Do you enjoy posting? That's all that really matters in the end. Karma is pointless.

Controversy can actually be good, as long as you're not saying stuff simply to provoke it for its own sake. If I wanted to only speak to something that agreed with everything I said I could just go tell an AI to act that way and waste my time there. Should communities be insular bubbles where everyone believes the exact same things?

The question isn't if you're useful to Lemmy or not. We don't deserve to exert any weight on your heart with opinions and upvotes.

Are you doing something you think is worth your time, with or without external validation? Is this something you would do if you thought it was basically the internet version of putting messages in a bottle?

When you are old and on your death bed, what will the value of your reddit karma be? What is the value of it now?

Do things that matter to you. Do things that help you grow and be a better person.

Ask not if you are useful to Lemmy. Ask if Lemmy is useful to you.

I don't see most of your posts in the wild but the one I did was good. Glancing at your profile, you post quality which is just going to get a different kind if engagement than what we're used to on reddit

Stand tall, king. Numbers just scale a little different here and things move slow. You'll notice your posts will continue to get engagement for a long time after a reddit post would normally die down too.

Every person that logs in and interacts in good faith in some way is useful to Lemmy.

Don’t stress about it. I think reddit gives people an unhealthy mindset about how internet forums are.

What you should do is stop caring about "karma", it has no value (even more so here, it's not even a thing). Don't do things to get likes, do them because you like doing them and/or think they can help others.

For what it's worth, I appreciate your contributions. 👍

Seems like a bit of a "pickme" post. You do you, don't worry about your 2 million updoots on reddit.

Don't feel like you need to be useful, but thanks for contributing.

I haven't heard of any controversy, but I think you do important work. May not be glamorous work, but having a consistent flow of news on Lemmy helps me keep up to date on the goings-on of the world. I assume most people think similarly

Thanks for your contributions!

You know what I have enjoyed about Lemmy? Compared to Reddit, I get fewer replies if I make a comment, and fewer upvotes. Yet the comments I do get are generally more interesting and more likely to be human. As I’ve grown more accustomed to Lemmy, I’ve begun to wonder what percentage of Reddit interactions were bots.

However, I’d love to see this grow some more. The large communities are taking off, but I will still use Reddit for more niche subjects (area-specific gardening, following a local sports team) because they haven’t taken off on Lemmy yet and I’d be talking to myself. And that means that you are useful, because a community needs members to thrive.

None of us are useful to Lemmy because Lemmy is not "useful." Lemmy is a shit-pile of all of our combined thoughts and efforts. So, while no social media site is "useful," Lemmy brings us a place to be entertained and informed/misinformed.

Most of your posts are shit. Most of my posts are shit. While we each usually shit in our own corners, we occasionally look at each other's shit and say, "hmmm... This shit stinks." Or, "this shit is a little nutty and I like that!" And even less frequently, we cross paths while shitting and our shit combines to create a new type of shit that other people can enjoy.

So, don't try to measure your Lemmy "usefulness" based on karma, and instead focus on the shit. I often appreciate your shit, and your username always gives me a chuckle. Whether anyone likes it or not, all of our shit makes Lemmy's shit the shit it is.

I’ve been posting a lot lately But I seem like I’m controversial no matter what I post. I came from Reddit with over 2 million karma trying the API controversy.

Forget about karma and algorithm: votes don't mean much around here.

What's not different from reddit, as already mentioned, is that some people only seem to enoiy acting like jerks. The right answer to that is to 1) ignore them 2) to block them. They will still be able to (meaninglessly) vote but they won’t get a chance to annoy you directly anymore.

Should I keep posting or give up on Lemmy?

Should you keep on posting?

The Fediverse (lemmy being a small part of it, I'm from Piefed another and even smaller part of it) severely lacks active users so, from the Fediverse’s perspective the answer is obviously: yes, you should!

But one should never do something only because they think or because ethey’re being told they should do it. Even posting content on a forum. So, if you don't enjoy doing it, it's probably not worth your time.

I do participate as regularly as I can because I think most of the discussions are enriching and done with a correct mindset. I would stop participating if that was not the case. Like I quit using reddit the day I realized I could not agree with their latest policy changes (that was a couple years ago).

So, do you enjoy participating? If so, by all means keep on doing it as I have no doubt other people do appreciate your contributions too.

I don't see controversy in your first page of your profile, but discussion about the articles. IMO, that's what you hope for.

Your posts seem reasonable and you're contributing real content. Seems to me like that's the very definition of being useful to the community at large.

I've had you tagged for some time for past discussions I found dubious and recognize by sight your name now but don't stop posting what you believe; I still want to hear what you say unlike others who just seem like trolls or bots. I often agree even. I don't want an echo chamber; I want ideas challenged in both directions.

I'd say keep posting. We need the content! Engagement is always low here, there is a lot of varied opinions here as well. Don't let it get you down.

Judging by your recent post history, it looks like you’re doing a good job at attracting positive engagement. Many upvotes and comments on your posts. Of course, with that you also attract some negative engagement, but that’s inevitable when posting about politics.

You’re useful.

Over 2 million karma. Ooh La La dork jk

Let go of the thought that updoots matter and you will find harmony.

Yes

Nothing wrong with controversy. Know who you are and be open to learning.

