I’ve been using Lemmy for a while now, and I’ve noticed something that I was hoping to potentially discuss with the community.
As a leftist myself (communist), I generally enjoy the content and discussions on Lemmy.
However, I’ve been wondering if we might be facing an issue with ideological diversity.
From my observations:
- Most Lemmy Instances, news articles, posts, comments, etc. seem to come from a distinctly leftist perspective.
- There appears to be a lack of “centrist”, non-political, or right-wing voices (and I don’t mean extreme MAGA-type views, but rather more moderate conservative positions).
- Discussions often feel like they’re happening within an ideological bubble.
My questions to the community are:
- Have others noticed this trend?
- Do you think Lemmy is at risk of becoming an echo chamber for leftist views, a sort of Truth Social, Parler, Gab, etc., esque platform, but for Leftists?
- Is this a problem we should be concerned about, or is it a natural result of Lemmy’s community-driven nature?
- How might we encourage more diverse political perspectives while still maintaining a respectful and inclusive environment?
- What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of having a more politically diverse user base on Lemmy?
As much as I align with many of the views expressed here, I wonder if we’re missing out on valuable dialogue and perspective by not having a more diverse range of political opinions represented.
I’m genuinely curious to hear your thoughts on this.
Seems like lemmy.world already provides plenty of right wing perspectives, we really don’t need me.
.world is modded to be that way… ESP news and politics
Modded, and federated/defederated. They intentionally defed from the Marxist dominated instances because they wanted to erase any real Marxist presence.
“Oh no theyre bRiGaDiNg us!!!11”
Lemmy.ml being extremely broadly federated but removing rule-breaking comments: scary and bad
Lemmy.world defederating Marxist-aligned instances so no one on those instances can ever offer input: wholesome and liberal
I really wish we took some more precautions before the reddit exodus. We saw it coming but I definitely didn’t do anything to plan for it. I guess I’d just not been there for such a long time that I forgot just how bad that userbase had gotten.
Hindsight is 20/20, we know more now than we did then and can better prepare for next time.
There appears to be a lack of “centrist”, non-political, or right-wing voices (and I don’t mean extreme MAGA-type views, but rather more moderate conservative positions).
They hang out in /modlog.
Everywhere else in my life is centrist or rightwing. I enjoy having somewhere to escape it.
We are doing fine. Don’t overthink lemmy.
People go where they want, Block what they will. Share what they share.
What else do you need? We aren’t driven by shareholders to infinitely grow. Instances/communities/users will come and go, but lemmy is forever. It’s just going to get better from here till we get a “TikTok ban” from big brother. Enjoy the ride.
I have noticed this trend. On the one hand, “Truth has a liberal bias” has always been true. If a community is geared towards truth and evidence, like as not it will lean left. There is copious evidence for this, for any random topic.
On the other hand, it has resulted in a lot of “I downvote complexity” behavior, which is, in my view, problematic. It is very easy to take stances of ideological purity online, and behave as if any recognition of greater complexity is EVIL!!1! I see this again and again. This is a way to make your ideological movement irrelevant and unworkable.
As much as folks decry the rigor of the MAGA right, where fealty to Trump is the only virtue, the Progressive left exhibits the exact same rigor, the exact same intolerance for deviation from its allies. Both Progressives and MAGAts see this as a virtue, but it very much is not: it locks you into a worldview that eliminates important complexity and any ability to see things from alternate perspectives. If you have a belief that your perspective is the only correct one, then the vast majority of the time, you’re wrong.
The only Adults in the Room are we Enlightened Centrists.
One thing I’ve found in life is that extremists of any ilk have more in common than differences, they just wave different colored flags.
Horseshoe theory is discredited nonsense.
Discredited by extremists ;)
You really are an idiot
Discredited by academics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_theory#Academic_studies_and_criticism
As a leftist myself (communist)
Very, how do you do fellow kids energy from this comment.
I don’t think I’ve ever interacted with a communist who would be upset about a lack of reactionaries in their spaces, they’d be relieved to have a place free of them and their ignorance and hate.
And the fact you think that “centrists” and “right-wing” are somehow not extremists (but this made up special category of MAGA which by the way is most conservatives in the US and in a lot of the world somehow is) tells me you are politely not really politically literate.
