I’m a huge nerd, so the reason I joined Lemmy is because I was looking for a social media platform that conforms with my views on FOSS, moderation, and internet privacy. I would assume many other people are in the same boat, but is that accurate? Who’s just here because they looked up “Reddit alternatives?”
I only used reddit through an app so when they closed the api that was the day reddit shut down for me, I came looking for meme pages. I forget about reddit, I have my memes and shitposts. Sure, fewer than the before times but I also see less guerilla marketing so that’s nice.
Compared to most people in my IRL, yes. Compared to lots of people on Lemmy who work in industry or are much more serious hobbyists than me, no.
Not a tech person. I’m a seamstress/tailor who will make you feel like the smartest person in the room when I ask questions about computers. Never knew so much about internet privacy before Lemmy, either. It’s been eye-opening to learn about tech-stuff on Lemmy!
I left R×ddit out of spite, then found out youtubers made videos reading out my posts and said goodbye to it forever. It became a free content farm ripe for mishandling, astroturfing, and paid propaganda.
My stubborn ass will learn something beyond simple navigation because I’m always wanting to skirt injustice and do what little I can to not support rampant capitalism (I have no money!)
I mean… I learned Blender. I’m capable of pretty much everything!
I’m a techie and left reddit after the api-desaster. I won’t use things when they have ads. Period. And I’m glad I found lemmy.
I like doing tech stuff as a hobby yeah. Don’t remember why I signed up for Lemmy but I have been aware of it for years before I signed up. I think I wanted to have a place to talk about FOSS but also in a community that was generally aligned with my political views (hence my decision to sign up for lemmy.ml)
I’m a socialist, mostly found this place thanks to word of mouth. Unfortunately users are turning more moderate every day. It’s a strange place
Not a tech person. Working on my PhD in theoretical computer science.
okay 🥲🧻😤😭
I’m a tech person and I still use reddit
I’m not a tech person. Art and craft is my thing. I joined Lemmy after the Reddit API issue.
+1 on this camp.
Me too, actually
I like linux, had a stint as a webdev, I fly drones, and enjoy playing syrhesizers. Take from that what you will.
90% of people who joined Lemmy (or the fediverse in general) are tech savvy enough to wrap their head around the concept of federation.
but do you need to understand that
Is it really so tough? It’s the very similar to email providers, and who doesn’t understand those?
I work in a computer shop and talk to regular computer users all day everyday.
The average user might know what a browser is. Most don’t know that the Internet is outside of their computer.
Real quotes like this happen everyday: “I just get on the green one to check my Google”. Translation: I check Gmail using the Edge browser.
It took me 25 minutes the other day to explain what video chat was and that FaceTime is only one kind of it, and it’s only available on Apple devices, of which an HP laptop is not.
Do not underestimate the computer illiteracy of the common person.
It isn’t tough at all, and anyone who says the concept is can’t wrap their mind around it is either a Luddite or is willfully dismissive.
I looked up “Reddit alternatives”, but I also work with computers/tech as a living.
I’m just a regular person. I’m learning everyday about the fediverse, what its capable of. But its actuality only around 3-4years since I got into this rabbit hole. I used to in my younger days to think that FOSS is to nerdy😄im excited to get more into the FOSS and Fediverse world!
We’re glad to have you! The more the merrier
Yes, here to talk to nerdy people for the most part
Also beats doom scrolling on Instagram or reddit
Not a tech person. I’m currently a PhD student in civil engineering and wood science.
I promise I’m not being sarcastic when I say wood science sounds fascinating, lol.
What made you decide to use Lemmy?
Was on reddit for many years, didn’t like the direction it was going. Also I’m permabanned from there!
Oh! What’d you do to get banned off of Reddit of all places??
They wouldn’t shut up about their “awesome, super-hard wood”.
