anon6789Long Eared Owl Accidentally Browsed /All
RegnaSome important work doesn’t cease to be important even when other huge crises arise. I am so impressed with all people who help others. My volunteering has mainly been with cats and scouts, as those are the areas where I can be of help outside of my own work and family, but I enjoy seeing how others can help and support other creatures in need.
I just particularly liked this post because it captured a lot of what I’ve been feeling lately. I try to keep even most of the owl related politics out of things here. I know 99% of people here are just here for the fun pics. A lot of you also say you rely on these posts for something uplifting each day. I do too, in a way.
Lately I see a lot of anti-US stuff on here, and if it was all directed at the leadership of this country, that’d be one thing, but more and more seems targeted at every American. Most of us are still trying to make this a better place in the ways we know how. There’s a lot going on here that I really detest, but what I see even more are just people (and animals!) trying to just get through to tomorrow.
We live in a beautiful and bountiful land, shared with millions of amazing people. It’s important to be aware of what is going on around us, but it isn’t all bad here, just like it isn’t wherever you may be from. I think that’s something all of us could be a little more mindful of, whether that’s to temper our frustrations or to give us something positive that will keep us going.
SpiderShoeCultI think it’s important to consider that, even thought it might be slightly skewed, the fediverse is still a slice of the human population as a whole. The bell curve sadly applies to all scales and on all populations. So there’s bound to be a vocal minority inciting indiscriminate anger here, just as there is in the world outside. Those with pitchforks and torches and all that. Point being, if you think of the fediverse as your local walmart (lore says those places have quite an interesting population), it might ease the impact a bit.
It does seem to be only here, which is good and bad. I work at a place with people from all over the world, and the sentiment doesn’t seem to manifest there the way it does on the Fediverse. But that bothers me more too, since this is a place where we as individuals are supposed to have full control of what this space becomes, and plenty of us are now using that to further drive wedges between us.
I was reading a thread yesterday where folks were discussing Fedi vs Reddit and many seemed to find this place to be more of an echo chamber since we don’t have many conservatives here. I think I find it to have more gatekeeping on who is a real leftist or not moreso than an echo chamber, since here we’re able to see each others’ differences as people left of center more granularly, but that in turn gives more ability to turn on each other without a more obvious group of opposition to focus on.
All this stuff is what has me generally disagreeing with the people that want the Fediverse to be a total Reddit replacement or a one-stop social media shop. I’d rather we keep this place less toxic, as there’s already enough other places for the drama. I thought that was why we left our old platforms. Especially with the decentralized nature of the Fediverse, the anger inducing posts seem to multiply quickly and push down the fun stuff. I guess I just felt more people wanted to do something a bit different here.
This place feels like a huge opportunity for us. It’s been a good while since I’ve felt such an ability to build something good online. A number of you tell me what an impact my simple work here has for you. I know it’s changed my life. We can make a positive change here if that’s what we ultimately choose to do.