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.

  • Sibshops@lemm.eeEnglish
    6·
    2 days ago

    I honestly feel like I can do better in this area. Thanks for the post. Gives me something to think about.

  • nickwitha_k (he/him)@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    581·
    3 days ago

    I disagree with your premise.

    It should be “The best thing that you can do for humanity is to be kind”.

    Seriously. We’re living in a time when fascism is in an upswing and at least one religious leader has publicly called empathy a sin. Kindness and empathy are rebellious acts.

  • theblips@lemm.eeEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    We also need people sharing their niche interests and creating discussion… Reddit thrives on these small communities that only find an accessible entrypoint on their platform.

  • Alborlin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    153·
    2 days ago

    Okay I agree, so let’s start from Linux related any post, tell them if somebody asks a problem don’t tell them just install mint , or how one is crazy because they are facing the problems in Linux or if you are not using Linux what idiot are you. I stopped participating because

    1. Linux dude bros are just idiots troubling me
    2. I can’t find content which is though not niche is just is plain not news or Linux
    3. It’s very confusing to use fedverse as I don’t know of i can go all subs via my boost app or do i need something else , if so where to access them.

    So let’s make it ACCESSIBLE, NON DERAGORTY FOR ANON LINUX USERS ALSO

  • Resol van Lemmy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    2 days ago

    I have mysteriously vanished for like 2 or so months now (which is a good thing, please take breaks from the internet every once in a while), I don’t really remember NOT being kind here.

    And this post reminds me of why Lemmy is a good place to begin with.

  • Alaknár@lemm.eeEnglish
    26·
    3 days ago

    I’ll add: “be supportive and helpful if you can, and just shut up if you can’t”.

    Fediverse is sometimes suffering from the same kind of people that Linux has - “oh you have a problem? Well, here’s the GitHub repo and a project Wiki, figure it out”.

    • Cris@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      14·
      3 days ago

      Yeah, if I don’t have the answer I usually just stop in to say I hope someone more knowledgeable can chime in and wish them luck.

      That way the post at least gets a little engagement for visibility. But the “rtfm” attitude, while understandable, can be really miserable to be met with when you’re out of your depth doing your best to learn about something new and need some help from another actual human.

      We all begrudge the automated phone systems that try to reduce the need for human beings by helping people with simple problems, and that approach to helping people exists for good reason but it does feel like sometimes we’re too eager to leave people to figure things out by themselves just because it’s a lot of work to actually help them, human to human. None of us enjoy being treated that way when we need help.

    • desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      02·
      2 days ago

      RTFM is always a good strategy, the manual/wiki/source code will almost always have more info than a comment can reasonably contain.

      • Alaknár@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        2 days ago

        Yeah, I can clearly see the 40 year old finance analyst doing a deep-dive on the intricacies of the Linux Kernel because he can’t connect his WiFi.

        This is exactly what I mean. You people are so disconnected from reality you’re doing more harm than good to your own cause.

      • TheHiddenCatboy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        I utterly disagree. For most people, the manual, wiki, or source code is undecipherable gibberish. For many others, it’s an investment of time they may or may not have. Even I, a seasoned tech vet, sometimes just want to have something work without having to sit down for hours to make it work. If I have a problem, I reach out to the community to see if someone else has had the problem I have had so I can benefit from their hours of labour to find the thing that fixes the problem. Your RTFM is just noise to their signal, which I could definitely do without. Respectfully, in the theme of the post we’re replying to. ;)

  • x4740N@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    Yeah try telling people here to be kind

    This place is still nicer then reddit but it’s still got problems with a**hole users

    • The ones that spam a certain viewpoint amd downvote people who disagree with them and I’m not talking about bigoted users who you should downvote as they want dystopia but users who have different viewpoints to them

    • People who act like assholes if you don’t share their holier-than-thou viewpoint that they try to enforce everywhere

    • The users here who insist everyone here be atheists, I’m not atheist nor am I religous (I also have a dislike for organised religons) but I still do dislike those kinds of users

    • The people here who act like like a**holes when you critique something or give feedback

    I’m sure there’s more I’m missing but those are what I remember from the top of my head that I dislike about certain lemmy users and why I think not everyone here is capable of being kind