I’ve mostly left reddit and switched to beehaw, but I posted on somewhat of a niche tech-related subreddit today since there really isn’t a community for that here yet. And wow, I got instantly downvoted twice and the first comment response was rude and hostile. All I posted was a feature suggestion for software that I thought would be useful and that a good amount of people would like based on other feedback I’ve heard. This is not the sort of topic that should be controversial or aggravating, and it wasn’t like I made an ignorant post suggesting a feature that already existed or otherwise wasn’t well researched.
This type of instantly hostile response has happened numerous times on reddit for various different topics, but I just haven’t posted for a while, so I forgot just how shitty it can feel. It makes me really appreciate how friendly and respectful the community is here on Beehaw and on Mastodon. People seem to have good faith in one another similar to how the internet used to be in the old days.
Have you had similar experiences with Reddit and similarly opposite experiences here on Beehaw/Lemmy?
It isn’t the entire platform though, it pays to remember this.
Also, over ‘here’ things are slightly more fragmented - not centralized - and so if you’re an offensive bastard, then you’d better just go find a community that doesn’t mind your behaviour. This can also exist in the Fediverse… moderation and rules can be applied as and when required.
In short, this is not ‘Reddit’. I guess time will tell how it develops, but I currently feel more relaxed to speak freely, not worry too much about causing offense, not really caring too much about how many up/downvotes I get…
It’s less like being in a strictly run teenage classroom and more like being in a University forum.
Reddit became a massive sector of the Universe, but this is only one star in a galaxy of stars…