Yeah, I’m guilty of that one too. Lol

Also “It’s probably gas” explained many, many things for a while.

Even before the insane number of bots that are on reddit today, I believe that subreddit was one of the main ways for astroturf accounts to gain karma quickly. They knew that everyone was just there to look at happy things and would upvote heavily.

This is current problem in society that we don’t tolerate different opinion.

Exactly this. When online platforms become too homogeneous, any deviation from the typical opinions that are shared seems like a terrible, inexcusable offense that someone must do something about - thus, reinforcing the bubble.

We need to be able to disagree with each other and still get along.

I wonder if DMs start as the first and slowly transition into the second one.

Since most people are talking about the sign-up barriers, I’ll mention culture and reputation.

I love Lemmy and Mastodon, but whenever I’ve seen the fediverse brought up elsewhere, someone inevitably shuts down any curiosity by suggesting that it’s a political echo-chamber. I don’t think that’s accurate for all of it, but if that reputation is out there, we probably need to make an effort to show that there’s a broader appeal. If the average person is expecting the fediverse to be the left-wing equivalent of something like “Truth Social”, I could understand the reluctance to adopt it.

I’m choosing not to open the spoiler tag because of this comment. Thanks for taking one for the team.

That title is the cherry on top.

Unless you’re suggesting that this man was involved in that situation, there’s room to feel sympathy for both murder victims. I know I do.

This man was a teacher and coach for 16 years who only recently became a police officer, and now he’s gone. If your first reaction to this news isn’t sadness, then I don’t know what to tell you.

A lot of people can’t see past their hate.

Mad Magazine was so good. I used to pick up random copies at used book stores and collect them as a kid.

An elven midlife crisis.

Every headline I read about this man is pure insanity.

Anything that has set turns or levels with natural points to pause. The short time commitment make it easier to “one more turn” my way into playing for hours.

XCOM 2 is phenomenal for this.

Imagine how worried their families must be this whole time. I can’t imagine “my family member has been stuck in space for months” is a type of stress that many people would relate to.

This one really got me

Well Germany is where Stormtroopers come from, right?

When I grew up, it was “below waist level” and resulted in a free punch to the shoulder, but there weren’t any of the other rules.

(Edit: wait, I forgot that if you flinch, the puncher gets to go again)

This is the way.

Social media will jump from one super important and stressful thing that we all need to lose sleep over to the next with or without us. Yes, these things might be important, but a lot of online activism seems to be about who can scare more people into supporting X, Y, or Z with zero regard for the reader’s mental health, the rhetoric used, or even being 100% factual.

It doesn’t hurt to disengage every so often.

I try to watch what I read online, and it truly helps.

Do:

• Keep yourself informed by reading bland articles about climate studies with direct interviews from the scientists conducting them.

• Stay knowledgeable about who to vote for to support reasonable climate policies.

Do NOT:

• Read articles that inject opinions from the web journalist, terrifyingly worded headlines designed to get you to click, or anything written for a secondary purpose (e.g. voter mobilization).

• Get your info 2nd, 3rd, or 4th hand from social media personalities on tiktok, youtube, twitter, or any website with an algorithm than rewards the most extreme takes with more engagement.

• Let fear prevent you from living the life you want to live or making long term plans.