any "movement" will never really gain traction and make things happen because of the vast majority of everyone's absolute refusal to ditch platforms run by oligarchs. and even if something did start getting off the ground, then guess who owns every one and every zero you've ever sent or received on that platform? hint: literally the people you're taking action against
"i would leave ________, but everyone i know uses it!!!! waaaaaah!!"
indeed...so here we (STILL) are
Might be true on social media, but maybe it's a blessing disguised as a curse. If people felt like posting on social media actually solved anything, that would be even worse.
The only thing social media is good for is getting people into the streets. That's the only place a movement can actually make things happen.
getting people into the streets
which will come to a screeching halt the instant people start getting arrested for being "agitators," the movers and shakers within a given movement. people are still assuming the unlawful detainment will stop when they're done with brown people. nope. due process is gone. habeas corpus is gone. african americans have been living this reality for hundreds of years. and again, they know everything about you, from google, microsoft, facebook, and every other trump fluffing tech company who won't hesitate to hand over everything about you. actually best to assume they already have.
it's cliche at this point, but it's 1984 now. and people are shouting their plans directly into the telescreen
I'm not quite as cynical as you, but you're certainly right about at least one thing. Trying to use fascist oligarch-controlled platforms to organize against them is terrible OPSEC, that's for damn sure!
if you give up before they even start then you lose without trying, and then they will still find ways to arrest you.
“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”
- 1984
Seems like a potential moment for Lemmy?
For what it's worth... I'm a reddit refugee. Got a temp ban for "upvoting violent content" because someone said they hope someone personally got whay they voted for and saw the writing on the wall.
The moment they start banning decade+ old accounts for upvotes.... yeah I'm out.
Lemmy seems pretty legit so far. Admittedly being so decentralized comes with some things that aren't as user friendly interface wise but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
Your experience will depend on the instance you're on and the concept can be a challenge to explain to reddit refugees.
I'm very careful how much I support violence on .world for example because they take a "both sides are the same" approach to discourse (aside: they seem to be doing better but I'm not holding my breath).
Your instance (.zip) seems to be better than most.
Shitjust works scrapes every comment on every instance and bans people without notice for anything they don't like so there's that to keep in mind too apparently
Is that a big problem? I mean I get calling for genocide of people or something being ban worthy but if saying it's morally correct to punch a nazi is a problem...
I got served an unironically white nationalist 4chan post and apparently posting "kys" in a comment is, regardless of any context, justification to admin ban me from an entire instance/multiple communities with no notification.
I only found out bc I messaged a mod I recognized in a sub I was banned from and they said it wasn't a mod action it was instance admins or something and there was nothing they could do
I get it but also like nobody forced you to trawl my comments in other instances and block me pre-emptively for not following your rules. I also should 100% be told about an action like this regardless of how flimsy their justification is.
I shouldn't have to figure it out myself and then go find out how to contact the admins of an instance I'm not even on. All that effort just to argue a case about how they took my shitty comment out of context.
(All this on the instance that hosts the community about .ml mods unilaterally banning people for saying mean things they don't like.)
Welcome! Happy to have you here. :)
I'm curious - did you know about Lemmy before you got banned? How did you discover us?
I had heard it in passing but only really in earnest once people were pitching it (Lemmy) as a reddit alternative after the announcement that upvoting content is banworthy.
Potentially, but it seems people on other social media will have a hard time leaving no matter how bad things get there. At least on Reddit it doesn't seem like users are particularly aware of the fact that it's a problem with their platform.
I think we should not depend on any moment, but rather contribute and gradually work towards this being the best place to be, and let change happen gradually.
Ps: For those nevertheless spreading the word, I think https://50501.chat/ and/or https://piefed.social/f/50501 are two particularly useful links. :)
Worth noting that we're getting astroturfing here, as well. Astroturfing is difficult to moderate because individual instances of it can be very subtle, but in large quantities it can be overwhelming.
Call every apologist, sanewasher and denialist out. Publicly, so other people can see how their statements are horseshit.
The problem I know I'm guilty of, is not checking usernames frequently, on reddit it felt pointless because of the sheer number of users. I've gotten better about paying attention though and tagging users I often see spouting bullshit lol
Just dont stop, whatever ya'll do dont stop.
It seems to me the bots here have two main topics of focus: 1) Protests don't work. Protests don't work unless they are violent. If you just prance around waving signs they don't listen. 2) Attending a protest is really scary. You need to get a burner phone, wear a mask and glasses, conceal a weapon, beware of the other people at the protest. Don't go if you are black, brown, disabled, trans. Too dangerous.
Are these people really bots? Is this really astroturfing? I wouldn't say point 2, but I've absolutely said something similar to point 1 before and I still believe that we need more than just yelling at buildings. I wouldn't say don't protest at all, but I'm wondering if these people are dismissing real people thinking that they're just bots or something.
I assure you I'm not a bot, I feel and I wish I didn't lol
I agree, I think most of those points are either entirely valid or only slight hyperbole. Protesting alone isn't enough but it's how you start a movement.
In my opinion, the power of protesting is not in the change it will make by itself, rather it's about showing to each other that we aren't alone, and with enough passionate people banding together, we can take the steps to make the changes needed.
Whether that takes the form of simply voting, or as far as an eventual revolutionary war. How far protests would lead depends on how the government reacts to the movement, and whether nonviolent methods are effective first.
As far as safety goes, I think its importance scales exactly the same way. The police response can absolutely be dangerous to us, and that's one of the many reasons we must protest. To protect our rights.
Call me a bot if you want, but it's bizarre to me not to discuss this. We can look to hundreds of protests across history to see that they aren't all rainbows and butterflies. Even as recent as BLM, many were injured
You can feel that peaceful protests are useless, but trying to convince other people of that perspective isn't in the scope of this community. We are exclusively peaceful, so if you want more "direct action," consider looking up a different group, such as Antifa or Anonymous. Violence will never be tolerated in 50501.
Sorry, but any protest is a collective. 50501 or any other banner doesn't have exclusive rights to a movement. It will naturally go wherever it needs to, with or without the 50501 moniker
If only there was somewhere else to rally...
hm... maybe one day. I can't think of anywhere right off.
50 States, 50 Protests, 1 Movement. https://fiftyfifty.one/ | #fiftyfiftyone
This is a community related to the 50501 movement. Find the main communities at https://50501.chat/.