in summer 2023, when I moved here from reddit, the lemmy instance beehaw.org was extremely divisive. they wanted to create a website according to certain rules rather than a free for all. some people were saying it would be the end of the threadiverse before it even began.

since that time, there have been various other intrinsic and extrinsic threats. I do not see much panicking about beehaw. did the threadiverse survive beehaw? or is this only a shell of what we might have had otherwise?

  • Lvxferre
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    9 months ago

    I think that the “controversy” died down. Simply because there was no controversy on first place - just a conflict of interests, where you can see both sides being reasonable but ultimately wanting mutually incompatible things.

    • sab
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      419 months ago

      I think a lot of the “conflict” was based on people expecting the threadiverse to be user owned Reddit, without understanding how the Fediverse operates. As people start understanding the nature of how this place works, one would expect them to also calm down a bit about different communities having different moderation strategies.

      Then again, it’s the internet. Some people are not exactly keen to understand.

      • Lvxferre
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        119 months ago

        This, too. And additionally, perhaps some entitlement? Like, from my impression a lot of people were expecting Beehaw to conform to what they want (access to the comms and users from there), regardless of that going against Beehaw’s goals.

        • @[email protected]
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          119 months ago

          Hello guys, just wanted to chime in and say that it’s good to see you three explain things in a calm manner in this thread. Nice to see you around.

    • Otter
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      9 months ago

      Simply because there was no controversy on first place

      To add on:

      Most of the discussions I saw were highlighting the differences and discussing what the pros and cons were, so that users could make an informed decision when picking the instance to migrate to.

      That’s generally a good thing, as long as you don’t harass others for what they want. There’s a lot of different ways to do the fediverse

  • amio
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    389 months ago

    Was it really? How?

    They are heavy-handed but are upfront about that fact, and their reason for it - wanting a safe space, since a lot of people go out of their way to make the rest of the internet as unwelcoming as they can. If that’s not acceptable to you, you’re just not in the target audience. If it’s any sort of threat to the fediverse I am really not seeing how. If they want to be a bubble and deal with the “recruitment” issues that causes on an already miniscule platform, they absolutely can.

    Reputation-wise for Lemmy instances and the FV in general, I would think we have significantly larger issues.

  • @[email protected]
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    309 months ago

    You are too dramatic. What happened is that many left beehaw (me included). You can see beehaw has a lot less activity now then it had last year.

    • Five
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      79 months ago

      You can see beehaw has a lot less activity now then it had last year.

      Fediverse Observer and FediDB show a drop in active users, but the pattern of peak in July 2023 and then a slow regression isn’t unique to Beehaw, and is a pattern seen across the Threadiverse.

      You left, but Beehaw being willing to give teeth to the concept of defederation is the reason I joined. I don’t think the decision hurt their user-count. It definitely helped distinguish their culture from the rest of the Fediverse.

      • @[email protected]
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        59 months ago

        I agree. I could see Beehaw survive longer than most other Lemmy instances, their community feeling is much stronger.

      • @[email protected]
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        19 months ago

        You left, but Beehaw being willing to give teeth to the concept of defederation is the reason I joined. I don’t think the decision hurt their user-count. It definitely helped distinguish their culture from the rest of the Fediverse.

        Fair.

  • @AnalogyAddict
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    9 months ago

    I liked the idea of Beehaw, but it ended up being rather like an HOA. You weren’t allowed to ever disagree, no matter how gently, because it “wasn’t nice.” They ironically tried to reduce bullying by bullying people.

    Ended up with a bunch of Karens policing each other, so I think that’s a win for all.

    • CashewNut 🏴󠁢󠁥󠁧󠁿
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      109 months ago

      Lemmy.ml is just as bad. I suggested Nicaragua wasn’t a democratic country. Holy shit!! I got downvoted to hell, pasted left and right. Given 24hr ban.

      Then I got a 4-day ban cos I suggested “Tankies give socialists like me a bad name”. Fucking hell fire. I’m not going near any of their subs again.

      • @[email protected]
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        9 months ago

        I got downvoted to hell

        What’s wrong with downvoting? Ain’t it expected when the community allow downvotes?
        Do you think everyone should agree with you always?

        Then I got a 4-day ban cos I suggested “Tankies give socialists like me a bad name”. Fucking hell fire. I’m not going near any of their subs again.

        I am curious, what current of socialism do you subscribe to?

