The fediverse is small, and thats both a blessing and a curse - one of its several blessings is that in a smaller space we all individually have a bigger impact on what the culture of this space is like.

On this comm (and on lemmy broadly) there's a lot of discussion about how to grow the fediverse, what to improve, but an easy thing you can do for the fediverse is right in front of us-

Be kind
Ask people what they think, and why
Approach folks you disagree with with curiosity rather than hostility (EDIT: no, this is not specifically referring to Nazis. I get it, they're the first thing that comes to mind. I'm not telling you to approve of Nazis I'm just saying be kind to your fellow lemmites)
Engage sincerely
Ask yourself if there's something nice you can say
Make this small space worth being in

A platform lives or dies by what's available on said platform and often we have this conversation in the context of "content" or posts - and we may never have as much content as reddit does. But content and posts aren't the only thing this kind of platform offers- it also offers people. It offers community, and human interaction.

Culture and community is lemmy and the fediverse's biggest differentiator, and we all have a role to play in shaping the culture of this space.

The biggest thing you can do to help the fediverse is make it a place worth being.

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[–] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 15 points 22 hours ago (12 children)

Everyone's been really nice as long as I don't touch anything political - then it becomes a fart sniffing smug fest.

[–] stormdahl@lemmy.world 10 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Unless I know the other person has the same intent to respectfully listen and try to understand rather than argue I won’t engage in any sort of political discussion. Polarizing opinions have been completely normalized online and it’s literally ruining society.

[–] Katana314@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

I really want a better formalized framework for argument/discussion of a topic that either participant can feel safe in. Currently, we have courtrooms, our old schools have Debate Clubs, but I'd want something far easier to pick up on that allows for time to research/validate discussion points.

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 4 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Happy Lemmy anniversary! I'm glad you're here :)

And yeah, I can very much understand that, I try to do the same. Sometimes it feels productive to talk with people you don't share perspective with, but if it's just gonna be a flame war I don't wanna go throwing gasoline, nothing is gained by that

[–] stormdahl@lemmy.world 3 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I love talking with people with a different perspective, and I love playing the devils advocate to try to understand other points of view better. As you said, if it’s just going to become a fight it’s completely meaningless.

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

It sounds like we share very similar approaches :)

[–] stormdahl@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Oh and happy Lemmy anniversary. Is it really today? Weird coincidence that I joined today.

I got temporarily banned from Reddit for saying that using ivermectin might kill you, and that was it. I’m done.

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 1 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (1 children)

It must be, your name shows up highlighted with a little birthday cake in my client :)

And interesting, ivermectin has that intense of side effects when taken orally? Or do the pseudo-science people who think it cures covid just advocate dosing it ridiculously high?

By coincidence I actually use ivermectin topically for my rosacea, a skin condition. Being a anti-parasitic its useful fro reducing the amount of demodex mites that can aggravate rosacea in some people! I know in people it's mostly used for lice.

[–] stormdahl@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I was replying to someone that said they could use it to treat covid, which has lead to people dying. Guess I got reported by them and for some reason an admin thought it was meant as a threat?

That’s really interesting! Did you have any problems getting your hands on it when people started buying it for covid?

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 2 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Gotcha, that sucks, but I'm happy you made the journey over to Lemmy!

And oh, no I only just started using it more recently. I don't think the topical kind was ever used by folks who thought it did something for covid anyway. I know there are also oral treatments for rosacea, but I'm not sure if oral antiparasitics are every used, since it's just on the skin of your face that matters.

It also only got a generic over the counter version more recently, if I remember right, but now you can get it as a lotion that's labeled for lice, but for some people it really helps with rosacea (rosacea is one of those really complicated multiple causitive factor health issues that can manifest in serveral different ways that we still only kinda sorta partially understand. Demodex mites seem to play a role in some people but not others, there's a lot of trial and error)

The perscription version sometimes perscribed for rosacea is called Soolantra I think, its really expensive so an over the counter generic is kindof a godsend for folks whose insurance won't cover it

[–] stormdahl@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I had no idea about all of that. I really learned something today! Already really like Lemmy and the Fediverse, I feel like most people here put some extra thought and effort into their posts and comments. I've used Reddit since I was 18 and it used to be the same, but as its popularity grew I guess the "wrong" kind of people started joining and participating. I think that's bound to happen with anything that gets really big. I've described some social justice movements the same way, where you had people who genuinely cared in the beginning but eventually as the movement becomes a trend the values and sentiments gets simpler, dumber and eventually unrecognizable from what the initial goal was.

By the way I think there's a little birthday cake next to my username because I created the user today lol.

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago

Ohhh, yeah I meant the anniversary of your time on Lemmy, I didn't realize that's today because you just made your account. Welcome!! Lol.

And yeah it's definitely a pattern unfortunately :/ Lemmy is far from perfect, but it has a chance to be something better than we've had before and I think that's pretty cool :)

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