The fediverse is small, and thats both a blessing and a curse - one of its several blessings is that in a smaller space we all individually have a bigger impact on what the culture of this space is like.

On this comm (and on lemmy broadly) there's a lot of discussion about how to grow the fediverse, what to improve, but an easy thing you can do for the fediverse is right in front of us-

Be kind
Ask people what they think, and why
Approach folks you disagree with with curiosity rather than hostility (EDIT: no, this is not specifically referring to Nazis. I get it, they're the first thing that comes to mind. I'm not telling you to approve of Nazis I'm just saying be kind to your fellow lemmites)
Engage sincerely
Ask yourself if there's something nice you can say
Make this small space worth being in

A platform lives or dies by what's available on said platform and often we have this conversation in the context of "content" or posts - and we may never have as much content as reddit does. But content and posts aren't the only thing this kind of platform offers- it also offers people. It offers community, and human interaction.

Culture and community is lemmy and the fediverse's biggest differentiator, and we all have a role to play in shaping the culture of this space.

The biggest thing you can do to help the fediverse is make it a place worth being.

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[–] orcrist@lemm.ee -4 points 3 days ago (3 children)

No. Kindness is often a tool for conservatives to maintain power. It's important, but integrity is more important.

[–] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

Kindness is a tool for conservatives to maintain power

Uh... Complimenting peoples art and having sincere discussions about what you think and why with folks on Lemmy grants conservatives power?

I get that lots of folks are frustrated with the constant liberal compromising but a) that's not "kindness" and b) that's not what I'm saying you do. This post isn't about telling people they should approve of Nazis. Its about building a healthy culture, here, in this online space, that facilitates positive interactions worth having.

I wish you and the others who commented along those lines could appreciate how exhausting this is as a person literally just saying we should be kind to the people we share this space with.

Look around. Basically every person here is left of center. I'm left of center. You don't have to be combative with me just because we don't exactly agree on everything.

Kindness is not a malicious conservative plot, nor is that what this post was about. And on that note, I clearly need to step away because in the same way that a lot of people's emotions are high, mine are too now and I'm loosing my ability to engage with people in the way that I want to.

Take care, and I hope you have a good night/day

[–] nanook@friendica.eskimo.com 4 points 3 days ago

@orcrist @Cris_Color You needn't be unkind to have integrity, and if your ideas aren't at least considered without force, they're probably wrong.

[–] MITM0@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

The world is not America, buddy. Also don't make leftists & liberals seem like they're somehow above this crap either.

You both want to crawl up in peoples ass & tell them what to do