this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2025
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I've been using Lemmy for a while now, and I've noticed something that I was hoping to potentially discuss with the community.

As a leftist myself (communist), I generally enjoy the content and discussions on Lemmy.

However, I've been wondering if we might be facing an issue with ideological diversity.

From my observations:

  1. Most Lemmy Instances, news articles, posts, comments, etc. seem to come from a distinctly leftist perspective.
  2. There appears to be a lack of "centrist", non-political, or right-wing voices (and I don't mean extreme MAGA-type views, but rather more moderate conservative positions).
  3. Discussions often feel like they're happening within an ideological bubble.

My questions to the community are:

  • Have others noticed this trend?
  • Do you think Lemmy is at risk of becoming an echo chamber for leftist views, a sort of Truth Social, Parler, Gab, etc., esque platform, but for Leftists?
  • Is this a problem we should be concerned about, or is it a natural result of Lemmy's community-driven nature?
  • How might we encourage more diverse political perspectives while still maintaining a respectful and inclusive environment?
  • What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of having a more politically diverse user base on Lemmy?

As much as I align with many of the views expressed here, I wonder if we're missing out on valuable dialogue and perspective by not having a more diverse range of political opinions represented.

I'm genuinely curious to hear your thoughts on this.

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[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 15 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

We are doing fine. Don't overthink lemmy.

People go where they want, Block what they will. Share what they share.

What else do you need? We aren't driven by shareholders to infinitely grow. Instances/communities/users will come and go, but lemmy is forever. It's just going to get better from here till we get a "TikTok ban" from big brother. Enjoy the ride.

[–] C126@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 days ago

I wish lemmy had more niche interest groups, like marvel champions card game. Then there'd be something to talk about that isn't how we should force others to give a percetage of their earnings to the goxernment.

[–] emeralddawn45@discuss.tchncs.de 113 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (29 children)

I think the idea that all viewpoints are equally valuable and need to be given equal weight or volume in discussions is incredibly fallacious. Left wing ideals are backed by a multitude of research as well as ethical and moral philosophies. I don't know how you could be a leftist and say "what this place really needs is more right-wing voices" with a straight face. The whole "im just asking questions, everyone deserves to be heard, i just want to hear both sides of the argument" is a common tactic the right uses to try to seem reasonable and propagandize more people. Some ideas aren't worth hearing out and can only do damage to those who listen.

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[–] Majestic@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 days ago (2 children)

As a leftist myself (communist)

Very, how do you do fellow kids energy from this comment.

I don't think I've ever interacted with a communist who would be upset about a lack of reactionaries in their spaces, they'd be relieved to have a place free of them and their ignorance and hate.

And the fact you think that "centrists" and "right-wing" are somehow not extremists (but this made up special category of MAGA which by the way is most conservatives in the US and in a lot of the world somehow is) tells me you are politely not really politically literate.

Liberals are reactionary enough in their excuse for genocide, you think for some reason we need space for not only them but the people who want to take away rights from trans people, who want to kill trans kids, who want to make women second class citizens, who are incredibly racist, war-mongering, anti-science, etc?

As much as I align with many of the views expressed here, I wonder if we’re missing out on valuable dialogue and perspective by not having a more diverse range of political opinions represented.

You can get that literally anywhere else offline or online, especially your home instance. You're not from a leftist instance but from the most reddit-brained, centrist neo-lib instance.

This is false equivalence, the idea that the left is too extreme and needs balancing with the right. Please just accurately identify your politics or don't bother mentioning them as we can easily guess them from a post like this.

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

As a leftist myself (communist)

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[–] KnowledgeableNip@sh.itjust.works 121 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Given the recent right wing takeover of other social media sites and the glorification of hate speech I am fine not seeing that bullshit spread here.

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[–] comfy@lemmy.ml 26 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)
  1. There appears to be a lack of “centrist”, non-political, or right-wing voices (and I don’t mean extreme MAGA-type views, but rather more moderate conservative positions).

I see plenty of them. They're just mostly on other instances to me (like your home instance).

Furthermore, while it's tempting to see the so-called 'left' and 'right' as equivalent mirrors needing to be balanced for diversity, the reality is far from it. After seeing Wolfballs in action (that instance died before the reddit API fiasco), I can tell you we don't need to be balanced out by 'white genocide' discussions and more open anti-semitism. I know that's not what you proposed, but it's to illustrate that sometimes there isn't value in arbitrary balancing the 'left' and 'right' on these websites.

is it a natural result of Lemmy’s community-driven nature?

It's also a result of Lemmy's history and appeal. When reddit went on sprees of deleting subreddits, the right-wing hate groups made their own reddit clones, anarchists typically went to Raddle, and when GenZedong and ChapoTrapHouse went down, they went to Lemmygrad.ml (as a result, it became the largest instance) and created Hexbear respectively. So there is a long history of larger communist communities from day one which was the status quo until the reddit API fiasco.

The Fediverse also tends to attract anarchists and other socialists by the appeal of its decentralized nature, along with a few right-libertarians who see it as an anti-censorship tool. So one could say there's a bias there.

How might we encourage more diverse political perspectives while still maintaining a respectful and inclusive environment?

That's tough, because you inherently limit which political perspectives you can encourage.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 day ago

It is just an extension of the "Paradox of Tolerance."

It is not a paradox at all, it's just intolerance that doesn't deserve a platform.

