this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
17 points (61.6% liked)

Asklemmy

43963 readers
1497 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Does the reddit style format inherently make for a toxic environment? Or is it a culture of toxicity from the influx of reditors? For lack of a beter example, on stackoverflow, when someone down votes you, it comes with a comment saying how to improve. On mastodon, people can't downvote you. These platforms are a joy to use, lemmy is depressing if you post. Its depressing because every post or comment, no mater the quality comes with downvotes, and usually no criticism to accompany it, you are left not knowing if youve made a mistake, or if its just trolls, bots, or idiots. At the end you feel insulted not improved. What do you think?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 52 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just post what you want to post and ignore the votes. A few downvotes is to be expected. Try not to read into them so much.

[–] Ggtfmhy@lemmy.fmhy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

Alternative way to think about it: 10% of people are insufferable assholes. Do you want them to be happy with what you say?

[–] CAPSLOCKFTW@lemmy.ml 41 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Mastodon was very depressing for me, this follower centric self presentation stuff is super not my style, it don't want it to be about me, I most likely suck but I say smart things some times, so I want it to be about the stuff I say.

Plus I don't mind being downvoted into oblivion. I actually think that this can be a good thing. It means that there was something at least controversial about what I posted so I might be wrong or have to argue better.

Lastly, mastodon is too much safe space and filter bubble. I want to read things from people that I disagree with and I want to argue with them in good faith. When I tried this on mastodon, I got misquoted, blocked, harassed... You name it.

[–] Joe_0237@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Thank you for your insight!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] rikudou@lemmings.world 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Someone praising Stack Overflow, that's a new one. The most criticized thing about SO is the toxicity and elitism of the users. Downvoting almost always comes with no explanation there.

[–] Joe_0237@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Well hold on there, im not tryna praise them. I think we need a free and federated alternative. I only mean to say that an answer always has some verbal feedback on it.

[–] Windex007@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

The incrediblely low quality of the feedback is legendary there, though.

"How do I X?"

"Do not X. - Fin"

[–] Scooter411@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I’m not trying to be negative here with you - but anyone complaining about downvoted will often get another downvote from me. Say what you want to say, stand by your convictions, and don’t worry about what the internet thinks about that.

[–] Crackhappy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I upvote anyone who disagrees with me, as long as they're not a complete brute about it.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] SkyNTP@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

For lack of a beter example, on stackoverflow, when someone down votes you, it comes with a comment saying how to improve. ... These platforms are a joy to use

I don't know what part of the internet you are from, but where I am from, Stackoverflow is looked down on as the quintessential example of toxic behaviour.

I've found some of the most dismissive people in tiny stack exchange groups, and experienced similar unexplained downvotes.

What SO, Reddit, and Lemmy maybe all have in common I think, is people tend to agree or disagree based on their convictions, as opposed to agreeing or disagreeing as a means of interaction.

I guess this puts the conflict and disagreement front and center. But at least then I know where people stand.

Perhaps it's important to not take opinions too personally, and remember that incencere agreement has its own problems.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Steve@compuverse.uk 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I'm thinking you care too much about the thoughtless reactions of anonymous strangers.
Remember... In this game, the points don't matter.

[–] Joe_0237@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

its strange because its not the disapproval that gets me, its not knowing why. I guess the lesson is that if someone did not even say why, its not really something anyone actually cared about.

[–] Mutelogic@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is exactly it. They don't care about your post or you or anyone really. For them, it just feels good to bring down others.

[–] Joe_0237@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

i hope/believe that the intent is rarely malicious, that its not really a significant thing at all on that side.

[–] luthis@lemmy.nz 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Downvotes are not a reflection on you, they are a representation of how much everyone else agrees or disagrees.

I don't personally want the downvotes hidden or removed like how it is on Youtube.

[–] Joe_0237@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

they did remove downvotes on youtube tho :(

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is why I'm in favor. I'm not the hugest fan, but if the alternative is YouTube or facebooks like system then I'll take the downvotes. Otherwise you get the low quality like farms where minions memes are uploaded everywhere and there's no way to say "we hate these, stop posting them"

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] slimsalm@programming.dev 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Imo, downvotes is just a disagreement. Being offended by it sounds like a "you" problem, we all have to deal with it.

Upvotes normally give me answers I need for at that moment. Downvotes makes me reassess myself.

I dont think you must read to much into the downvotes. Understand the situation why people might have downvoted you, understand why other people get upvoted, assess the situation. And most of all, understand that not everybody will always agree with you

[–] Joe_0237@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

What? people wont agree with me? LIES! (<-- that is a joke). I'm not offended, and i agree, i here, am a truth seeker looking for insight, thanks!

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't think the format had anything to do with it, considering it was much more like Lemmy is now when I first joined 11 years ago and I've seen the same decline in other social mediums that didn't share formats as Reddit. It's just what happens when you get enough people together in one place. The abundance of dumb fucks and bad actors simply take over.

[–] Chrisosaur@startrek.website 9 points 1 year ago (7 children)

People breed toxicity, especially if you disagree with them. The more people a site has, the shittier it is. People suck.

[–] Gorbachof@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Your opinion makes me angry 😑

[–] Chrisosaur@startrek.website 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fuck you. Imma tear down your fucking walls, Gorbachof.

[–] Fthisguy@lemmy.fmhy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm gonna fuck down your tearing walls gorbachof.

Got β€˜em!

[–] lntl@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Screw you asshole. More people make a site better!

