For some time it was. People wrote longer, more elaborate posts and were overall a lot less aggressive.
I only lurked on a smaller Lemmy instance before the great Reddit exodus, but even in the first few months when people started pouring in, it still was like that. It became more and more like Reddit over time.
I wonder what exactly makes internet communities turn like that. What is the connection between having more people in one (online) space and it starting to get more and more toxic?
I joined Lemmy during the great Reddit exodus and I’ve been here pretty much since then and to be honest, I never really felt the difference between the two except user count, so it’s interesting to hear other people’s perspective such as yours.
As to your last point, I think there are a lot of factors, anonymity being the biggest one. Lack of social contracts being another. It’s easier to be a jerk behind the screen where you don’t have to actually face the real-life consequences of treating people poorly. Compound that with others who encourage and join in on the hate. Sometimes, it’s deserved, though more often than not, it isn’t.
That’s just my theory, though.
For some time it was. People wrote longer, more elaborate posts and were overall a lot less aggressive.
I only lurked on a smaller Lemmy instance before the great Reddit exodus, but even in the first few months when people started pouring in, it still was like that. It became more and more like Reddit over time.
I wonder what exactly makes internet communities turn like that. What is the connection between having more people in one (online) space and it starting to get more and more toxic?
I joined Lemmy during the great Reddit exodus and I’ve been here pretty much since then and to be honest, I never really felt the difference between the two except user count, so it’s interesting to hear other people’s perspective such as yours.
As to your last point, I think there are a lot of factors, anonymity being the biggest one. Lack of social contracts being another. It’s easier to be a jerk behind the screen where you don’t have to actually face the real-life consequences of treating people poorly. Compound that with others who encourage and join in on the hate. Sometimes, it’s deserved, though more often than not, it isn’t. That’s just my theory, though.