I was on Reddit since almost the beginning and I would not say it's similar, but I also don't think that culture exists on the internet anymore, closest thing might be tildes?

What I really miss is the intelligent conversion and actual debate in the comments. People don't really lay out arguments anymore, complete with sources and logical conclusions. Back in the early days of Reddit you'd be downvoted and told off if you made a claim without evidence. Anecdotal evidence, speculation, and bias were called out. There were still jokes and light comment sections, but comments aiming to make a point were essays where you could actually learn something. Might sound exhausting to some, but it feels like the internet has turned into just upvoting whatever confirms your bias, whether there's evidence of it or not. I'm sure you can find some excellent examples in the old r/bestof posts.

The content was a lot different too, the community was just a lot more scientific. Studies were posted over articles, and clickbait articles (before they were even clickbait) were called out as not having substantial content or evidence. Even studies were heavily scrutinized by identifying the bias in the methodology.

There were a lot less communties (subreddits) too, which I think lead to healthier discussion overall and less of an echo chamber effect. It was still always criticized as being a "hive mind", but it felt less like one to me back then anyways.

I guess overall it feels like the main difference is everything nowadays is meant to radicalize you, or get a reaction out of you. Back in the day if something political or scientific was being shared it was shared with the intention of changing minds, not confirming bias.

Anyways, that's my old person rant. I'm probably looking at it all through rose tinted nostalgia glasses, but there's definitely been a shift in how we communicate on the internet for better or for worse.

I don't know, I'm a pretty left leaning person. The vitriolic, almost violent responses to some of my comments is shocking. I knew Lemmygrad was a thing here, along with tankies, honestly it's off putting to say the least. OP talks about Reddit being an echo chamber. I got news for you. This place is just as bad for lefty type discourse being regurgitated. My experience is that it has been anything but friendly.

I find Lemmy to be an echo chamber more than Reddit was. Depends on the community but Lemmy can be pretty caustic if you don't agree with something.

That being said, is fine there is different opinions. Creates discussion.

I was around when reddit first started. There were Nazis. It seemed fine, because Nazis were useless idiots, and people told them to go fuck themselves.

Reddit in 2016 actively helped install a fascist who eventually tried to overthrow American democracy.

Reddit now is a place where "fuck off, Nazi" is punished more reliably and more harshly than being a goddamn Nazi.

This service feels familiar - but not for the reasons I'd like. The fools in charge of every popular instance think scolding "be polite!" and punishing rudeness instead of trolling are a force multiplier for trolls. If you can just keep saying dumb shit until someone says a no-no word - they get the boot, and you win.

I want a forum where "here is why you're an asshole" is moderated based on whether the explanation is correct.

hey I'm doing my best to be rude, scabulous, irascible and misanthropic out here.

I'd say less so. There wasn't much by way of disinformation campaigns and bots back when Reddit first started so the posts and comments felt more genuine and organic. Even with Kbin/Lemmy being much smaller, there's still a ton of weird shit that gets posted here or comments that feel really suspicious. It would be nice for that kind of environment to make its way back, but it seems those days are over.

It's already like that here, friend.

Lemmy might be friendlier on the surface but has a much stronger hivemind-y aspect to it where you agree with it or else.

Honestly the lack of content helps people mellow out.

I like the fact that I'm not doom scrolling and being fed rage bait by algorithms. I also like the fact that I'm reasonably sure most people here are actual people and not bots or paid actors.

my experience so far is people are as, if not more toxic then reddit. honestly I feel like half the people here were sick of people blocking them on reddit and decided to attack people with their stupidity here instead.

If you're reading this, please go back to reddit, they need you so much more over there.

The vast majority of people on Lemmy right now are directly from Reddit and they act exactly like the bog standard Redditors they are. Stop deluding yourself.

You can use the wayback machine to see how Reddit was at any point in the past. I was there from even before subreddits were a thing, and yeah it was pretty great. The fediverse does have a bit of that feel.

wait, warm? cuddly? can you show me this magical fairy-tale corner of lemmy?

I feel Lemmy is like reddit without the normies making this infact more reddit than reddit

Lol no Lemmy is just as bad as Reddit

Where are these warm and cuddly people? If you express viewpoints that are not central dogma to the left of center folk, you're just as ostracized here as you would be on Reddit.

This is just how it seems to go, before reddit there was Digg, after Digg went down, everyone went to reddit, now that reddit is going down, people are migrating to alternatives, with Lenmy being the most prominent one right now. I think Lemmy's ability to have multiple instances will help cement its popularity though

I was user 2600 or so on Reddit, and yes indeed it does. I just love this size. When I compare the content here and on Reddit, for me it's a world away now. The vast majority of things on here are relevant and interesting to me compared to reddit where it's all just low effort garbage and reposts.

I'm not sure, i made a comment on the controversy over linus tech tips, basically there may have been miscommunication and we should wait and see before demonising anyone. But people took what i said the wrong way and downvoted me to eternity. It was quite depressing. I didn't say anyone was wrong or anyone was right. Just stated i'd been in a position before where people misunderstood my intentions so i understand how easily it can happen.

The concept you're describing is called Eternal September and happens to all web services that get popular enough.

And Lemmy isn't an echo chamber? Try posting any conservative opinions around here and see how many downvotes you get.

Honestly, it's begun to feel more hostile and shady. Pretty sure the Russian trolls are here, but hexchan ain't helping either. I'm waiting for a client side instance block feature. We really need it.

My Brother in Christ any online community will have toxicity as long as it has people

"cuddly and friendly" aren't the words I'd use, but I suppose it is better than the way you can get dog piled on reddit over the most stupid stuff. Also less people tend to accept bigotry here most of the time which is nice.