Nonbinary (he/him) ∞

  • 3 Posts
  • 4 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 10th, 2023

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  • I honestly believe that modern social media and “the algorithm” has conditioned us into this kind of behaviour.

    It’s already quite easy to forget we are interacting with other humans when we are behind screens and keyboards. This has always been an issue on the internet.

    But when the internet is fuelled by algorithms which only want engagement, it is going to encourage behaviour which drives this. This is often extreme, sensational opinions and language. I feel like the algorithm constantly tried to show me content that would upset me. I am certainly guilty of responding to things I shouldn’t bother with, and also in an angry and unproductive way, because “what’s hot” is basically always “what’s controversial”, and controversy drives engagement.

    Furthermore, social media doesn’t encourage long-form discussion, and it also conditions us to seek immediate gratification. Twitter especially wants us to summarize our points in just a few words, which doesn’t lend itself to mature, thought-out discussions.

    I often make long posts here on Lemmy which I often feel aren’t really read by people or responded to because TL;DR. Me writing out paragraphs of analysis about Starfield isn’t going to get as many responses as someone simply saying “Starfield is the game of the century” or “Starfield is dogshit in every way”.


  • My intention is not to dogpile here, but I do have to agree with acastcandream’s comment that the tone of that paragraph is probably an example of the kind of behaviour you’re frustrated with.

    This is not a criticism of you. You have provided two valid reasons for this, that English is not your first language and that you are upset. I personally relate a lot to the emotion you’re communicating, and to the points in your original post. It upsets me too.

    I think it’s worth remembering whenever we see unfriendly comments on the internet that these too might be people who are frustrated and people who may be unable to articulate themselves properly due to language barriers or even health difficulties. We are all flawed humans behind these keyboards and screens in the end.

    It does make me realise that for people whose English is their first language, such as myself, we have a responsibility to try our best to communicate our thoughts in a productive way so that people who learn English through interacting with people on the internet can learn from us :)



  • Silvally@beehaw.orgtoMemes@lemmy.mlTitle
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    1 year ago

    I’m a vegetarian.

    I was, and still am, surprised by how often people will go into a long rant justifying why they eat meat to me as soon as they find out I’m vegetarian. All the while I’m just sat there, not saying anything, because I literally do not care whether or not they eat meat.

    Me being a vegetarian is a personal choice for me and myself only. You do you. I don’t care. You don’t need to explain yourself to me. It makes me feel so awkward.

    People will often ask me why I’m a vegetarian too. But it feels like a very personal and heavy question to ask someone immediately after finding out they’re vegetarian… I don’t especially want to talk about animals dying all the time and how it makes me sad especially to strangers.

    Edit/Addition: It feels like a lot of focus is brought on how vegetarians/vegans force their views onto other people but my experience personally is non-vegetarians/vegans trying to force me into conversations about this topic.