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generator: pandoc
title: The Culture of the Fediverse
viewport: 'width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes'
---
2020-03-30T23:53:54Z
There is a classic post structure emerging online:
IF YOU THINK OR ARE ADJACENT TO X YOU ARE AN ARSEHOLE
There's a saying I learned about recently, from the dawn of email: never
put anything in an email you wouldn't put on a postcard.
I think the same goes for massively public online spaces like the
fediverse. Airing your grievances online in a way for everyone to see is
the same as gossiping in high school.
What kind of culture do we want here on the fedi? I want one of mutual
support and friendly self reflection. For the most part the fediverse is
the best place on the internet - we're actually far more open to
learning and growing than the next massive online platform.
But we do have some weird negative cultural aspects to our online
behaviour. Like really vague, yet emotionally charged tirades about
people having bad politics. I am still completely unclear about so much
drama because it is all centred around cliques and in-crowds.
Generally speaking, I deal with grievances I have with people's racism
or homophobia or bad politics in a formal and structured way. Remember
the famous anarchist article 'the tyranny of structurelessness'? That
lesson is worth revisiting time and time again: gossip and informal
communication and decision-making is able to be manipulated by people
seeking to enforce illegitimate authority.
Where am I going with this? I dunno. Oh yeah: if you think you need to
go on massive rants, have a think about your language. You might be
completely justified about your need to communicate an issue! But think:
do I need to do this publicly??