        • CashewNut 🏴󠁢󠁥󠁧󠁿
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          59 months ago

          Do you think everyone should agree with you always?

          No of course not but I subscribe to the original Reddiquette philosophy. Downvotes arne’t for disagreement. They were originally a form of user-moderation to stop spam. Unfortunately about a decade ago after the Digg exodus the users of Reddit forgot that original usage and so you’d end up being downvoted and not knowing why. It doesn’t foster debate or discussion. It’s a cheap way to snipe someone down without being responsible or engaging them.

          I never, ever downvote unless it’s obvious link spam. If I feel strongly enough I tell the person they’re wrong and why. That’s what I believe in.

          I am curious, what current of socialism do you subscribe to?

          Libertarian Socialism. In the UK the closest parties/groups would be Black Rose Labour and/or Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. The countries closest to my beliefs are Denmark, Iceland and Norway.

          However, the people on Lemmy.ml took further offence when I suggested DPRK wasn’t a democratic country and they trotted out a list of articles on how democratic it really was. Then I was given a bunch of Stalin emojis of him pulling heart shapes with his hands.

          I’m not a fan of autocratic dictatorships and I was dog-piled and taunted with a bunch of Stalinist and DPRK memes. Because apparently you’re not truly left-wing unless you worship Stalin and Kim.

          I would have been happy to debate these points with them but unfortunately my reticence of autocratic dictatorships was considered far worse than what was directed at me in response.

          • @[email protected]
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            29 months ago

            No of course not but I subscribe to the original Reddiquette philosophy. Downvotes arne’t for disagreement. They were originally a form of user-moderation to stop spam. Unfortunately about a decade ago after the Digg exodus the users of Reddit forgot that original usage and so you’d end up being downvoted and not knowing why. It doesn’t foster debate or discussion. It’s a cheap way to snipe someone down without being responsible or engaging them.

            I never, ever downvote unless it’s obvious link spam. If I feel strongly enough I tell the person they’re wrong and why. That’s what I believe in.

            That’s actually very nice, I agree with you. TIL.

          • @[email protected]
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            19 months ago

            No of course not but I subscribe to the original Reddiquette philosophy. Downvotes arne’t for disagreement. They were originally a form of user-moderation to stop spam. Unfortunately about a decade ago after the Digg exodus the users of Reddit forgot that original usage and so you’d end up being downvoted and not knowing why. It doesn’t foster debate or discussion. It’s a cheap way to snipe someone down without being responsible or engaging them.

            Very true, and that’s why I’m more and more inclined to use an instance without downvotes. With the report button available, downvotes just seem like a shortcut for hivemind.

          • @[email protected]
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            9 months ago

            A: Nordic systems like that are by definition not a form of economic socialism.

            B: Gonna make an assumption that you using Tankie was likely referencing some authoritarian policy and just grouping them all under ‘tankie’ as a generic insult like most .world liberals. Leninists or other ML flavors are not tankies.

            I don’t necessarily agree with down voting just for the inaccuracies of A. The boring ‘tankie’ this and ‘tankie’ that from the libs is getting REAL old though. They can’t even borrow an insult correctly. I have no issues with memes and banning people for that as those people clearly have no intention of serious conversation.

            It’s exhausting to the point that you were likely dismissed the moment that happened. I know it’s bad for spreading ideas and I don’t really like it. That said, explaining the real definition and real points of debate for the 100th time when really only every 10th person had an honest desire to learn/share is trying to say the least.

            As an authoritarian leaning Leninists I will gladly tell you why Anarchism and Libertarian Socialism inevitably fail though if you want.

          • @[email protected]
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            -29 months ago

            Libertarian Socialism. In the UK the closest parties/groups would be Black Rose Labour and/or Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. The countries closest to my beliefs are Denmark, Iceland and Norway.

            I see, Anarchism. I like it, mainly Kropotkin. Although I disagree with some points IRL mainly of my daily comrades are anarchists. I am what you would call a tankie even though I despise tankies.

            However, the people on Lemmy.ml took further offence when I suggested DPRK wasn’t a democratic country and they trotted out a list of articles on how democratic it really was. Then I was given a bunch of Stalin emojis of him pulling heart shapes with his hands.

            I understand, and I think this shouldn’t happen. A Marxist should be open to honest debate. On my view DPKR is way more democratic than say USA. I don’t like this apologetic view of Stalin too. But I don’t subscribe to Imperialistic propaganda neither. I think somewhat I am priveleged living outside the axis North America x West Europe, those places have suffered with A LOT of propaganda, and it is hard to see it from inside.