Liberals are reactionary enough in their excuse for genocide, you think for some reason we need space for not only them but the people who want to take away rights from trans people, who want to kill trans kids, who want to make women second class citizens, who are incredibly racist, war-mongering, anti-science, etc?
As much as I align with many of the views expressed here, I wonder if we’re missing out on valuable dialogue and perspective by not having a more diverse range of political opinions represented.
You can get that literally anywhere else offline or online, especially your home instance. You’re not from a leftist instance but from the most reddit-brained, centrist neo-lib instance.
This is false equivalence, the idea that the left is too extreme and needs balancing with the right. Please just accurately identify your politics or don’t bother mentioning them as we can easily guess them from a post like this.
As a leftist myself (communist)
The Alphabet Boys are tired of lurking in the shadows. They have Trump (and more) dead to rights on 10,000 times worse shit then what is public and they sit on their hands.
The intelligence community wants what is coming. Do not hesitate to judge them as they have already judged you.
Your Facebook profile is probably uploaded to some automated killing machine already for purging. Someone just needs to execute the program.
From your post it’s pretty safe to assume that you’re part of the lefties that are crying over meta dropping censorship against misinformation for community notes
want to take away rights from trans people, who want to kill trans kids, who want to make women second class citizens, who are incredibly racist, war-mongering, anti-science, etc?
Yet here you blatantly spread misinformation…
I find it interesting that some people are saying “the right is this” and “conservatives are that” and then saying horrible things most people would be opposed to. How would you know if you never talk to them and just assume what they think?
I think most people assume the extreme right is the entire right, just like most people assume the extreme left is the entire left. It’s actually a spectrum. Or more accurately, a Nolan chart.
Most people I know are in the center, and they oppose racial segregation, oppose racism, oppose oppression, oppose monopolies, and oppose corrupt officials. But since they are not communists or socialists, some people on the left lump them in with the far right, which the center doesn’t like either.
And if you attack the people in the center by falsely accusing them of being the right, all you are doing is alienating people who might agree with you on a lot of things.
I have spoken to them all, for years. In all shapes and sizes.
They are all driven by fear and tribe mentally. Reality does not matter to them only emotions.
I’m not a communist or socialist btw.
As opposed to you because you are not tribal and never make emotional decisions.
Reducing people like this is itself an emotional defense mechanism. We are fallible to the things you describe. All political bubbles have people who make this same exact claim about all the other bubbles.
There intelligence in recognizing this. Neither you nor I are in the one true bubble.
I’m not tribal at all and non-conformist to a fault. Of course I make emotional decisions - but when presented with clear evidence I can adjust my views as neccessary. I love to be wrong, the entire concept of how right-wingers react to information is so foreign to me I’ve spent years trying to figure out if they’re lying or are they actually believe it. Unfortunately it’s the latter. Giving those eejits air-space only pushes the centrist NPCs who have the same inherent flaws in how they process information to the right.
NPCs? Yikes.
It’s okay they can’t hear us.
Listen to yourself speak and tweak a couple of words to make it a right winger saying it. Perhaps you might realise how similar you sound.
the entire concept of how liberals react to information is so foreign to me I’ve spent years trying to figure out if they’re lying or are they actually believe it.
Sounds exactly like what I’d read on r/conservative.
Well yeah they’re right into projection but doesn’t make it not true does it?
Is the concept not foreign to you? I’m all ears if so please. How do you deny that your guy tried to steal the election when his own VP came out and said it. Ignoring the fact he done it all out in the open blatant af.
You probably have not talked to moderates much. They don’t like talking about politics because they get attacked by both the left and the right. But they are the swing voters, and they oppose the hate they hear everyday.
Moderate conservatives? You’re right they’re normally older techno phobes so I don’t. But I know they didn’t put up much resistance to trumps antics. And many were happy to sacrifice reality to own the libs.
I’ve seen the radicalisation of anti authoritarian spaces by the right wing hate machine in real time though. Ancaps in 2006 terms would be leftists today. Classic liberals with economic backgrounds jumping on the MAGA train after being fed the right fake news memes.
