this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2023
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[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de -2 points 9 months ago (3 children)

some do.

I have a small community masto instance and don't. If my users want to block the instance, it's literally 2 clicks and a confirmation away.

Doing to server wide is massively patronizing towards the users

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Nah, users can vote and then if they don't get the vote they want, they can go to another instance.

[–] kpw@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Users on Mastodon can simply block their domain if they want to.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

But can't Mastodon post on Lemmy and Lemmy can't block instances on an individual basis? That's the way I understand it currently stands. I don't want threads showing up in my feed and would like to block them.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

yup. And that's what we did. The majority of people either didn't care either way or didn't want to block it. With way more "don't block" than "block". So that's that. At least for now

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

How many users are on your instance? I've never heard of it.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 9 months ago

a little over 20 active users

[–] mojo@lemm.ee -1 points 9 months ago

I see it as just virtue signaling. At the end, we can choose to not join those servers who defederate with them, but I can also think it's a stupid decision at the same time lol.

[–] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz -3 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You might want to look up what patronize means, in the common phrase "don't patronize me" it's used sarcastically.

Essentially, replace the word with "helpful" in your sentence, and you'll see why it doesn't fit.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

yeah, I get what you mean. But it's still mostly fitting in the way I feel about it. Basically: users can think for themselves. They don't need me to take care of the bit scary world out there.

Doing so for a whole instance feels super condecending. "I know better than you what you want. I'm going to block it"

[–] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz -3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

I get what you meant, which is why I replied, I'm saying that that word means the opposite of what you intended.

To patronize someone is not a bad thing, the word means "to be someone's customer/patron" and through doing so, supporting and helping them. That's where patreons name comes from, for example.

In the phrase "don't patronize me" it's used sarcastically to say "I know you're trying to help, but please don't" but the word doesn't actually refer to someone who is going over your head to do things for you. It's actual meaning is 100% positive, and hence confuses what you're saying. Which is that blocking threads should be done by users because it should be their decision.

Instead, your final sentences literal meaning, paraphrased, is "a server-wide block would be really good and helpful for all my users".

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

It might be, but I've only ever seen it used in the condecending way. And it seems to be used like this for quite some time

[–] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz -1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Can't argue with real-world use, but man that is a semantic shift that is doing the original word dirty.

Apparently patronage and other forms of the word are having their definitions affected, too.

I read a lot of books so I'm definitely a lot more used to how words are used up to several decades ago.

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 9 months ago

yup. language is weird

[–] wildginger@lemmy.myserv.one 3 points 9 months ago

Welcome to humanity since the invention of language

[–] loobkoob@kbin.social 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I don't know if it's perhaps a regional thing but, in the UK, "being patronising" is used pretty much exclusively in the pejorative sense, with a similar meaning to "condescending". I don't think I've ever heard (in actual conversation) "being patronising" used to mean someone is giving patronage, in fact - we would say someone is "giving patronage" or "is a patron" instead. We also pronounce "patronise" differently, for whatever reason: "patron" is "pay-trun", "patronage" is "pay-trun-idge" but "patronise" is "pah-trun-ise".

It seems the pejorative use of the word dates back to at least 1755, too, so it's not exactly a new development.

[–] samus12345@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

in the UK, “being patronising” is used pretty much exclusively in the pejorative sense, with a similar meaning to “condescending”

It's the same in the US, and has been ever since I can remember. No idea where this person lives that the positive meaning would be the first thing they'd think of.

[–] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What if they're also using it sarcastically

[–] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 1 points 9 months ago

They might be, but that's generally a bad idea online (without using /s), someone like me who can't hear their tone of voice could come along :D

[–] 0x1C3B00DA@kbin.social 8 points 9 months ago

They used it in a perfectly acceptable and understandable way. The definition you're describing as sarcastic is an official meaning of the word. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patronize