            I’m not a fan of autocratic dictatorships and I was dog-piled and taunted with a bunch of Stalinist and DPRK memes. Because apparently you’re not truly left-wing unless you worship Stalin and Kim.

            DPKR isn’t a dictatorship though. Kim alone holds less power in his country than Biden for instance. Also he was elected. DPKR have some sort of direct democracy that most western world doesn’t even dream about.

            I would have been happy to debate these points with them but unfortunately my reticence of autocratic dictatorships was considered far worse than what was directed at me in response.

            These people really gives socialism a bad name after all. I agree with you.

            • @[email protected]
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              59 months ago

              DPKR isn’t a dictatorship though. Kim alone holds less power in his country than Biden for instance. Also he was elected. DPKR have some sort of direct democracy that most western world doesn’t even dream about.

              lol people like you really exist

            • @[email protected]
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              9 months ago

              DPKR isn’t a dictatorship though. Kim alone holds less power in his country than Biden for instance. Also he was elected. DPKR have some sort of direct democracy that most western world doesn’t even dream about.

              So I want to start off with recognizing that western media love to blow up American propaganda about how “batshit crazy” Kim Jong-un is. In reality I think development of nukes is to some degree quite sensible as a defensive measurement for DPRK, especially given their stated goal to develop socialism without external involvement.

              Formally DPRK looks quite democratic with power derived from the working people’s assembly. However, I do not see how formalism really matters if it does not conform with praxis. Having officials elected for life from the same bloodline is to me a big red flag in this regard. The same with things like the assembly only being actually assembled for a few days of the year and statisics regarding voter participation and such.

      • @[email protected]
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        39 months ago

        I had an account that got banned from .ml for telling the kids that their meme responses to everything are childish.

        They also remove any and all comments that even politely suggest that their instance is in danger of becoming comparable to Hexbear/Lemmygrad.

  • @sudneo
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    9 months ago

    I stopped hearing discussions about it long ago. I suppose the thing died down.

    One thing I will never understand is their endless complaint about moderation tools. They had/have a decent amount of donation, why they didn’t just put a bounty on the features they needed in github and encourage contributions in that space (if not contributing directly)? It feels like it was sterile criticism when they had/have the means to actually work on the solution.

    EDIT: Adding to the above. From their opencollective page, they are in +6k$. Even 1000$ on a feature and I think plenty of people will want to contribute. Considering that they were complaining about a handful of features, I don’t see how it was not feasible. That will both give back to the developers and get them where they are. Win-win…?

  • @TORFdot0
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    239 months ago

    I don’t care for beehaw but I don’t see why it’s any different from any other non-federated general discussion forum.

    They aren’t helping the fediverse grow but they aren’t actively harming it either. It’s a live or let live thing. Being able to choose who you federate with is part of the fediverse

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️
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    9 months ago

    I don’t see how a single instance doing something against the grain would be the end of the whole fediverse, considering how the system works.

    And all they want is a place free from bigotry. Which is noble, but pretty naive. Even if you went to extreme lengths of vetting users before letting them post, you’re still gonna get a assholes who slip through just to cause trouble.

    • sab
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      139 months ago

      A few will still slip through, but fewer, presumably. Which is the whole point. Content moderation does have an impact on content and in turn the user experience.

  • newtraditionalists
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    209 months ago

    I have an account with beehaw. It’s my favorite place on the internet. I think most of us are happy with the way it has panned out. Some discussion here and there of potentially leaving activitypub altogether. If it happens, I will follow. If it doesn’t I will stay. Beehaw is too special for those of us it speaks to and works for. I don’t see it dying anytime soon, that’s for sure.

    • @Buddahriffic
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      119 months ago

      Care to elaborate a bit on what it is that makes you like it so much?

      • newtraditionalists
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        99 months ago

        It’s nice to know that the odds of encountering bots, trolls, and bigots are incredibly low. Yes, there is less content, but it’s the only place I don’t have to scroll passed vitriol and misinformation regularly. It’s wonderful.

    • @myfavouritename
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      39 months ago

      Yeah, my time on Beehaw is almost always pleasant. I really love seeing people arguing in the comments of a post and inevitably after a few exchanges they go out of their way to de-escalate tensions and recognize each other as people. Real conversations, real differing of opinions, but maintaining respect for people.