1. Controversy is always going to happen with anything politics, which is clearly something very important to you
2. Your worth is not a measure of the controversy your posts generate or karma
3. Maybe instead of giving up completely, consider also posting about some things that bring you peace and joy. I have no doubt that there is much more to you than very understandable anger about the world we live in.

In my case, I can't survive on a diet of outrage alone, especially when I'm often picking up my phone to get away from some kind of life stress, so I'm always keen for more posts in art, photography or pet communities. It helps to break up the wall of misery that is the news and reminds me there are still things worth fighting for. Sometimes I need to see a photo of a beach sunset someone saw and thought was pretty, or read a post about how they discovered a new hobby even if I'd never try it. Show me the cute dog you saw on a walk, or the weird random trash you found on the street, I'm here for it.

Consider it a form of community building. rest, and morale boosting for the war against humanity and the environment that we've been caught in, if you will.

isnt controversy good as long as conversation is civil?

Give up on reddit. There is no karma here.

I have you at +10, so you’re at least posting things I find meaningful. That being said, you post a lot of political things, so expect to bring many sides of the conversation to light. The fediverse has more types than Reddit.

All posting here is useful at this point

I usually don't post links to news articles because I assume someone else will do it or already did it. And I'm right people people like you do it. So thanks. Just don't do it for 'karma', we don't need this silly competition for internet points here.

yes. i enjoy your posts. i am happy to see you and many others.

If you get dozens of upvotes, you are not controversial. If you get half a dozen negative comments, just ignore them. Don’t let the comments get yah!

It's probably not you who is controverial. In my experience, a lot of Lemmy subs/pages seem to be echo chambers and circlejerks. Don't worry too much about karma. Lemmy is a whole different ecosystem. Sounds like you're trying to bring status into a place that doesn't value it. You're either preaching to the choir, or speaking your mind and getting flamed.

More content is good in a system like Lemmy which is designed around filtering. So continue posting!

Don't worry about the votes. You are free now.

Post what you are interested in.

I appreciate you, @return2ozma@lemmy.world and if you left us it would be a major loss.

I pay no attention to down-voters. The growing popularity of the fediverse brings as many bad people with it as good ones.

How did you even get the idea you're not "useful"? When I look at your profile, all I see is 90%+ upvoted posts, not that upvotes necessarily matter very much.

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/66240489

I'd recommend using the block feature freely. I've had to start doing that. There are quite a few arrogant hateful shitheads that will reliably respond negatively and self righteously and I have no use for that. Binary thinkers are a stressful waste of time.

Are you useful? How would I get to Ozma without you?

I came over after getting banned with more then half a million karma. I just post my shit. if folks like it, neat, if not oh well, not like there's a century club here or anything.

What do you mean "useful"?
I can understand being useful to a community, if you're an expert and expertise is sought-after, but idk what it even means to be useful to Lemmy as a whole unless you're developing Lemmy or apps for it.

Bee useful to a community, but don't try to be useful to everyone

Taken as a whole, I like your contributions here. But I – ironically, because I'm responding – also don't think you should give a shit what I say or really what anyone in this thread does. The only validation you need is your own; if you enjoy posting here, if you enjoy the comments you get* and conversations you have, if you think you're giving people something worthwhile, and if you think you're staying within the rules and on-topic, then that's what matters. If you don't, then that's also fine and maybe means you're burnt out and could be more fulfilled reducing your time here in favor of something else.

* I'm confused what you mean here by being "controversial"; Voyager shows you as +208 upvotes for me, and I'm sure I'm at least a bit notorious to regulars of this small pond as a cranky, critical, cynical fuck.

Does it matter if you're controversial? I also left during the API debacle. Couldn't tell you what my karma was. Couldn't tell you what it would be here. Up votes just tell me if a post was well-received or not, I'm really here for the comments. This is my only form of online interaction with people.

You post mostly interesting content. Keep it coming.

I’m with you, homey.

Contribution is important

Controversial posts that get engagement are probably thought-provoking and worthy of discussion. Discussion is much more important than karmafarming. Continue!

Please, keep feeding me content.

I disagree with your takes sometimes (although not since I switched to PieFed), but you always have an argument and I’ve never seen you have one I couldn’t see any merit in. As good as it gets, imo.

sounds to me, you take social media too seriously

I'll be honest here. The majority of the content I see from you is defeatist doomer shit. We don't need that crap at the best of times, but certainly not now. Take a break and see if your outlook improves, for you, but you'd probably feel better ditching the doomerism.

I generally appreciate what you're doing

I think you’re useful! I have Voyager’s tags on for votes, and it shows that I’ve upvoted your posts hundreds of times, so your content definitely has value for me.

Your account always stands out to me, I notice your posts and am happy to engage with them.

That said, do you, if you’re not feeling good about things lately a break probably couldn’t hurt (though my feed will suffer!).

I'm reading a lot here and also read a lot of your posts. Sometimes I agree with what you post, sometimes I do not agree. But reading your name next to a post title has never discouraged me to not click on your postings! I would be missing a lot of content if you weren't there.

But ultimately, neither I or anyone else should matter for if you post or not - if it's good enough for you, and you aren't breaking any rules, post away! I for my part do enjoy the content you post.

I'm controversial

You've ended up with +5 in my book, so you must be doing something right. At least according to me.

Eh, I like you.

The points were always imaginary and made up… keep posting!

I love your posts! Thank you for being here and all your posts!