this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2025
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I've been using Lemmy for a while now, and I've noticed something that I was hoping to potentially discuss with the community.

As a leftist myself (communist), I generally enjoy the content and discussions on Lemmy.

However, I've been wondering if we might be facing an issue with ideological diversity.

From my observations:

  1. Most Lemmy Instances, news articles, posts, comments, etc. seem to come from a distinctly leftist perspective.
  2. There appears to be a lack of "centrist", non-political, or right-wing voices (and I don't mean extreme MAGA-type views, but rather more moderate conservative positions).
  3. Discussions often feel like they're happening within an ideological bubble.

My questions to the community are:

  • Have others noticed this trend?
  • Do you think Lemmy is at risk of becoming an echo chamber for leftist views, a sort of Truth Social, Parler, Gab, etc., esque platform, but for Leftists?
  • Is this a problem we should be concerned about, or is it a natural result of Lemmy's community-driven nature?
  • How might we encourage more diverse political perspectives while still maintaining a respectful and inclusive environment?
  • What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of having a more politically diverse user base on Lemmy?

As much as I align with many of the views expressed here, I wonder if we're missing out on valuable dialogue and perspective by not having a more diverse range of political opinions represented.

I'm genuinely curious to hear your thoughts on this.

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There's a lot of stuff written on this topic, but I haven't seen this mentioned yet: there are conservative instances on Lemmy, as a platform. Most of them are widely defederated, not necessarily for the views of the majority (though in some cases, yes), but because of asshats deliberately causing trouble.

Unfortunately, this is also a product of a wider shift in discourse by the right (understood in a North American context), which appeals mostly to edgelords rather than the (rapidly shrinking, already shrunk to the point of irrelevance/non-existence one could argue) thinking, at least ostensibly humanistic conservative.

There's self-selection in action here. Which makes sense, even if I also find it troubling (there are people who can be reasoned with drowned out by Nazi assholes, who are willing to hear people out on the not-Nazi stuff, give positive reinforcement and with it a home to get radicalized).

I don't have a good answer, and if I did I'd probably be up for a Nobel Prize given how wide and damaging the problem is. It ain't just here - it's pretty much anywhere anyone expresses any idea. I just happen to like this side of the Threadiverse much more, so it's where I hang out.

Only real hope is meatspace, imo. And even then, not everyone has the privilege to engage this way in meatspace without a direct risk to their personal safety (see POC, our trans brothers and sisters, LGTBQ+ folks, etc.).

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

There are many posts preaching for the choir, but I wouldn't call it an echo chamber. It's more like a dead sound chamber where the ideas dies in agreement. It doesn't bounce off the walls or resonate. It's already there so no answer is required.

Lemmy would benefit from more users playing the devil's lawyer, but I think it's too small for anyone to use their main profile for that, and alt-accounts would quickly get blocked or banned.

Actual users with opposing views wouldn't be of much help. Politics isn't very nuanced these days. It's not red or blue, left or right or whatever. It's polarized into a new duality: Those that give a shit and those who are proud idiots. Lemmy is on the good side of this and will not benefit from being more accepting of idiots.

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[–] OmegaLemmy@discuss.online 6 points 3 months ago

Yeah, it's not necessarily bad but it affects my point of view

Some might deny it, some might agree but decide it's for the best and apparently, others will just denote the least left of the leftists as conservative scum

[–] GrumpyDuckling@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 months ago

Lack of fake accounts/trolls like on other platforms and you'll have that.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

so you're suggesting, what, exactly?

say I'd observed this trend as well, and agreed there was a risk (I don't but let's follow your chain of thinking) - what then?

Because I'm sure there's a desire for conservatives to have alternatives to reddit, but I as they can federate their own instances and have damn near free reign over whatever communities they want to create, I don't really understand what's to be gained from any actions that might be taken. We won't convince them it's a conservative haven, and that's genuinely what they want, a safe space where no one questions their conservatism.

so what is it you're thinking?

[–] zarathustra0@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Participating in this thread had left me feeling like lemmy is much more of an echo chamber than what I thought before.

I like being disagreed with on occasion, but don't feel like anyone really listened here. That is very internet but also pretty concerning.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Yes it's very important to accommodate genocide and climate denialism. 🙄

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[–] haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com 4 points 3 months ago

I think this is the case, yes. From my pov the technical ability to block others and defederate leads to this left leaning trend. This is the only place I know that is really left leaning.

But the important part here is: the distinction between left and right is arbitrary. There is no left and right. There are certain beliefs and ideas which usually get attributed towards left or right.

The idea of freedom - in most of the world - isnt really left or right, or at least used to be.

Especially the fascist turn of the us, the fascist turn of germany and others are a sign of the world turning, not lemmy.

Because freedom, flow of ideas and identity are still typical topics on lemmy. Same as they used to be. I think the right wing nuts just left since they are more welcome on xitter and fascbook.

Is that good for critical discourse? No. Can we change it? No idea. Should we change it? No idea.

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