  • Die4Ever
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    9 months ago

    I’m surprised they’re still on 0.18.4. They made that big post complaining about moderation actions not federating, then the 0.18.5 hotfix came out and the only change was that fix, and they never updated anyways? I even put a comment on their post to let them know the hotfix for their issue. There’s no database changes, it’s the simplest update.

  • Handles
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    169 months ago

    Rilers gonna get riled. I’ve only seen Beehaw mentioned recently as a nice, drama-free space.

    Some people in this thread say Beehaw defederated almost or entirely from the rest of the threading/fediverse; just a glimpse of their instance federation and block lists show that isn’t the case. If you or your instance has been blocked by one that pretty much only requires users to be nice — I think that warrants some introspection on your part rather than dismissing them.

    I’m completely for social sites that set an ettiquette standard and stick to it. And I’m getting too old for bored teenagers’ edgelord hot takes, so in principle I should probably be in the target group for Beehaw.

    That said, looking through the recent local posts on the instance… it doesn’t look terribly interesting either. Not that I look for aggravation or confrontation in a forum, but I guess the people who sign up for a “nice” one, in this case at least, are fairly normie, and don’t have much interesting to say?

    • @[email protected]
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      -159 months ago

      Meh. Their admins are human like any other. One of their main subs banned me for saying that as an Asian, I didn’t have any opinion or strong feelings on the holocaust.

      • @[email protected]
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        9 months ago

        You don’t have strong feelings or any opinion about millions of innocent people dying?

        You don’t think it’s bad?

        That’s got nothing to do with your race. That’s just really shit.

        • @[email protected]
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          I don’t have any strong feelings or opinions about the holocaust in particular, as opposed to any of the other multiple genocides and atrocities humanity has committed over the ages, or even just the assorted hundreds of millions of deaths from war, famine, disease, etc. They all suck, but I see no reason to get more emotional about one specific event than any of the others.

          I get that it’s especially sensitive for many people because they feel connected to the event via personal, family or national ties. None of those apply to me. How strongly do YOU feel about the Crusades, which were very much an attempted genocide? Chances are, you don’t, because it’s just not culturally relevant.

          • @[email protected]
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            59 months ago

            The crusades were atrocities in my opinion. Straight up racism made manifest under the guise of religion.

            • @[email protected]
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              09 months ago

              Yep. So was the holocaust. But at least for me, it’s an intellectual outrage, nothing that works up my emotions. Apparently to some people, that’s unacceptable.

              • @[email protected]
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                9 months ago

                Right well that would be an opinion. Do you really not see how your comment may have come off as nasty?

        • @[email protected]
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          29 months ago

          If someone is of Asian decent from any country Japan invaded, their ancestors experienced equally bad atrocities that are largely ignored by the global community.

          • @[email protected]
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            19 months ago

            Yeah but I wouldn’t say I have no opinion about them. It’s super fucked up and horrifying.

  • @phoneymouse
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    Haven’t heard much about them lately, which I just learned through this post is because they defederated from everyone else. Anything I’ve read about them is that they want a certain type of community, but beyond that they’re really vague. I avoided signing up for their instance because they seemed kind of uptight and I’d rather be in a place that is welcoming to more people with diverse interests. It’s going to be hard to replace Reddit and being too uptight about who joins just kind of seems like a recipe not to have enough people to have an active community.

  • @hightrix
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    159 months ago

    Lol. I hadn’t even thought of that random instance until this post.

    I imagine most people are like me. They forgot this instance existed.

  • Dr. Wesker
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    129 months ago

    Beehaw still exists? I guess I don’t ever really see any communities hosted there pop up on All. Or maybe I’m just not noticing.

    • @4z01235
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      209 months ago

      Beehaw defederated from a lot of other major instances.

      • Dr. Wesker
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        59 months ago

        Seems like they shot themselves in the foot.

        Unless their goal was to create an echo chamber of about 15 people, and if so, they’ve been very successful.

        • @[email protected]
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          239 months ago

          That is exactly their goal. They openly state it, and I respect them for that.
          Federating with others was never really what they wanted. It’s a semi-private discussion space with strict rules.

          • @[email protected]
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            59 months ago

            Initially they were not so upfront about it. Things changed as they experienced more of the fediverse.

  • @ikidd
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    109 months ago

    See, here’s how Beehaw affects the rest of the Fediverse:

    It doesn’t. Nobody cares about Beehaw except Beehaw. And we’ll all go on for a few more months without thinking about them at all until someone mentions them again.