Just to clarify, I don’t think it’s a problem that hatred is minimal here, and I don’t just mean politics.
I feel like I very rarely see alternative opinions about anything, whether it be software, ai, news about companies, etc. it just seems like everyone universally agrees about anything with only a tiny handful of exceptions.
It makes me hesitant to believe I’m on the “correct side” and I never see any arguments from opposition. This makes me worried that I’m in some sort of echo chamber. In real life, I do see much more diverse opinions and, if I only used the fediverse for social media, would likely be weaker in defending my own since their arguments would be “new” to me.
I understand the reasons for which the fediverse has pretty collective opinion, but it does still worry me. I want to be able to see all the other people with their own thoughts (given it’s respectful) on the Internet, which should be the most capable tool to do so.
Why is that valuable? These people hold onto their viewpoints not from reason or logic, but emotional media manipulation.
Us being aware of whatever topic they are frothing at the mouth over this week does not help in any meaningful way. It’s not like we can debate them into coming sround.
for example, understanding an enemy is important to combating them - being able to understand and anticipate their psychology helps approach them in a better and more informed way
e.g. I learned that religious fundamentalists cast a stark, black-and-white picture of a war or battle between insiders and outsiders, so by not playing into that dynamic I can sort of undermine their worldview, which then opens the room for humanizing outsiders and helping insiders escape their cult