All subconsciously which is the worst thing about it.
I said moderates. This includes left-leaning centrists.
My comment was about conservatives so wasn’t clear. Spoken to plenty of moderates.
I am an independent and politically nonbinary, but people like assuming, almost always incorrectly, what I am thinking. The people on the right think I am left, and the people on the left think I am right. Apparently it is all relative, and the attitude of “if you disagree with me, you must be evil” is way too prominent, both on the left and the right.
I like listening to a variety of viewpoints because I can learn something new about human nature, even if I disagree with their opinion. It allows me to spot patterns that others don’t see.
It also allows me to better understand and respond to flawed thinking and dangerous ideas. For example, giving power to someone who is power-hungry is dangerous, no matter what propaganda they are spouting. And there are opportunists and snakes in the grass all over the political spectrum. Just because they say the right things does not mean they do the right things. People don’t always like it when that is pointed out. They confuse the leader for the cause.
The problem with remaining in an information bubble surrounded by like-minded people is that you start assuming that everyone thinks like you, which is usually not true at all. Both the right and the left fall into this trap sometimes. And people who have not experienced other cultures also fall into this trap. It creates an unrealistic and inaccurate view of the world. It also results in a shock when they realize that people on the other side of the world or from a different background think completely differently than they do.
It is one of the reasons why the Democrats lost the election in the U.S. They assumed they were the majority because they surrounded themselves with people who agreed with them and they repeatedly blocked or canceled anyone who disagreed. As a result, they shifted further and further away from what the people wanted, abandoned the working class, embraced unpopular views, and then wondered why they lost the swing voters, thereby giving the election to their arch enemies.
Cultivating and remaining in an information bubble is like shooting yourself in the foot and blaming the other side. The more you isolate yourself, the less reach your ideas have, and the less influence you have over society.
To be frank, some people are actually hoping both the far left and the far right becomes increasingly isolationist. It would mean they disappear from the mainstream consciousness since they silence themselves by blocking anyone who disagrees with them. That way they talk to themselves instead of bothering the mainstream middle, who are the actual majority.
The fact is, you don’t hear much from the people in the middle because they get attacked from both the right and the left, and most people don’t like the drama. Instead, they just go to the ballot box and vote against the politicians they don’t like.
In an idea world, we could talk about the issues and come up with some non-partisan solutions. But society has become so polarized, I am not sure that is even possible anymore.
This is everything I wanted to say and it’s why I’ve started going back to reddit to get some different viewpoints. This echo chamber is intellectually unhealthy.
This sounds like some kind of an enlightened centrist take.
Educate me though, can you briefly describe your political philosophy?
@mortemtyrannis It is pretty simple, really. Don’t screw over other people.
So that means I am against big business, monopolies, unfair trade practices, surveillance capitalism, hoarding wealth, etc.
I am also against big government, corrupt officials, police brutality, law enforcement overreach, government surveillance, tyranny, and dictators.
I think we should have free speech, but at the same time, I don’t think we should allow harassment, doxing, slander, libel, or intimidation.
I think that people should get paid fairly based on what they contribute. Contribute more, get paid more. I also think that there should be a safety net for people who are struggling.
I think that we should have health care reform, but I don’t like the choices that are being presented. Option 1: big business and big health care. Option 2: a government monopoly on health care. There is a middle route where you get rid of both big government and big business in health care. It would require some fundamental changes on how we handle health care, however.
I think we need less big business and less big government, and more small cooperatives, small businesses, and small non-profits. Smaller entities means it is closer to the people and they can chose who they want to deal with. Regardless of whether it is private, non-profit, or government-run, if you only have 5 choices or less, you really don’t have much of a choice at all. Because if you have less than 5 major players, they all start to collude to keep policies and practices in place that benefit them and not the consumers or taxpayers.
I can go on. I may be an independent and politically non-binary, but I do have principles.
You sound (mostly) libertarian.
Thanks for the explanation though.
Word
I find circles around .world to be more liberal and not leftist. (Not that there aren’t any on .world… Just leans that way)
There’s not much in terms of right wing spaces but tbh I’m uh, completely fine with that.
