This is a sequel to this rant. I came to the realization that Lemmy and the broader fediverse aren’t really fun for me. The constant ragebait and politics shoehorned into everything was dragging me down, and the only communities without ragebait are also without content in general.
So I caved and made a Reddit account after 3 years and it’s gotten so, so much worse. First is probably the “gamification” of everything. Reddit already had karma, which had its own problems, but it was simple. Monkey brain like number go up. Now they show you analytics on your posts and comments, and encourage you to improve them, as though you’re meeting a metric rather than trying to connect with other people. It’s gross and cynical.
Then there’s the notifications. I get a notification every time a post is upvoted, not just for replies. It feels engineered to squeeze every drop of dopamine out of you and keep you feeding the content machine.
This one’s more subtle. The simple Reddit gold awards that existed when I first joined in 2012 had already ballooned into a myriad of different little trophies when I left in 2023, but they’ve redesigned them and now they look like assets from a free to play mobile game, with the way the awards shine when you mouse over them to that particular bright plasticky round art style. It’s not damning on its own, but combined with the above points it’s another nail in the coffin.
Sponsored posts I think were already a thing when I left, but now there are ads in the comments as well. There used to be one ad on a specific dedicated spot off to the side. It was unobtrusive without being hard to find. I felt that was fair. But it’s not about keeping the lights on anymore, now the whole things screams “You’re the product!”
But worst of all are the bots, AI masquerading as real users that make superficially genuine posts and comments. Discriminating between AI and human content is probably a skill that I could hone with time, but I shouldn’t have to go on a witch hunt every time someone compliments me. I’ve even been tricked into wasting my empathy on them, all so they can farm me for content.
So yeah, maybe I should just throw away my router and go outside.
Life is politics. Death is the only escape.
The first image is innocuous, not overtly political if overtly off topic. Off topic discussions happen.
The second, well you’re browsing a community on a “politics” instance. There are communities there and people who aren’t devoted to it. Unfortunately the administration is. And it ultimately seeps into everything. If its an issue for you (it is for many many people. No shame there) BLOCK it.
The only real answer when it comes to niche communities and activity. Is to be the change that you want to see. Take an interest or two of yours that you feel is unrepresented and start a community. Try to post content there as regularly as you can. And then as you go along. Browsing new posts. When you see other posts in communities you might be interested in. Simply take the time to stop in and leave a post of general encouragement. It can mean a lot to those who post and moderate. And encourages others to do the same. Realistically the fediverse isn’t all that different in many ways than early Reddit. And that is how it grew.