I just had my first experience blocking an instance, and it made my realize now nice the lemmy content curation experience is vs the centralized model.
Recently I started noticing a lot of posts from that I just found annoying. There was nothing inherently wrong with them, they just came from a culture I don’t understand and so I found them cringey. Since they all came from one community, realized most of them come from the same instance. I just added that instance to my blocklist and the problem is solved!
Now think about in the centralized model. I would be forced to either just accept that these posts are in my timeline, or block each community and user individually. The instance gave me an easy way to manage my content.
I also appreciate that instances can manage the blocking for their users. So the most horrible stuff I don’t even see. But it also preserves free speech, as those users who want to say horrible things can do so in their own instance, and most people will just block it.
Anyway, just impressed again by the fediverse!
I see nothing wrong with it. But let’s not pretend that it is some badge of honor. We should be ashamed/disappointed that we were forced to censor our feeds rather than finding some better solution to the disgusting Nazi toxicity encroaching on our minds.
I’ve heard the Nazi bar analogy a lot and I can see why people say it. But I have made so much more progress with conservatives when I actually talk to them than when I blindly shut them out. I guess it’s just the tendency of perpetually online anonymous people to get ugly beyond what they would be brazen enough to do without anonymity.
Fascist ideas don’t spread because they make good points. They spread because they get repeated so much. People who don’t know any better believe it because they’ve heard it so many times, or from someone they trust. Federating with fascists gives them more people to spread their ideas to.
Talking to conservatives can definitely help, but it really depends on the context. Just having people who they disagree with in their lives can can be helpful. If you’re someone they trust you might get them to work through some things. Or if you know a topic really well and know what talking points they’re likely to bring up. But it’s nearly impossible to get though to people who already hate you.
Everyone is at a different place with what they want to handle. Some people just want a small friendly community where they have a chance to relax. Others want a more open communities that only keep out the worst. And some are okay with putting up with harassment to reach more people. But generally we shouldn’t force others to put up with that harassment along with us.