When I first joined this community I saw it as a respite from reddit where I was free to chill with people without being constantly expected to debate or defend arguments or anything. Just a forum where people are nice.

Lately though it seems every active comment section is filled to the brim with, to be frank, obnoxious people who want nothing more than to fight with you about everything you say. I think they’re known as “debate bros.”

I’m not saying debate shouldn’t be happening but to be honest it’s disappointing seeing it be the only thing occurring. I’ve tried contributing in other fashions but have been met multiple times with people trying to start arguments with me about things or get me to defend “points” that I didn’t make. This in particular has been very annoying. I’ve reported every instance of this due to it not contributing but I feel as if that’s not helping.

I like talking to people I disagree with. I like conversing with differing opinions. But I feel alone in that this isn’t the only thing I want to do on a forum.

Again, I’m not trying to definitively say we shouldn’t debate at all, but just pointing out how prevalent it seems to be. Id like to just converse with people without being expected to make and defend points. I feel like that’s a major thing we should’ve left on Reddit.

If people want to debate then they can do that. I just dislike that it appears to become the base-level expectation for the instance.

  •  gabe [he/him]   ( @gabe@literature.cafe ) 
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    10 months ago

    Unfortunately most places have “reply guys” in some capacity. I may have my own qualms with lemmy as a platform, but a lot of it is algorithmic and the lemmy devs are being mindful of making sure not to add the most toxic aspects of social media algorithms to lemmy. There’s always those people seeking out toxicity and crave an argument on every platform. With platforms like this it’s important to recognize that you curate your experience. Mute and block often. You aren’t missing out on clout, or anything really. If there’s anything that’s hindering you from having a good time here then get rid of it. There’s a lot of FOMO people have especially with browsing /all but the fediverse thrives when you curate what you want to see carefully.

    It should also be noted that there’s quite a few people on reddit determined to come here and try and start shit for no reason other than they find it to be fun. There’s a pretty big post on reddit that I saw about lemmy being “too civil” and how the fact that there isn’t a controversial sorting option, it’s too boring for them to use. Some people crave conflict. Don’t satisfy their craving.

    • Yeah, I’ve memorized what to click to block people in lemmy, an option that I have rarely used during my 13 years in reddit.

      I don’t know, my communities are fairly similar on reddit and in lemmy, but I’ve blocked more often here.

      I wonder why.