Ask Lemmy
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
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Positivity, or at least more constructive comments.
I know a lot of bad stuff is going on worldwide, and I'm not upset the bad news gets mentioned, but it seems we have more tendency as a whole to revert back to the old Reddit ways. More arguing, more downvoting, more piling on to people without any comments why people are disagreeing.
Yesterday there was a discussion about homelessness and I shared stats from Census.gov, as the article from the OP was paywalled. Someone asked a question as to why certain states (basically the red ones) had less reported homeless and why it seemed they had a better handle on the issue than states like CA or NY. While I was typing up a nice response demonstrating causation vs correlation and how looking at a chart showing # of people as counted only in shelters may initially make it seem they had many less homeless when in reality, they have homeless people, but they may either be provided no shelter or they may end up in jail as opposed to being left alone.
By the time my reply was done, I saw the person that asked the question was being downvoted. They hadn't made a statement saying the red states were better with the homeless, they asked a valid question as to why it appeared that way as they had called them the "poor states" and seemed confused how they had funding to keep homelessness down better than the other states. I had also responded to this person before on other occasions when they had questions, so I knew they weren't trolling or spreading misinformation, but no one else, save one other person (with an accurate but snarky reply) chimed in with any type of answer, they just downvoted a legitimate question while offering no help.
I don't feel Lemmy a year ago would have acted this way, and I see it on many threads each day. I for better or worse, have interest in politics and associated things, so I end up reading many negative threads, but I try my hardest to avoid making straight negative comments, and instead try to provide stats or more background info so people are understanding what they're seeing and trying to clear up any confusion so they can make informed choices based on facts. I'll even get downvoted though (not badly) for just sharing info with trustworthy sources. Heck, yesterday I got downvoted for talking about my heat pump, and almost every animal pic I share gets at least 1 or 2 downvotes. Never any comments why, so I just am constantly confused by it.
Just wish we did a bit more to foster a better vibe here. I spend less and less time in other communities and stick to my own, but that doesn't feel like a good way to grow Lemmy. And I'm someone who currently posts and replies daily. Most people still just lurk, no matter what we try to do, and nobody is going to post if they're going to get negged for no reason.
Agreed. It's sad that so much of modern media is wired for negative engagement, and it's probably hard to avoid "the anger" spreading to the nice corners of the internet as well.
However it sounds like you're doing your part to bring positivity and rational discussion to Lemmy, so thank you for that :)
I pitch in where I can and try to steer things back. I look for accurate but shitty responses and try to rephrase them in a more helpful and respectful manner, for example.
It is hard to share articles when they come already set with ragebait titles and writing styles, but we can still hold our own selves accountable how we respond and interact with that content.