I like that it’s moderated fairly lightly but reasonably. Often I can have an actual discussion with someone who doesn’t agree with me without either of us getting banned by a mod who likes one side or the other. From what I see generally a user needs to be very obviously abusive/racist/violent before a mod steps in, even if the content is controversial.
I dislike that I’ve needed to heavily restrict my use for my mental health until after the election. A lot of people (not all by any means) believe it’s ok to bully and abuse other users so long as they’re sure the cause is righteous. Obvious examples are the daily posts/comments, with a lot of upvotes/support, that label anyone who disagrees with or criticizes Kamala (used to be Biden)/Democrats a bot, idiot, worse than useless, foreign agent and so on. Just to be clear I’m not talking about downvoting which is just expressing disagreement - I’m talking about outright insults. The attitude of “vote with/support me or else” has no place in a democracy founded on free voting without persecution, even if the bully is sure they’re right. If I didn’t mention it, perhaps even if I do, someone may say a version of “but it is actually ok this time” and give reasons why. It’s happened before.
Guess what? Very few “policy bullies” think they are evil - they’re positive they’re justified. Christians demand abortion bans, Muslim deportation, religion in schools/government and so on because they truly believe they are saving eternal souls. I was raised in that environment. That a sizable amount of Lemmy users believe it’s correct/admirable to insult others into “proper” behavior makes them very similar in character to those religious extremists IMO. Apparently when the issue is really important abuse is ok.
I’ll just end by saying Gaza/Palestine is incredibly important to me - I am legitimately very upset frequently by the stories and media. However, I was convinced to support Biden and then Kamala by Bernie Sanders. Bernie laid out his argument with logic and facts and did not once insult my position. I also doubt the posts/comment insults I see all over are winning over undecideds. “I wasn’t sure if I should vote Democrat until I was called a harmful idiot and had my concerns dismissed as being in bad faith”.
I like that it’s moderated fairly lightly but reasonably. Often I can have an actual discussion with someone who doesn’t agree with me without either of us getting banned by a mod who likes one side or the other. From what I see generally a user needs to be very obviously abusive/racist/violent before a mod steps in, even if the content is controversial.
I dislike that I’ve needed to heavily restrict my use for my mental health until after the election. A lot of people (not all by any means) believe it’s ok to bully and abuse other users so long as they’re sure the cause is righteous. Obvious examples are the daily posts/comments, with a lot of upvotes/support, that label anyone who disagrees with or criticizes Kamala (used to be Biden)/Democrats a bot, idiot, worse than useless, foreign agent and so on. Just to be clear I’m not talking about downvoting which is just expressing disagreement - I’m talking about outright insults. The attitude of “vote with/support me or else” has no place in a democracy founded on free voting without persecution, even if the bully is sure they’re right. If I didn’t mention it, perhaps even if I do, someone may say a version of “but it is actually ok this time” and give reasons why. It’s happened before.
Guess what? Very few “policy bullies” think they are evil - they’re positive they’re justified. Christians demand abortion bans, Muslim deportation, religion in schools/government and so on because they truly believe they are saving eternal souls. I was raised in that environment. That a sizable amount of Lemmy users believe it’s correct/admirable to insult others into “proper” behavior makes them very similar in character to those religious extremists IMO. Apparently when the issue is really important abuse is ok.
I’ll just end by saying Gaza/Palestine is incredibly important to me - I am legitimately very upset frequently by the stories and media. However, I was convinced to support Biden and then Kamala by Bernie Sanders. Bernie laid out his argument with logic and facts and did not once insult my position. I also doubt the posts/comment insults I see all over are winning over undecideds. “I wasn’t sure if I should vote Democrat until I was called a harmful idiot and had my concerns dismissed as being in bad faith”.