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-

  • Be kind

  • Ask people what they think, and why

  • 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)

  • Engage sincerely

  • Ask yourself if there’s something nice you can say

  • 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.

  • @lautan@lemmy.caEnglish
    11•2 days ago

    A big problem is too much politics, feels like politics is always brought up even in posts where it’s not the topic of discussion. Just look at this post. Then if someone disagrees with your view they’ll attack you and then they’ll claim they “are on the right side”. People have forgotten the golden rule.

    • ᴍᴜᴛɪʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴᴡᴀᴠᴇ English
      9•2 days ago

      It’s very front of mind because these are the “interesting times” from the Chinese curse. Even people I’ve always known to say they don’t pay attention to politics, can’t watch the news it just makes me sad, etc. These people are talking politics every day. It’s hard not to.

    • @CalipherJones@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3•2 days ago

      That’s because politics are getting to the point where people cannot ignore them any longer. Think it’s bad now? Just wait till the grocery gets hit.

    • GibibitEnglish
      1•2 days ago

      Dunno maybe you can subscribe to more instances (sublemmies? I don’t know the lingo) and somehow filter out the ones that go bad quickly. My enjoyment of Lemmy went up by a lot once I started ignoring the front page and curating my subscribed instances. Just make sure you visit the list of communities every so often

    • Angry_Autist (he/him)English
      1•2 days ago

      I disagree, if political discourse can’t survive public debate, then it isn’t a very good political ideology.

      We have been artificially hampered on other platforms by having to be nice to the nazis, we don’t have to do that here and I fully welcome such debate because none of their abhorrent ideologies hold up under scrutiny

      As for left leaning political debate, we have ALWAYS argued with each other. That is one of our greatest strengths that we just don’t all into line with everything the top says. Also one of our greatest weaknesses.

      But to stifle that artificially will just force it to bleed into other discussions.

      I say up with political discourse and let the marketplace of ideas be conceptually free of bias and the results will be that humanity in general considers nazis pretty bad people

      • @JasSmith@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1•2 days ago

        disagree, if political discourse can’t survive public debate, then it isn’t a very good political ideology.

        They made it clear they’re talking about spaces and topics not about politics. People who feel entitled and compelled to make everything a political culture war are insufferable. Made worse when they call everyone who disagrees with them a Nazi. The word has lost all meaning now.

        • Angry_Autist (he/him)English
          -6•2 days ago

          I’m sorry the world is so scary you have to segment parts of it away from your daily life, I don’t have that weakness

          Nearly everything has a political facet because politics is at the core of how humanity can even live in this modern way.

          Not talking about politics at the dinner table is how we got here and I will not sit by idly while people like you perpetuate that disservice