Exploding-heads.com is another instance on Lemmy where alt-right MAGA types tend to reside. Some people on this server want us to defederate from them immediately, some people want to save defederation as a last resort. They have 104 active users (more stats below).
It seems that exploding-heads has also experienced a recent botswarm invasion. This is obviously another point in favor of defederating them, assuming you are worried about botswarms, which is currently being discussed here.
My advice to you all is please try to discuss this in a civil manner, we need not allow them to create divisive conflict inside our communities. No matter how the vote turns out, you're not going to be able to defederate from your fellow sh.itheads so be nice.
I've linked many of the previous discussions below so people who are out of the loop can get a general sense of the situation.
https://sh.itjust.works/post/216888 https://sh.itjust.works/post/225714 https://sh.itjust.works/post/281126 https://sh.itjust.works/post/410325
Lemmy.world just recently defederated them.
https://lemmy.world/post/747912
https://lemmy.world/post/577526
Although this could be considered a point in favor of defederation, it actually means even if we vote to remain federated, people have a great alternative in lemmy.world where they can still participate in our communities and simultaneously be protected from exploding-heads.
Ensuring diversity of servers is beneficial to the platform as a whole, but it is also not our responsibility to bear that burden.
TLDR, just wrap up any last points in this thread before we open the vote tomorrow. Please be civil.
EDIT: To clarify, this isn't the official vote, this is the final discussion. The vote thread will be posted tomorrow and you will only be allowed to make a single comment saying Aye or Nay.
EDIT2: Vote thread is up, this thread is now locked. Very lively discussion thread sh.itheads. Please try to be more respectful next time.
TheDude blocked lemmygrad from day one, so the situations have no comparison.
I guess I just don't ascribe the same level of deviousness (or competence) to the alt-right as you do. In my view, the reality is that they are not very bright and they have latched onto an ideology that assuages their cognitive dissonance.
I don't necessarily believe that they are trying to infiltrate our communities, I actually believe that they would prefer to simply have their own space to be conservative/offensive without getting downvoted, banned, and trolled.
Ultimately, I simply refuse to accept that the users on this server would fall prey to such recruiting efforts. Does this strike you as a naive group? Damn near everyone here has been on the internet for decades.
That being said, I hear you. I will not be recommending or voting one way or the other, and I wont miss them when they're gone. I am simply trying to uphold the integrity of the debate.
Cool, so we defederate them and they can go be offensively conservative (is that a new euphemism for fascist now ?) in their own little world, inciting hatred of minorities to their heart's content, and the rest of us can go on arguing about what ever more rational things we want to argue about - who is the better football team or which linux distro is better.
Or, we do nothing and the exact same outcome ensues. Hence why I'm not even bothering to vote.