Go buy a vowel ya fuckin prick.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] borlax@lemmy.borlax.com 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yearning for affirmations via fake internet points is the toxic part, not the format of a website.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] ghostwolf@lemmy.fakeplastictrees.ee 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

During my time on reddit, I've learnt to appreciate downvotes. Silent feedback is much better than passive-aggressive replies that serve no purpose other than letting the person vent out.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] rm_dash_r_star@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago

I don't think it's the format. Forums generally get toxic when they're too big. The negative influence of a toxic user is much greater than the positive influence of a non-toxic user. The bigger the user base the more toxic users. Eventually it gets to a critical mass where you're seeing enough toxic replies to make the whole platform seem toxic.

Reddit is 18 years old. Lots of time to attract toxic users. I wasn't on Reddit from the start, but people have said Reddit didn't suffer toxicity until after it was around 10 years old. Lemmy is four years old now so it will be a while. Though Lemmy may attract a smaller less toxic crowd and avoid toxicity indefinitely.

I don't have a high opinion of community at Stack Overflow as it started out elitist by nature of its policies and rules. Yeah that's going to breed toxicity right out of the gate. I have to admit Stack Overflow has been a really good resource for technical information at times, but its community is harsh. As much as I've used it to find good technical information, I've never made an account there or had any desire to post there.

[–] cakeistheanswer@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's a distilled version of 'the wisdom of the crowds'. With all the dog piling that comes with reactions to things that are pointed at the wrong audience. There's generally some people with baggage in there somewhere who will take issue, and you get downvoted.

However, what's always interesting about these platforms is where good ideas rise, where they come from, and how controversial they are, all of which you lose with the twitter/mastodon architecture.

It may be easier to find your crowd, but how useful is that to you depends on what you use your online presence for.

[–] Joe_0237@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago
[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It is a problem of an Eternal September. Reddit was set up where the downvote was supposed to mean more than just disagreeing with people, but the influx of users, especially those only participating with Reddit by upvoting and downvoting, couldn't be taught what you were supposed to do.

[–] Joe_0237@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Eternal September

i genuinely love that i had to look that up, and i learned something! Thanks!

[–] redtea@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Richard Seymour talks about the dangers of social media platforms in The Twittering Machine. This isn't trifling. It leads to real harm. One factor is downvoting, as you say.

It's so easy to click it nonchalantly because you disagree. But to the person who only sees potentially thousands of downvotes, it can hit their mental health hard. Maybe this depends on the kind of content, but idk. I'd expect someone to feel more down if they're being genuine, giving advice about a hobby, something else that is personal in some way. This probably includes politics, as politics reflect values and can be wrapped up in a how someone sees themselves as a 'good person'; which makes it difficult if you're then made to think you're wildly off the mark and, possibly, a 'bad person'.

If downvotes are getting you down, you may want to reassess how you engage with social media. The best antidote is logging off for a while. Touch grass, get some fresh air. Don't engage with the communities that give you grief.

More broadly, yes, Reddit is toxic af. More so than many other places. Twitter can rival it at times but the format can take the sting out of some of the pile-ons. Some of that toxicity has come to the fediverse.

It's been especially noticeable since the API thing as new users have just seen the fediverse as a Reddit alternative. As in, Reddit but on a different server with a different brand name. Many seem not to have cared whether the culture is the same here. Or they haven't realised that an instance might have instance-wide rules (it's not only community rules that one must understand).

Up until the API thing, Redditors occasionally brought Reddit toxicity with them, but they were outnumbered and tended to change their ways or disappear. Now, they might get support for that kind of behaviour from other new users.

In fact, if you look at some of the user accounts of the people chastising you – for (a) being concerned out yours and others' wellbeing and (b) for wanting to improve/maintain a positive culture – or dismissing your concerns, they're new accounts, probably come from Reddit recently with some of that toxicity. Maybe this would have happened two months ago? I can't remember anything like it around here, though.

Here's hoping the Reddit culture a swift end.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] neko@fishfry.cheese.beer 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Instance admins can simply disable downvotes. You don't need them.

[–] Mastersord@lemmy.fmhy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

The karma/upvote/downvote system encourages engagement and gives users an idea of how others perceive their posts. It also encourages people to think about their posts and it helps keep garbage from clogging up the feed.

The problem is that posts are now β€œattention-centric” and that might lead to people posting stuff that’s more controversial or even β€œrage-bait” because it gets a reaction.

But honestly though, the toxicity was always there. It’s just that now people express it with an arrow click instead of a flame post calling out the OP’s mom.

I think anonymity or at least the perception of it on the internet breeds toxicity because it’s easier to hurt someone when neither party has to look each other in the eye.

[–] lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The only place on here that I've noticed downvotes is on comments that have been obviously social media shills (reddit or meta) or right wing type comments that are not the type of thing a community should support in my opinion. I'm not saying you're doing either of those things and if you're being downvoted in another context I don't know why.

That said, downvotes shouldn't really get you down. If you've said something awful then you deserve them and should reassess your outlook if you were unaware that your views or attitude were unpleasant. If you're getting downvoted on a tech related thing then I don't know what that's all about but I would try not to worry about it too much because it doesn't really affect your life, it's just a fake internet down arrow.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] dudewitbow@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not necessarily toxicity, but echo chambers. Echo chambers could then be used to be toxic.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Solgrund@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Personally core belief that people create and breed the toxicity. Use any system you want if people behave toxic it will become toxic.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] SapphicFemme@lib.lgbt 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Thankfully the instance I'm on doesn't have downvotes. I find what leads to toxic communities is when admins don't remove toxic content or users.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments
view more: next β€Ί