Yes it’s very important to accommodate genocide and climate denialism. 🙄
Have you spent any time at other places on the Internet?
Theres tons of calls to violence from the auth left. Kill all ceos, kill all landlords etc.
That’s just the left, lol
I think the problem is in the opposite direction. Society is too ideologically homogeneous in being against socialism. The major narratives are controlled by nation-states and corporations, social media are infested with political advertisement and propaganda.
So, as others say, I believe it is sorta uninformed and middle-of-the-road fallacy to find a corner of the internet where you can speak your mind without being harassed by white supremacist trolls, and say we need more diverse views.
Right wingers have (had) Parlel, Gap, TruthSocial, now they have X, and Facebook, where they were also dominating and harassing in the past. No leftists and/or genderqueer person would survive a day at these platforms.
But Lemmy being primarily/explicitly leftist is the problem, and you suddenly are alarmed for echo chambers. This is not quite fair, now is it.
As for Lemmy per se, I don’t think it is too homogeneous. I debate centrists and liberals every other day. And recent discussions showed that the amount of latent transphobia in the site is shocking, with people knowing next to nothing apart from 4chan/MAGA talking points.
How can this happen after all these years of activism and outreach. It is because of the ecosystem of echo chambers in the broader communications and media landscape. This discourse never reached those people.
Considering it was the position of major medical and professional organizations, it shows that the pathology lies with the existing social media and broader media enterprizes, with a prominently selective messaging.
Do I need to say that this led to widespread science-denialism for which mainstream platforms are clearly to blame?
If your inquiry is honest, then the only explanation is that the propaganda apparatus works so well, that the (relative) absence of the dominating narratives makes you anxious that you entered an echo chamber, when in fact you probably have been in an echo chamber so far.
If your inquiry is honest
They claim to be communist but wants more centrists and rightwingers here. It’s a clear clue they are not honest.
Is it so strange to entertain the thought of talking with people outside your bubble? Not everyone enjoys day after day of single-opinion threads and enjoy having well-intentioned discussions with other people. Political movements would never go anywhere if they never left a basement.
I only know a single other Communist IRL and they’re my fiancé. Existence forces me to grapple with liberalism and fascism on a daily basis, maybe an Anarchist here or there. It is only here that I can talk to comrades.
Bruh, i live in fucking Poland, literally everyone around is shitlib or fascist and any kind of socialist thought is tightly censored in non stop anticommunist onslaught in every possible media, so you can take your plurality posturing and shove it where the sun don’t shine.
I’ve seen right wing liberals, left wing liberals, marxists, stalinists and anarchists just to name a few. If anything there is more diversity here than other platforms as it isn’t just various shades of liberal.
As a leftist myself (communist), I generally enjoy the content and discussions on Lemmy.
This post is a great example of what OP is talking about. OP gave no political opinion on anything and you are calling them out for not being a real leftist?
I have yet to hear anyone irl that identifies as left that actually wants to hear what the right has to say.
Right now it’s all hate and bigotry. Which has no place in society as far as I’m concerned.
The only people I’ve seen concerned with people Hering out the right, are people on the right. “Centrists” are just right wing sympathizers.
So yes, I don’t think they’re actually left leaning.
I agree with the comment your replying to. It’s very fellow kids. It’s not how most people on the left talk.
Note: not the person you replied to.
username checks out
- Yes I noticed this too
- It already is, which is a shame
- Yes it’s a problem because even if you try to get a balanced amount of all the views in your Lemmy subscriptions it’s not possible, at the same time bubbles radicalize people.
- Let discussions happen, don’t delete and ban because you’re against the view (as long as it’s not continuously spamming)
- Benefit: You see people as humans even if they are wrong, Drawback: you need to sometimes change your mind in face of new evidence showing up, which it wouldn’t if you stay in your bubble.
The thing which I really dislike with a bubble is that people inside of it get more and more radical and ban even their allies because they’re not radical enough.
MAGA is a perfect example. On a national stage even! Hey, where’s that Pence guy?
Participating in this thread had left me feeling like lemmy is much more of an echo chamber than what I thought before.
I like being disagreed with on occasion, but don’t feel like anyone really listened here. That is very internet but also pretty concerning.