Fediverse

From that link pretty much all of the usage is talking about the literal insect, or talking about reactionaries/fascists using it to refer to muslims, immigrants and other 'undesirables'.

Out of the handful of remaining uses, it's stuff like in the hexbear thread on this meanwhileongrad thread:

This is the most questionable usage I found, and it's referring to fash/reactionaries.

That's not the main point though, the bigger issue was getting called a 'degenerate' that's pretty much a red flag that someone's a cryptofash.

citing db0 on this one:

compare the use of the term on shit vs hexbear: https://sh.itjust.works/search?q=degenerate&type=All&listingType=Local&page=1&sort=TopAll

https://hexbear.net/search?q=degenerate&type=All&listingType=Local&page=1&sort=TopAll

While looking I found this one on hexbear 5 years ago, almost 90 upvotes shitting on stalin for criminalizing homosexuality, and quoting him calling someone degenerate. I read this as extremely critical of Stalin:

All the usage on hexbear I see is either self-deprecating or discussing (negatively) about people using the term.

Vaush this year defended the idea that he is allowed to call trans people shit like "subhuman, degenerate, mentally ill, leeching off society" if they step out of line and oppose him or his breadtube friends.

meanwhile on meanwhile on grad:

My experience on lemmy is vastly improved after blocking lemmygrad, lemmy.ml, hexbear, beehaw, and pawb. Wiped out vast swathes of degenerates from my feed.

hmmm, calling people degenerates and complaining about commies, progressives and furries.

Goat seems fine with replies calling people he doesn't like degenerates:

more examples:

Wouldn’t be surprised to hear they are, but nonetheless the chapo trap house degenerates that make up hexbear and grad are real. They do believe the dumb shit they say. It can’t all just be explained away with CCP and FSB boogeymen unfortunately, that would honestly be better imo. I’m sure some of it is, but mostly it’s people crazy enough to believe the stupid bullshit they spout.

On the shit main community someone deleted their posts after getting called out for this behavior, this is a known issue:

'degenerate tankie roaches'

site admin calls it out, entirely downvoted lol

Like you might think I'm being melodramatic, but I really don't see how meanwhileongrad isn't a nazi bar.

As I said, I don’t have a dog in this fight, it seems indeed bad to have such comments on both sides.

I really hope you re-assess both sides, because they are not equivalent.

I understand, there's plenty of problematic posters to go around, the issue I have is that it's normalized calling an instance which is overwhelmingly trans and queer 'degenerates', that's a major red flag, and it's behavior like that which was why hexbear defederated shit in the first place.

sh.it doesn't seem to have improved in that time