abd this goes on anticorporate. Thank you very much. And yes, I think it does and we do make a difference. Keep it up. Organize and search for people like yourself. Instead of turning the naysayers one by one and burning out, find your allies and spread the word efficiently. Think of the ideal situation and make it happen. I‘m here, lets fucking go (same mission, different continent)!
