I've seen a number of people who make valuable contributions to the #Fediverse say that they are leaving or at least considering leaving due to a "toxic reply guy culture" (as it was worded in one case). I think generally those who are cis-het white guys (or plausibly read as such) don't get as much of this, but anyone who visibly isn't one (or more) of those things seems to get it. And I think the Fediverse is poorer for the resultant loss.
I wonder what can be done about this. As opposed to a lot of abusive behavior, I would assume a lot of this doesn't really break any articulable rule, and as opposed to trolling I suspect that many of the people doing it have no ill intent. So I'm not sure what sort of approach would ensure a more reasonable experience for people without excessive unintended consequences.
Perhaps UI options that allowed users to be more opt-in if that's what they wanted:
"Don't show me anything from anyone I haven't followed" or "Only show content from people I've followed + local instance" for example.