I’ve had a few accounts banned from a few of the larger subreddits, then I got a general permaban for ban evasion. Among the things I was banned from big subreddits for:
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Making even vaguely pro-Palestinian comments on r/worldnews
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Commenting in r/politics, that if the SCOTUS ruled that the president had complete immunity and was effectively a dictator, he should drone strike Supreme Court justices until that power is taken away. (Actual news stories proposing this were allowed on r/politics. But the comments section had an idiotic zero-context zero-thought “no violence” policy. IMO, the only moral use of dictatorial powers is to force through changes stripping yourself of those dictatorial powers.)
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Literally on January 6th, as a group of armed insurgents was actively trying to overthrow our government in a coup, asking why they weren’t being met with automatic weapons fire. I have zero doubt that if BLM tried to storm the inauguration of a president Trump, they would be shot by the dozen. But right wing extremists were allowed to openly attempt a coup in broad daylight. (We later learned the reason this didn’t happen is that the president had deliberately kept troops from being deployed to protect the capital building.)
My primary account on reddit had several hundred thousand comment karma on it. I’ve had accounts with 15 year histories on there. But the main subreddits have been completely taken over by either right wing radicals or pro-advertiser zero-thought censorship policies. I literally had my main account banned from r/politics for wondering why my nation’s military wasn’t defending the peaceful transfer of power from a group of armed revolutionaries.
Looking back, I think we would have been a lot better off if January 6th HAD resulted in scores of thugs being gunned down with machine guns. Instead, the people who planned it haven’t been brought to justice and have been left to simply try again. And since then, in right wing circles, it’s been recast as some noble peaceful protest. We would have been far better off if the leaders of that movement never made it off the capital grounds. If we’ve learned anything from history, it’s when fascists try to seize power violently, you need to come down like the Hammer of God upon them. Giving them a slap on the wrist to appease them does not work, it just teaches them that you are weak, and that they should keep trying til they succeed. If a thousand of the countries most violent right wing extremists had instead never left capital grounds alive that day, I think today we would be in a far better place.
But…you can’t post that kind of thing on r/politics without getting instantly permabanned. They censor any discussion of violence, even when it is entirely justified and legal in the defense of a nation and its democracy. It’s been said that from time to time, the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants. But on r/politics, the tree of liberty is doomed to wither, as discussing watering the tree with the blood of tyrants violates community guidelines and doesn’t make advertisers happy.
Or, as a final example, I think there was a story on there once that was hyperbolically lamenting, “OMG, what happens if Trump raises a group of right wing militias to stage an armed revolution if they lose in 2024?” I replied truthfully and correctly. What do we do if any group of people tries to overthrow the government by force? We shoot them. We send in the most powerful military on Earth, we shoot them, and we put them in the ground. That is what you do with rebels. That is what any democracy needs to do if it wants people to respect the results of elections. When you try to overthrow a legitimately elected government, your life is now forfeit, and you will be met with unrelenting merciless force. That is how that scenario would actually go down in real life. Democracy is worth fighting for. And democracy is worth killing for. And I wasn’t afraid to state this plain and obvious fact. That got one account permabanned from r/politics.
In short, I am not afraid of saying that under certain circumstances, it is entirely just and legal for violence, even extreme and lethal violence, to be used to protect a nation and its republic. But on a big subreddit like r/politics, you’ll be permabanned for saying it’s OK to shoot people trying to violently overthrow the government.
Lemmy isn’t immune to bans for people speaking their mind or promoting violence. It happens all the time.
Sure. But again, it’s a distributed platform. And it does tend to be less subject to zero-thought zero tolerance policies built to appease advertisers. If you start posting death threats to politicians, you’ll get banned (and probably visited by law enforcement.) But I never posted anything like that. I never threatened anyone. I never advocated vigilante violence. I never posted anything that I couldn’t, completely legally, write on a big sign and literally walk around in front of the White House fence advocating for.
Hell, Lemmy.world will ban you for OPPOSING violence. But the bright side of federation is the lunatics taking over the asylum on one instance doesn’t impact using others.
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