Generated by AI Hexbear attracts a broader, more meme/shitpost-oriented leftist crowd. Users tend to be highly engaged, irreverent, and active in culture-war and international-news megathreads. The instance is known for very high comment volume and a chaotic, humorous vibe that some outsiders find off-putting (hence frequent defederations). It feels like a lively, tight-knit leftist meme hub.

Lemmygrad.ml: More strictly Marxist-Leninist and theory-focused, with strong emphasis on pro-China, anti-imperialist, and geopolitical content. The userbase is dedicated but smaller and generally less meme-heavy/more serious. It has a larger number of local communities dedicated to specific socialist topics or regions. Often described as the "classic tankie" instance.

Overall: Hexbear has the bigger, more energetic userbase by most metrics (total users, activity, content volume). Lemmygrad is smaller but punches above its weight in organized Marxist communities. Both remain tiny compared to general-purpose instances like lemmy.world (which has tens of thousands of MAU). If you're looking for raw leftist engagement, Hexbear wins on size and vibrancy; Lemmygrad feels more focused and "pure" ML.

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[–] WhatDoYouMeanPodcast@hexbear.net 11 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Why don't the leftists I meet in real life feel like I could joke about posadism, Stalin stopping at Berlin, Trump being the first poster president, etc? The people I stumble across have a deathly serious chill about the whole thing. Opening with a critique of Marx as a person or having to overcome mixed feelings about Israel. It's cool, but laughing about beanis would be a better way to start. We don't get along well enough such that even if I wanted to talk about heavy topics with them that we'd ever talk long enough to dissect it, talk a second time about it, or cooperate further.

"Be normal" - the more I see the more I feel like Brace Belden is a sage beyond his years.

[–] calidris@hexbear.net 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

How close are you to a major city? I know a few groups that joke like this and get down to business when necessary.

Don't think they know about beanis though.

[–] AntiOutsideAktion@hexbear.net 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Do they even know it's beanis?

[–] Dort_Owl@hexbear.net 6 points 2 weeks ago

Do they know its beanis time at all?

[–] WhatDoYouMeanPodcast@hexbear.net 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm not that far away.

I'm frustrated otherwise because (tangential to do with the topic at hand and what you said)

it feels like between dating, finding work, mental health, and even political organizations I just have to keep going on glorified first dates and talking about everything I want and what I think about things until I find some legendary super specific people who actually resonate with me otherwise whoever and whatever I find communicates that it's completely irrelevant and liable to spontaneously combust without any hope of reconciliation. Fuck, comrade. I've been looking to build a little niche but it seems like I'm entirely isolated in what I think is neat, worthwhile, and helpful. That seems absurd on its face but communicating what I think is important has proven itself to be a foreign fucking language.

[–] calidris@hexbear.net 3 points 2 weeks ago

They're out there comrade, I can almost guarantee it. Going to DM you shortly.