Have a closer look :)

Oh! Fuck. To be honest, I didn’t even want to take a look. That’s definitely a relief and sorry for jumping to conclusions there.

As far as downvotes go I really get it. There’s been one or two features that I’ve looked up and get the impression that development on this platform is fairly slow. I definitely get that this is the only way for it be implemented. Watch is a pity because it definitely has its drawbacks too.

Thanks for the response after I dug up this ancient post!

Or the right wing way is just to say one thing and do another thing. Honestly to me as a non-American, it’s pretty weird that the right wingers have latched onto this ‘free speech’ thing and that everyone just goes along with it because to me, things like free speech and freedom of expression always seemed like liberal or left wing ideals.

These guys talk about free speech, then burn a pile of schoolbooks that spread the ‘librul’ agenda and call for anyone that isn’t white and Christian to be removed from their sight. The only small part of free speech that they’re interested in is being able to call groups of people subhuman and they don’t just want that sort of free speech, they want freedom from consequences too and act like getting punched in the mouth for saying the wrong thing in the wrong place isn’t a thing in real life either. And more than that, based on the extreme pearl clutching when the ‘tOlERanT lEFt’ ever comes down from their high horses, they want that free speech for themselves and themselves only.

Basically they’re liars, bad faith trolls and people that actually believe that their bigotry means that they stand for ‘freedom’. They also ‘care about the kids’ but want to marry and fuck them and send them to the mines. So isn’t it obvious by now that everything is opposite day with these people?

Hey there. I really hope you don’t mind me replying to something ancient like this, I didn’t want to make a whole new post about a subject that has already been fairly thoroughly discussed.

Personally, I basically never downvote anything and at first I loved that downvotes were disabled in this instance. But it also feels a little like having blinkers on, when everyone else is doing it anyway. Also, if a bigoted comment somewhere in a community in another instance gets 2 upvotes but 20 downvotes, does that mean that all I will see is the 2 upvotes? Wouldn’t that give me the false impression that this particular community just doesn’t care about bigotry?

Another thing is that I noticed there’s a Truscum community here. Which I actually don’t want to cause any wars over, so another reason that it’s better I reply to this year old post. But based on a run in that I had on Reddit when I was still just starting to ask myself tough questions and address repressed feelings, the fact that they’re here makes me uneasy. And probably attracts people from other instances here to downvote and spread the misery. I guess what I’m saying is that sometimes in horror movies, the call is coming from inside the house. So maybe it’s futile trying to limit downvotes somewhere with downvotes baked in.

If I’m out of line, I apologise. I can see the value in this if you’re only ever going to be commenting and participating in certain Blåhaj communities. So maybe that means that I still haven’t found the right instance for me, personally. Which makes me sad because I actually love it here.

Just one last suggestion. Instead of making it a per user setting, is there no option to disable downvotes in specific communities? IMO that would be even better because it stops people from other instances downvoting too. Is this something to bring up with Lemmy devs?

I’m only a day in of trying to get away from this, and I’m mostly talking about Lemmy right now (but it would also work / help on Bluesky), but something that’s already made a huge difference for me personally since yesterday, is separating the feeds. I woke up this morning and scrolled through content that didn’t make me want to start a revolution first thing in the morning and I’m already having a pretty good day for it.

I decided to cut most news and politics out of my subscriptions, other than maybe some small communities that don’t show up on ‘All’ on a 24 hour cycle. So from now on, my subscriptions will be only things that interest me and not enrage me. And ‘All’ is still there if I happen to feel like indulging in the rage for a little bit.

Also, finding a server that’s more tailored to what you personally vibe with adds a 3rd option in the ‘Local’ tab for a feed that doesn’t destroy your soul piece by piece.

So the ‘Reddit’ experience is still there in the ‘All’ tab, for everything. From rage to cool shit you haven’t subscribed to yet. But you don’t have to spend all day there. You can fill the other two tabs with stuff that makes you smile or learn or that aligns with your interests / career / philosophy or whatever. And spend more time there.

I was doing the same when I gave Bluesky a try, making use of different feeds for different things. Keep the news and politics in its own tab and only go there when you feel like catching up, or if you’re specifically in the mood to rage against the machine.