There is perennial discussion about what fediverse servers (Lemmy or otherwise) to recommend to new users. I have a proposal, perhaps not very original but I haven’t seen it made often.
Let’s just recommend that newbies pick an instance that is located close to them geographically. That’s to say: their country, their region, or (ideally) their town.
Some context. Personally, I am not totally sold on social media, federated or otherwise. The evidence is now pretty clear that it causes major social harms. One way it does this is by fuelling polarization around hot-button national and international debates, at the expense of local issues. Reviving democracy is going to mean boosting communities at a local level. This could be a small way to do that.
But then you’re supporting an instance that in turn supports something you don’t agree with. lemmy.world federated with a furry server and I don’t mind just blocking it because I don’t want to see it…but if something like hexbear gets federated, I’m gone.
This - IMO - is the kind of thinking that has got US politics into the state it’s in today.
Nah, being tolerant of intolerance is how we got here. Don’t need to hear from the “other side” anymore
That’s exactly what they’re saying - and believing - about you. Meanwhile they have the power. Good luck.
A fair sentiment for a decade ago, not so much now