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What are the biases of Lemmy? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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What do you think Lemmy is most biased about? Which opinions do you think differ most from the general internet?

(Excluding US politics, due to community rules)

Commonly mentioned biases:

Subject Mentions
Pro-Privacy 2
Left-Wing 9
Anti-Capitalism 5
American 5
Older 2
Pro-Linux 3
Tech people 5
Anti-Ai 4
Pro-LBTQ+ 3
Anti religion 3
Pro-Communism 3

Bonus: Gaming Biases

Subject Mentions
Nintendo hate 3
Pro-SteamDeck 1
Anti-GOG 1
PC over console 1
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[–] [S] 111 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

I'll go first.

  • I think there is a strong pro-Linux bias. It wouldn't surprise me if 40+% use it on here.
  • People from the US seem over-represented, but less so compared to Reddit
  • There is a far stronger anti-capitalist sentiment on here than other social media
  • The average age seems to be much higher. I joined when I was 16 and feel quite young unlike on other social media.
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  • [–] 84 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    I'll add:

    • AI bad
    • Piracy ok
    • Political posts are more frequent (Bias towards political expression)
    • More tech enthusiasts
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  • [–] 17 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I think you're right on all these points, though it depends a bit on what part of the Fediverse you're exposed to.

    On the point of anti-capitalism, I agree, but (again, depending on the part of the Fediverse) there's also an incredibly high amount of open-minded people here, compared to other more mainstream social media (like Reddit). I speak much from my perspective of being from lemmy.zip, which I'm impressed by the healthiness of the community since I joined. But there are also less "healthy" instances like lemmy.ml which is considered by many to be infested with tankies (anti-capitalism?).

    And yes, the average age seems to be around mid-30s to me, based solely on how people speak and what they reminisce about.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    I think what muddles the water on the "Leftwing" character of Lemmy is that there are two kinds here: those whose personal Principles (mainly around the importance reducing the suffering and increasing the happiness of others, rather than just themselves) which lead them to support leftwing policies and those support Political forces or ideologies which are deemed Leftwing, and hence see themselves as Leftwing.

    IMHO it's last group that explains in Lemmy things like authoritarian leftwingers (i.e. tankies) and people who think they're leftwingers because they tribalistically support certain mainstream political parties who claim to be Left but are at best moral liberal and even that second to their very rightwing broader stand on general Equality and quality of life for the many (such as the US Democrats, UK Labour, German SPD and so on).

    My impression is that Lemmy has a much higher proportion of Principled Left-wingers than the wider society.

    This is probably why if you're not in an instance that blocks the tankie instances, in between the tankies, the principled types and the mainstream "leftwing" party tribalists it almost feels like there are 3 kinds of "Left" in Lemmy.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 year ago (1 child)
    • The average age seems to be much higher. I joined when I was 16 and feel quite young unlike on other social media.

    Enjoy. Less echo bubbles. This goes in both directions, but mainly I value that younger people are able to be part of "mature conversations". Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to underestimate your worldview or anything. It's just that I'm remembering when I was around your age, the Internet was in a raw form, and it felt much like this. I was amazed to be able to talk with other adults and learn about their tastes on say books or movies when I joined some theme specific chat channel (via protocol IRC). At some point this changed drastically (e.g. Facebook connecting people from real life/ schools).. and I think nowadays TikTok, Insta, and for the most part, even YouTube are just centered around being young, pretty... very much like mainstream TV.

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