"The Fediverse brought out the worst in me, and it can bring out the worst in you, too"
@lupyuen I'll stop here and just say I think these statements are too strong:
"The Fediverse is an environment optimized for flame wars."
"The behaviors it encourages are plainly defined as harassment."
Mastodon does give us tools on an individual and instance level to block, mute, and defederate, which seems to go a long way in preventing these behaviors. I'd love to hear suggestions about how the design could be changed to prevent flame wars/ harassment. Some solutions may not be technical.
@cstanhope LinkedIn brings out the worst in me because I can't mute the folks there 😂
@lupyuen Interesting. I haven't used LinkedIn enough to know that. That sounds pretty bad. I admit that I've been turned off from other social media for reasons I often can't articulate clearly. But exposing me to people I don't want to hear from or making me feel stressed out or angry are definitely key things that drive me away. :/
The people I interact with on here seem to be sincere, caring, and even encouraging people that aren't out to give others a bad time. :)
@lupyuen Well, the title is a bit clickbaity since it really applies to all social media. I think we're conscious beings and should be able to control our own experience. See also https://ieji.de/@austin/108600311859836974
@lupyuen I agree with everything through paragraph three, and I worry about the harmful effects of social media including on myself. But I don't think it's brought out the worst in me, at least not in the way DeValut is thinking. I've never spent time on here arguing with people nor harrassing, but I worry I do spend too much time here which should be spent elsewhere.
On the other hand, the fediverse has allowed me to be exposed to people and perspectives I'm sure I would've missed otherwise.