I sorta like the random meme subs and eventually I always get back to Commie subs. But Jesus its so divisive. Like immediately after I suggest Russia sucks compared to USSR it isn’t imperialist, now I’m getting pulled into a whole argument with someone who believes they are imperialist. I mean I understand their points but everyone on Reddit thinks just because Russia is not socialist, Ukraine and Russia are the same evil and Russia is actually Imperialist, so by this logic I guess this person sees Russia as a greater threat than the Nato expansion that Ukraine aims for. God Reddit is annoying

  • SovereignState@lemmygrad.ml
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    2 years ago

    Banning anyone with even marginally good takes on the conflict, as well as quarantining anyone who criticizes the almighty Zenz, just a cesspit now.

    I quit reddit after I told a libertarian/ancap he was a likely pedo and it was a grave injustice that he was allowed to have children and that he should neck himself. Realized what this shit was doing to my psyche. That guy deserved it, believe me, but not from me. Ain’t me.

    • KiG V2@lemmygrad.ml
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      2 years ago

      Yeah, I know mainstream sites slowly tried to turn me very petty and cruel and hateful. And of course I always had a rationale that they deserved it. Not healthy spiritually/mentally/emotionally and IMO bad praxis too, so I eventually stopped too.

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        2 years ago

        I was so damn angry all the time. Heart racing when talking to people IRL who disagreed with me on something trivial as I expected the same sort of shit-flinging argument as I’d get in online. Opening Facebook/Reddit/Instagram became an exercise in self-harm, immediately getting ready to fight with strangers as soon as I could.

        Perhaps this is telling on myself rather than indicative of a profound social issue, but it has been shown true that the best way to get you engaged is to get you angry. 9 times outta 10 it’s not worth it to engage at all, and you gotta be pretty sure of when it’s worth it.

        • redtea@lemmygrad.ml
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          2 years ago

          angry all the time. Heart racing when talking to people IRL who disagreed with me on something trivial as I expected the same sort of shit-flinging argument as I’d get in online.

          Same thing happened to me and I’m a very calm person. IRL relationships improved dramatically after abandoning Reddit, to the same health that they were before ever using it.

          Bear in mind, too, that I was always very selective. I avoided the front page and the reactionary politics subs and went straight to ‘Marxist’ subs. Arranging by most liked and searching these for Q&As was helpful. The problem started when I began to engage. Everyone was so hostile-no-true-Scotsman. Not a good place to learn when every question is interpreted as sarcastic rhetoric or as the final ever battle for the salvation of Marxism. Perfect case study for Sakai’s ‘bad politics’ that brook no questioning or critique.

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            2 years ago

            I remember ShitLiberalsSay really driving me off the deep end, and that at least was ostensibly a Marxist sub. But they linked to shitty subreddits and it was a constantly angry circlejerk, three-minute-hate type stuff that may be cathartic for some people but only made me angrier and more misanthropic fr. I glean much more from good faith conversations here between comrades than I ever have from liberal-bashing threads, deserved as they may well be.

  • DankZedong @lemmygrad.ml
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    2 years ago

    I use it for my interests. Art, home deco, nature, hiking, tiny houses, urban planning, landscaping, veggie gardens, city pics, homesteading etc.

    It’s a great place for that. As long as you stay away from the mainstream subs, news, memes, politics , it’s not a shithole.

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    2 years ago

    I’ve found it’s practically the only way to get decent search results. If you try to figure out a technical problem with Google good luck sifting through all the listicles and AI generated adverts. At this point I just add “reddit” to any Google search I make so I can actually get an answer.

    • SovereignState@lemmygrad.ml
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      2 years ago

      Yeah this, I’ve found it’s ok to engage with reddit as long as I’m not logged in. Same w/ most other social media sites. You’ll usually be hit with a prompt to login after some amount of use and that’s my indicator it’s time to touch grass. (or more likely, hop on lemmygrad lol)

  • Munrock ☭@lemmygrad.ml
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    2 years ago

    I think the trick to arguing on the internet is to remember you’re making a case to everyone reading, not to the ‘opposition’. And the silent observers are far more sensible and reasonable than the contrarians that speak up.

    Usually a few hard truths and links to further reading is enough. Truth is a powerful ally, let it do the work. And trust the silent majority: they can see if someone’s arguing on bad faith or being deliberately obtuse or just an actual idiot, even if they’ll never say it.

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    2 years ago

    90% of people who touch politics on the internet are like this, anywhere. The only people who I’ve been able to talk to about Russia/Ukraine with frankness that are receptive to the message in my experience is IRL poor black people and occasionally IRL poor white people, many who were fairly rightward leaning socially. Suburban white liberals who make up the majority of Reddit will never listen. Suburban white conservatives sometimes do but that’s because they think Russia good because liberals hate it and China bad because Joe Biden is a communist (duh). White Suburban Westoid liberals have a monopoly on Reddit and most media platforms, and the spaces they don’t tend to be fascist (spot 6 differences).

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    2 years ago

    I couldn’t deal with it after GenZedong got quarantined. I kept it for a few days in order to spread the word regarding Lemmygrad, then deleted my account and never returned. One of the best decisions I ever made.

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    2 years ago

    Reddit is good for technical support, if a reddit link appears in a search result.

    • ComradeSalad@lemmygrad.ml
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      2 years ago

      It is almost guaranteed that “Ballslicker42” had the exact same niche technical problem as you 11 years ago and there’s a 50/50 chance you’ll find the exact solution you need in the comments, or no replies at all.

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    2 years ago

    I only browse /r/games and /r/gamingleaksandrumours through teddit or libreddit instances. Sometimes I go to /r/soccer or /r/liverpoolfc to see goal clips. The website as a whole is not worth your time but a few niche communities especially related to hobbies can potentially be useful depending on the activity and moderation.

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    2 years ago

    I left months ago, all the political stuff and shitposting I want I can get from here or Instagram without getting into too many useless arguments.

    • ButtigiegMineralMap@lemmygrad.mlOP
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      2 years ago

      Yea same, I’ve sent 2 responses to the person I was arguing with and don’t intend on continuing . I considered for a second posting on here asking for advice on how to respond bc they were criticizing this article but they just keep ranting and tbh I like this article and I don’t feel bad saying I don’t think their criticisms hold up

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    2 years ago

    Reddit is a massive time sink that will just wind you up if you let it. It’s certainly useful for troubleshooting, technical stuff and info about niche things but that’s all I use it for now. Trying to argue with someone on there is entirely fruitless 95% of the time.

    I’ve stopped using all social media that encourages endless scrolling, just wastes too much of my time and usually ends up pissing me off more than anything. Got myself an RSS feed setup and now I basically just use that on inoreader and check this place occasionally. Time spent on my phone way down.

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    2 years ago

    Depend for what. To just browse and sit on some crappy lib subs, definitely not. But i found it is often the place with answers to a specific questions i have on various topics, depend on question and sub.

  • KiG V2@lemmygrad.ml
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    2 years ago

    I’ve vowed to only go on Reddit for non-politics, for example I try to poke around hip hop, fiction writing, map making and funny memes once a year or so. But sadly you really can’t go anywhere most of the time with some “saliva you cranee” shoehorned into every damn conversation.