The only people that believe that crap are 4channers dumb enough to believe that being an amoral asshole makes you smart. The reddit thing is true though.
For a while I was living in a student dorm in a student area. I was taking a walk when I saw one of those:
Not that particular piece of paper but one with the same text. Took me 2 minutes of googling to trace it back to /pol/.
I'm an atheist and ex Muslim, Islam ruined a large portion of my life... but I took that paper down anyway. Random person had the right to hang it on the street and I had the right to crumble and recycle it.
The statement itself wasn't the triggering part... The triggering part was 4chaners think they are smart or making some kind of "point" with a quipy and short sentence... hanging out behind a screen trying to affect the real world outside even though they often claim not to be social or get any sun at all. At least that sad 4channer got to take a walk to hang this up. It was confusing more than offensive, had to read it a few times to even get it lololol
4chan, like much of The Internet, is proof that what is lacking in society now is the ability for anyone to have the shit beaten out of them for saying absolute stupid, mean or destructive things.
People are being assholes online because in the real world they are sorely needing to have their ass handed to them for the stupid shit they say.
This is how the world worked for hundreds of years.
I disagree that violence would improve this in any way, but I agree that those with shitty views don't dare share their face because their views are hateful racist vomit.
It's that no one has an actual discourse in person. That would include shame and maybe some punches to she face. The internet is now the 3rd place and it's built to extract money and be addictive.
No you're forgetting Hanlons razor and the fact people misinterpret on the net.
This whole attitude of taking words on a screen 'super serious' seems like a Zoomer "cyber-bullying" growth hiccup. It's bollocks. Grow up, stop sanitising your words and say shit you'd say in person. Even if it gets misinterpreted. Who cares?
Cos in person you'd know immediately that I'm taking the piss cos of the giant fucking grin on my face. Everythign I say online I'd be willing to say in person. You wouldn't twat me one cos it'd be fucking obvious I'm joking.
E.g. I got in a long comment chain with a Java dev after I said "Java is cancer". I expected them to realise I was joking cos my arguments were brain dead. They took it 100% seriously and called into question my abilities. I upped the ante and said Java devs are "mongols that should be shot and dumped in the sea".
They STILL thought I was being serious!
Eventually I just carried on full steam and insulted everything about Java and their mental capacity.
I've not received a reply yet* but I assume they either realised it was a joke or they've gone off quietly steaming that some random on the net hates Java when in reality - they take life way too seriously and I was laughing the entire time.
I guess that makes me a troll? But I don't care because it's hilarious and people need to chill the fuck out and not take words on a screen so seriously.
I was forged in the fires of the internet circa 1990s where "trolling" didn't have a name. It was just piss taking. I'd spend hours annoying random Yanks about Vietnam. You quickly learnt not to take things seriously when everyone was ripping into each other.
The problem with calling me a troll and telling me to be "nicer" on the web results in ultra-sanitised spaces where you can't say certain words and you end up with idiots saying "latino" is transphobic or Spanish "negro" is racist or "unalive" to avoid triggers.
Stop being a victim. Toughen up. For your benefit and everyone elses. It would result in a more interesting WWW.
4chan is like oldschool internet where anything goes.
Reddit is child-proofed internet where you can't use profanity or words like "suicide" without triggering someone.
*I've recieved a reply - they think I'm serious AND that I'm wound up. I'm pissing myself laughing!!! 🤣
Shit. You just made me realize that since I left reddit I haven't seen a single "despite..." comment. Thinking about how much casual bigotry like that I'm avoiding every day puts a smile on my face.
Reddit used to have a more vocal communist community, but it got cracked down on in 2016 ehen the platform started peddling heavy to the MAGA fascists.
Honestly, so long as folks are cool, I don’t care how smart or dumb they are. (In the chill sense, not the skateboarding dog with sunglasses sense, but that’s fine, too.)
I’m at a point where I’m exhausted by online toxicity and gamesmanship. It doesn’t have to be about quippy tropes, toxic in-jokes, or proving you’re smarter (or dumber) than the next guy for internet points. I just want to have normal interactions with folks.
In that regard, my experience with Lemmy isn't bad. However, a huge factor in interactions in here (and reddit...) will always be randomness, I think.
We stumble upon a topic or are "guided" through an algorithm. The unpredictability is part of the fun/addiction. So the people commenting and their views on the matter are random, too (at least until the number of users is so high, that you can statically predict what the top comment will say). In addition, our moods vary constantly. Now I'm chatty, another time I feel funny or sad. Just imagine your funny self talking to your sad self about a given topic and already you get a lot of potential conflict. :)
Where am I going with this? I don't really know, but ya, being chill is probably always a good idea and I wanted to match your Fonzie vibes. :)
Oh, yeah. I totally aspire to be a chaos muppet above all other things. (Inclusive, fun, random, and doing no evil, even if I’m up to shenanigans.) If we’re not all having a good time, then what’s even the point?
I would love to see ten times more users, at the least.
I refuse to go back to reddit, but I miss the diversity, discussions, and the niche communities.
Could do with less gay trans commies. Or more of alternatives.
Early reddit and the Internet as a whole a little bit before that seemed to have a much better culture. The internet itself was more exclusive and removed. It was rough as arseholes but it was like your old dark smoke filled local. It's a bit crap but the beers nice and once you manage to not get in a fight with the roider then you can have a great time, better than anywhere.