An example right in this thread

This is actually usually the case

And discourse is generally more respectful. Disagreements are handled in a constructive manner at a much higher rate than on any other platform I have used.

I've blocked a few, makes a huge difference.

I have been threatened and harassed in person multiple times the past few years. but left and right wingers. by trans and anti-trans folks, etc. i've had people shove and try to physically start fight with me while i was waiting for a takeout order or coffee.

angry people just want to beat up any one that is in front of them. and they will see what they want to see. the angry left assumes i'm a meathead trump supporter, the angry right assumes i'm a soyboy homo.

Same with going off the headlines. I am well aware that we lose 90%+ of communication over text, but damn, some of these fucking people. You have to learn to couch your comment in such a way that even obvious sarcasm and the like is obvious.

To all those joking about being autists and not getting social clues, I see you.

This has been a consistent issue I have seen more on Lemmy over Reddit since day one, TBH.

It’s what comes with more users. As people you don’t know start writing in styles you’ve only seen parroting arguments you disagree with, the urge to shut things down increases.

Plus, there ends up being more stuff to read in the same amount of time, which leads to shallower reading to cover it all.

yep.

i will write out three paragraphs... get multiple replies about like three words I said that are taken totally out of context.

i'd say trolls/bots... but i know way too many people IRL who do the very same thing. they are just stupid assholes looking to cause drama to puff up themselves as 'outing' everyone as evil/bad because they are 'warriors' for justice. their entire existing is all about inflating their own ego and being willfully ignorant and their primary hobby in life is being 'offended' by anything/everything.

what i can't get is why people like being around people like this... but they do for some reason.

Same with going off the headlines. I am well aware that we lose 90%+ of communication over text, but damn, some of these fucking people. You have to learn to couch your comment in such a way that even obvious sarcasm and the like is obvious.

Like this post & comments where the original context they leave out has an obvious, inoffensive interpretation, and they instead go wild fixating on a small part with disparaging interpretations not indicated by the context?

try to understand it

Why do you think they can't understand it? Are you saying their stupid? All lemmy users are stupid except you? Look at smarty mcsmartpants over here

/s

Pretty sure Lemmy got on the influence bot radar some few months ago. Comments are now deeply negative and constantly drumming the 2FA and guillotine remedies to every complaint. Interactions outside of this kind of content I still find Lemmy users to be magnitudes higher quality than Reddit.

Everyone should keep in mind: Besides the darkened tone of the world seeping into nearly everything, this place is probably crawling with shit-stirrers of a slightly subtler flavor than your typical obnoxious troll.

This effect might be from lemmy users in general hating everything about the world right now, or it might be the work of bots and/or illicitly paid humans fronting as the "general left." The type that reflects your viewpoints pretty well but injects their comments with a little something extra, inflaming you or depressing more than what seems reasonable, maybe pushing you a little closer to the edge, whatever that edge may be.

We (or at least I) have no idea how much astroturfing is happening in the comments. It's probably best to take anything that seems peculiarly provocative with a grain of salad.

I don't think this place is big enough yet for my conspiracy theory to make any sense, but if I was the CEO of a company like Reddit and I wanted to prevent users moving to Lemmy I would make a bunch of accounts on here and spark as much drama and infighting as possible. And there's been so much of it lately, whether it be callout posts on different instances or people concern trolling under posts, that it does feel so inorganic. When you come on here hoping for a better place and you see users writing mini manifestos calling out another user's character flaws, it is extremely offputting.

Jarcasm?

Lemmy users are much more entrenched ideologically than an average layman. We all have strong opinions and it can get pretty heated. I avoid posting inflammatory posturing if I'm self aware enough. But I'm just as human and fallible as the rest.

Can confirm some asshole on .ml is chasing around my comments wasting both our time, isn't that right mistermodal, you incel loser.

lemmy.world is very very large and thus has a very very large number of obnoxious shitheads

Yeah? Yeah, you think so? Obnoxious? Yeah? You sayin' there's obnoxious shitheads round these parts? That what you're sayin'? Just wanna be clear! Well you're wrong! Lemmy.World isn't large at all. The whole fediverse combined isn't very large! Not like my penis! Can't believe you said Lemmy.World is full of obnoxious shitheads! Why would you think that? Can I have $20? Your mom gave me $20! Heyyyoooo!!!!

Is lemmy.ml is the second largest instance? Or at least rapidly growing? That would explain why it feels this way.

I wouldn't call beehaw pathologically positive. They just seem to bee some very nice people that caught to create a community of nice people. It's not a pathology, it's a common understanding.