Year of the ~~Linux Desktop~~ Fediverse!
Side note, DAE find calling them "normies" kinda icky? It's like straight outta 4chan
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That's some lacking imagination you've got there, then.
When is this insult useful, though? In this post's context, talking about users one wishes would join their platform, insulting them isn't the most inviting of ideas. Can't help but laugh every time I see a fedi user say stuff like, "Why aren't normies coming to Mastodon? You gotta be stupid to think Bluesky is any better than Twitter."
I doubt your definition is the common interpretation. For any particular context, there are probably countless better ways to (insultingly) refer to people. Fascist fucks? Folks have been workshopping names since the 30s. Religious nuts? Ask an atheism community, they'll give you lists bigger than the goddamn bible.
It might be subjective, but I agree with OP: those vibes reek of 4chan.
Yeah honestly it's not that serious for me. Personally I've never even visited the front page of 4chan. It's a word that's been around since long before social media too, as far as I know. One other place I've seen it used is autism communities when someone is describing their feelings about fitting in, or not.
I feel like 4chan is a US-centric thing. And a niche one at that. So it's a very niche US-centric thing to assume about random strangers on the world wide web. For a word that a lot of people probably use differently.
I'd hope they're not using your version of it, then.
I feel like that terminology could be updated, over time. First alternative that comes to mind is neurotypical, which I last saw in a blog post about the struggles of an autist dealing with office politics and implicit expectations. Very relatable. Conveniently, it doesn't define a side as normal.
"Reeks of 4chan" doesn't mean I think you use it. Sorry if that's how it came across, as I don't think charitably of the site. To make a crappy analogy, if Mom and friends used a term that is also used by an infamous group, I wouldn't think, "Everyone uses it differently." I'd tell her, "Gee, ma, that's not the bestest word, how 'bout this one instead?"
And if she's like you,
That's probably where the story would end, eh.
So it's a vague term, often used as an insult, shared with uncool people, that has alternatives... Sounds like more reason to drop it? I've said too much already, so I'm dropping the thread, thanks for the talk.
I hope I'm reading this wrong and I truly apologize if I am but I'm getting pretty strong 'asshole' vibes here, much stronger than I would from anyone using the word "normie", personally.
But either way, it's actually good to know when words I previously felt were overall harmless can cause this kind of response. I may not be from the USA, or have come from a background where it's such a charged word, but I'm on a platform that's likely mostly American (based on the news and politics that come through 'All'), so I will refrain from using it unless I find it absolutely necessary.
Which should be fairly easy to do, considering that I barely ever use it anyway and just thought that this would be an amusing conversation.
No need to apologize, I've been getting worse as of late.
Re: being from the US, it feels like maybe you think I am, or I implied you were. I'm not seeing the latter, so I'll use this comment to mention I'm not from there either.
Not gonna judge because I've probably been somewhere similar before. I am not exactly who I was yesterday either. I hope that you make it through the other side of whatever is hurting you and start to feel pain free again.