"Let."

Interesting. The screenshots shared with me by a friend:

Given the corporate media sane-washing and general kissing of the ring, I choose to believe what has been shared with me directly over the "actchually, it was an awkward gesture of exuberance" milquetoast media.

Especially when the list looks like this:

Hastags that have also apparently been blocked from user experiences. Will keep updating. Range is worldwide.

"#berniesanders"

"#queer"

"#obama"

"#voteblue" (#votered remains unaffected)

"#dnc" (#rnc remains unaffected)

"#fucktrump" (#fuckbiden remains unaffected)

"#democrat" (#republican remains unaffected)

"#kamala"

"#prochoice"

"#constitution"

"#reproductiverights"

"#jan6th"

"#insurrection"

"#14thamendment "

"#republicans" (with an s)

"#fascism"

"#liberal"

"#rightwing"

“#georgeconway”

“#domesticterrorist”

“#jacksmith”

“#drumpf”

“#johnoliver”

That is not a "glitch."

You're going to likely interpret the following as snark or more anger, but I promise you it's not. I ask the following in good faith: if you encounter folks who believe that large corporations, generally, and the use of proprietary software/hardware by those corporations, specifically, are having harmful effects on humanity, do you expect those folks to respond without emotion when those subjects are broached? If so, why? Is it because you disagree with their assessment harm or is it because you believe that anger is never acceptable? Something else perhaps?

There are those who believe that even when confronting brutality and viscous exploitation, those who stand in opposition may only politely ask for change. Some other folks believe that these calls for restraint serve only to uphold and support the exploiters and the brutalizers.

You seem to be coming from a good place and your desire to get away from reddit probably reflects a belief that there's something wrong there. But maybe take a step back and ask yourself if there's a good reason that people seem angry?

It's not copium, it's just an acknowledgment that I, and presumably many others, don't care or need to care if it's popular- it is already useful to me as is. In the same way, I've never given much of a shit about "the year of Linux on the desktop"; Linux has been useful to me as a daily driver for the past 28-ish years and neither my enjoyment of it nor its utility to me were in any way hampered by its failure to achieve supremacy of numbers.

It's fine to use something other than the most popular service.

Now, if you think the purpose of federated social media is solely to supplant the corporate, centralized platforms, then I understand, but disagree with, your position.

I think the premise is flawed. Most of us have been brought up in a world that preaches "if you're not growing, you're dying." That mindset is harmful in a whole host of ways. I have no idea if lemmy is growing or not, but it's quite possible, perhaps even preferable, for a service/site/mom-and-pop shop to be sustainable without unending growth.

You can. You sign up on the website, you get an email telling you to install the app a day or two later. It's a very open "closed beta"

Newpipe still works on Android.

7 websites, Jellyfin for 6 people, Nextcloud, CRM for work, email server for 3 domains, NAS, and probably some stuff I've forgotten on a $4 computer from a tiny thrift store in BFE Kansas. I'd love to upgrade, but I'm always just filled with joy whenever I think of that little guy just chugging along.

It's worse than that. It's arguing that her estate and surviving husband can't sue because he had a trial subscription to Disney+. It's fucking absurd.

Transphobes: You can't change your gender from what was assigned at birth. Facts don't care about your feelings.

Also transphobes: a person who was assigned female at birth, was born with a vagina, and raised as a woman in a country that is in no way supportive of its queer population... is not a woman.

If only mental gymnastics were an Olympic event.

I'm going to say first off that this is kind of depressing. That said, after my initial knee-jerk reaction of "fuck you, Duolingo," it occurs to me that is might be a better outcome than them pulling out of Russia altogether.

Providing Russian citizens easy access to language learning provides them access to non-Russian media and non-Russian discourse on queer issues.

In my own experience, learning a language as an adult has taken place in ~3 stages: 1. learn from instructional material exclusively, 2. consume foreign language material with native-language support/tools, 3. learn more of the language via context. If having an app available to folks in an oppressive country helps them get through stage 1 and into 2/3, it gives them a chance to escape the hateful discourse of the regime... In theory.

On the other hand, maybe it's just capitalists being capitalists.

Obligatory XKCD for the folks who keep citing the 1st Amendment 🙄:

If you want to be a hatful person online or in person, there's nothing stopping you from starting your own little online utopia- VPSs are pretty cheap, after all. You'll quickly find, however, that you probably attract a large number of assholes and, in all likelihood, either find yourself moderating content or shutting down just like every other "free speech" bastion.

Which is fine. I'm a firm believer in free speech. If bigots want to have a place to talk to one another, that's their prerogative and their right. What they don't have is a right to force others to host or listen to their bullshit, which appears to be what they want.

Content-based moderation is neither new nor pernicious, folks. So long as those doing it don't hold a monopoly on the use of force, you remain free to vote with your feet, wallet, eyeballs, and ears.