[–] bunitor@lemmy.eco.br 41 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (17 children)

obligatory reminder that us-american domestic politics are so skewed to the right that what appears "moderate" in the usa is right to far-right anywhere else

your "liberals" are right-wing

your "conservatives" are right-wing

both are liberals

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[–] Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml 31 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Hearing from "both sides" and coming to some compromise/middle ground only works if the following is true:

  1. Both parties are acting in good faith.
  2. The viewpoints expressed are close enough that they don't require a total departure from one's current viewpoint.
  3. The disputed topic doesn't have a obvious or clear correct answer.

The problem is, at least in the US, none of these are true for right wingers and even many "centrists."

You cannot talk to somebody and try to find common ground if they don't believe in statistical studies by government agencies, they don't believe in scientific studies by major universities and research institutions, and don't care about the rights and protections for minority groups.

The older members of my family are almost all conservatives, MAGA supporters, and fundamentalist Christians.

They genuinely believe that Evolution is a myth and the Earth was created 6000 years ago. They believe that illegal immigrants are invading this country and that Democrats are secretly allowing them to. They don't believe humans have any effect on climate change. They don't think Covid was anything more than a common cold that the government used as an excuse to try to control people. They don't believe in vaccines.

I find Lemmy to be very refreshing. I get news from a diverse collection of Leftists sources. Anarchists, statists, weak socialists like the AOC/Bernie types, government studies, independent guerrilla journalists, Communists, Mutualists, Marxists, etc.

But I have no interest in further "diversifying" by adding right wing "sources."

Cookies can taste good with many different ingredients, but no cookie tastes good with horse poop.

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[–] kyub@discuss.tchncs.de 53 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

It's important though to not fall into the trap of creating false balance, i.e. giving the same weight to a false or harmful statement than to a truthful or good statement, in the name of "fairness" or "objectivity". Also, conservatives tend to shift to the right currently.

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 37 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

This meme basically:

To OP's point tho, I think the fediverse is a lot more ideologically diverse than reddit or other corporate platforms. The fact that you can say something positive about the Palestinian resistance without getting banned, or say something positive about a country on the US-enemy list, is a testament to that diversity.

Sure, there are many servers on the fediverse that are anti-communist, and orientalist / western supremacist, and block leftist ones, copying reddit's moderation policy. But on the US-run corporate platforms(FB, reddit, twitter, bluesky), you aren't given any option: that's a non-negotiable default that you must accept. Here you can always join a server that's willing to federate with leftist ones, and is okay with ideological diversity, even if you don't consider yourself one.

[–] Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago

This is one of the reasons why the US federal government wants to ban TikTok, a highly unpopular among the US general public. TikTok isn't moderated in ways that suit US ideologies and propaganda, which means more leftist content leaks through to the masses.

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[–] reagansrottencorpse@lemmy.ml 30 points 2 days ago

Everywhere else in my life is centrist or rightwing. I enjoy having somewhere to escape it.

[–] bad_news@lemmy.billiam.net 22 points 2 days ago

Lemmy.worldi is full of right wing neolibs, who rule it with an iron fist. A pride flag doesn't make a Cheney dem "left."

[–] zarathustra0@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Participating in this thread had left me feeling like lemmy is much more of an echo chamber than what I thought before.

I like being disagreed with on occasion, but don't feel like anyone really listened here. That is very internet but also pretty concerning.

[–] MidWestKhagan@lemmygrad.ml 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don’t think having Nazis and Zionists here would make anything better, make anyone sympathize with them, or find common ground. This is a place where we can be safe, why add people who are purposefully being dishonest and spreading disinformation? They aren’t misinformed people, they are real pieces of shit who hold a genuinely wrong position/s; they want to piss you off to ruin your day. I already have enough discourse with these people everywhere else, why here?

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[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 43 points 3 days ago

We already have people praising Liz Cheney.

You could say "I am noticing a distinct lack of Neo Nazis on Lemmy".

To which I say why change that.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 26 points 2 days ago

Conservatism is generally a worthless ideology that makes the world worse, so I don't feel a desire to spend more time with it. We don't need to debate "what if women don't have rights", "what if gay stuff is illegal?", "what if you had to pay for health care so if you were poor you'd just die?" or whatever.

[–] ZoDoneRightNow@kbin.earth 40 points 3 days ago

I’ve seen right wing liberals, left wing liberals, marxists, stalinists and anarchists just to name a few. If anything there is more diversity here than other platforms as it isn’t just various shades of liberal.

[–] davel@lemmy.ml 53 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

There appears to be a lack of “centrist”

“Progressive” liberals in fact the centrists—they're center-left at best—and there are plenty of them here.

right-wing voices (and I don’t mean extreme MAGA-type views, but rather more moderate conservative positions)

These people are liberals as well, but because they usually break Lemmy’s code of conduct regarding various bigotries, they get usually quickly the boot.

non-political

Everything social is political, and the fediverse is social media.

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[–] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 33 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Lemmy has always had the Communists and Anarchists, from what I understand. Liberals largely came during the Reddit fiascos. Overall, I'd say instances are becoming more homogenous, but I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily. I'd rather have more leftists and fewer liberals seeing liberals convert to leftists, IMO.

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[–] Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works 23 points 2 days ago (5 children)

As a non-American the issue as I see it is that too much of Lemmy is dominated by Americans and therefore American politics. I scroll through and read a ton of comments about how monstrous and vile the right wing is, and that's just simply not true where I live. The popular American right is incredibly authoritarian and seeks to control all aspects of ones life. The right wing in my country is purely economic. You can debate capitalism vs communism I guess but no part of my countries right wants to remove the rights of women or the lgbt. Its all just a matter of where you live. And most people here live in the States.

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[–] astro_ray@piefed.social 44 points 3 days ago

Given how likely right wing conservatives tends to spread misinformation and cite low quality sources, I honestly don't mind the lack of right wingers.

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