this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2023
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Aotearoa / New Zealand

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Before all the normies heard of reddit, before the mods became ultra special etc etc etc. Feels the same again man! *Strive to teach and help each other fellow Kiwis who all live on these islands we call home. Peace

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Welcome! I do not remember r/nz being about 300 people, I was part of the Digg 4.0 exodus to reddit. I'm not sure it was that small at the time. The best stats I can find show there were nearly 10k subscribers 2 years after that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I joined Reddit in 2006, so I remember a time before subreddits. I remember when upvotes and downvotes actually meant "contributes to the discussion" or "does not contribute to the discussion". Reddit has degenerated into hive-mind group think, which is often wrong, and is completely unaccepting of views counter to the group. I always thought Slashdot's approach to voting to be superior - categories of votes rather than a single blunt instrument.

I actually hope Reddit fails now. It hasn't been an enjoyable place for discussion in years.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

We've reached the point where the amount of outrage, false info, and bots is too much to handle. We actually need networks like Lemmy or Urbit which are closed off from the public internet, and invite only. Give people an invite code like Gmail did when it was new and coveted. When everyone comes to one place it will naturally degenerate into garbage. That's why we need a variety of different groups, made by different people. With some more open than others, so there can be actual debates instead of downvote mobs.

Being able to downvote without contributing any thoughts is just childish and stupid. I hate websites with a downvote feature because it ruins the authenticity of the website. People begin to act cautiously and don't say what they think, and don't challenge anyone on a touchy subject. The word "troll" has also lost meaning. It used to mean someone being intentionally disruptive, but now anyone with a different view is just a "troll". I could go on Reddit and use my real name and I'd be a "troll" for having my own opinion, while anonymous cowards chuck insults from the safety of their keyboards behind a VPN.

There are ways to handle dissenting views, like having a debating board on a website that's separate from the main topics. Of course nobody does this on the big websites.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wonder if the Lemmy platform (assuming it has legs) will facilitate a better atmosphere simply because there is a slightly higher barrier to entry - and because it is not commercial, meaning no one will be trying to make it a big deal?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

There is nothing stopping a commercial instance. Facebook is apparently working on a twitter-like site that will federate with Mastodon: https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/19/everything-we-know-about-instagrams-twitter-clone-due-this-summer/

But yes, it feels like Lemmy is in the early community growth stage, like Reddit was 10 years ago before the big push to go mainstream.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

This is great! Just what I was looking for. It's all so new and exciting. 🥳🥳

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Here's another cool software project, called urbit: https://www.meetup.com/urbit-christchurch/

if you're in Christchurch, join us at The Lotus Heart, upstairs. If you buy food, they'll send it up via the elevator chute thingy.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Hi I just signed up to this Lemmy instance. I don't like the so-called Reddit communities for NZ. There's too much sarcasm and complaining, and not enough good sense, or enough political action (eg. on housing).

[–] not_that_original 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I give it a few weeks until we're inundated with the usual politics, cost of living, housing, supermarket posts. It'll be like we never left Reddit.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I don't mind these topics, I think we need real life meetings, not people online who ask "hey has anyone else feel the same way as I do, regarding __________". If people feel the urge to get this out of their system, they need to do it offline. Supermarket posts need to go into a cancer category. Some topics just crop up every week or month, and there should be a board called cancer, for this purpose. Some of these topics (usually people's frustrations) wear my patience, but I want to support those people if I can.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Welcome! All the Lemmy communities are still working out what kind of place they will be, including this one. But you're welcome to help shape it to the kind of place you'd like to visit :)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'd like a place where people are more intelligent than the average Redditor LOL. There are so many nay-sayers on Reddit. Anyone with initiative just gets attacked. I'll invite some people right now in fact. I'd like to talk about the housing crisis, the rental crisis, the cost of living crisis and also foreign policy (especially Ukraine and Taiwan). I believe that New Zealanders are being misled by the media and government.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

As long as discussion is respectful and "more intelligent" doesn't mean that they have to agree with your views, then some discussion sounds good!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We have a foreign policy? I thought our only foreign policy was to try not to annoy any country that trades with us, which is pretty much just about everyone...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Whether we have a policy or not, and whether we have allies or not, the politicians certainly lean strongly towards the Pentagon. I remember John Key when he supported a "no-fly zone" over Libya in 2011. Then in 2017/2018 Jacinda Ardern supported missile strikes against Syria, but was aghast when Russia did a similar thing in Ukraine. It's a trick when they say we have friends, not allies, or that we have an independent foreign policy, or we don't have one at all. Washington DC rules this country's foreign policy ideology. It will remain that way until an American aircraft carrier sinks in the South China Sea. Then Wellington will lean toward China. It's a deception to think that we're an innocent country that's completely neutral. Wellington is full of people who are slaves to foreign powers. It's disgusting yet predictable.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

John Key sucked up to anybody with enough money - he let a few Chinese companies with CCP-ties use the South Island as a test site for their balloons back in 2013 or 14 but it's alright because they promised that they were only designed for monitoring livestock on farms!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'd like to talk about the housing crisis, the rental crisis, the cost of living crisis and also foreign policy

Do we have to do this so soon? I just got here.

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