this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2025
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Ask Lemmy

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What do you think Lemmy is most biased about? Which opinions do you think differ most from the general internet?

(Excluding US politics, due to community rules)

Commonly mentioned biases:

Subject Mentions
Pro-Privacy 2
Left-Wing 9
Anti-Capitalism 5
American 5
Older 2
Pro-Linux 3
Tech people 5
Anti-Ai 4
Pro-LBTQ+ 3
Anti religion 3
Pro-Communism 3

Bonus: Gaming Biases

Subject Mentions
Nintendo hate 3
Pro-SteamDeck 1
Anti-GOG 1
PC over console 1
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] qaz@lemmy.world 115 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (6 children)

I'll go first.

  • I think there is a strong pro-Linux bias. It wouldn't surprise me if 40+% use it on here.
  • People from the US seem over-represented, but less so compared to Reddit
  • There is a far stronger anti-capitalist sentiment on here than other social media
  • The average age seems to be much higher. I joined when I was 16 and feel quite young unlike on other social media.
[–] Oka@sopuli.xyz 86 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I'll add:

  • AI bad
  • Piracy ok
  • Political posts are more frequent (Bias towards political expression)
  • More tech enthusiasts
[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 20 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

"AI bad" overrides "Piracy ok", though. I've seen threads in the main piracy community where the general consensus seemed to be that copyright should be used as a weapon against AI.

[–] misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (11 children)

Just a guess. Because piracy advocacy isn't about not paying, it's about not supporting megacorporations and anti-artistic business models. It's a form of protest, I suspect most advocates would buy media legally when it doesn't feel enshittified.

They would probably also support companies that used AI but did not fire workers as a result.

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[–] qaz@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago
  • Piracy ok

I'm not sure how true that is for the largest instance (lemmy.world) but apart from that it seems quite on point

[–] Havatra@lemmy.zip 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think you're right on all these points, though it depends a bit on what part of the Fediverse you're exposed to.

On the point of anti-capitalism, I agree, but (again, depending on the part of the Fediverse) there's also an incredibly high amount of open-minded people here, compared to other more mainstream social media (like Reddit). I speak much from my perspective of being from lemmy.zip, which I'm impressed by the healthiness of the community since I joined. But there are also less "healthy" instances like lemmy.ml which is considered by many to be infested with tankies (anti-capitalism?).

And yes, the average age seems to be around mid-30s to me, based solely on how people speak and what they reminisce about.

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[–] adry@piefed.social 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
  • The average age seems to be much higher. I joined when I was 16 and feel quite young unlike on other social media.

Enjoy. Less echo bubbles. This goes in both directions, but mainly I value that younger people are able to be part of "mature conversations". Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to underestimate your worldview or anything. It's just that I'm remembering when I was around your age, the Internet was in a raw form, and it felt much like this. I was amazed to be able to talk with other adults and learn about their tastes on say books or movies when I joined some theme specific chat channel (via protocol IRC). At some point this changed drastically (e.g. Facebook connecting people from real life/ schools).. and I think nowadays TikTok, Insta, and for the most part, even YouTube are just centered around being young, pretty... very much like mainstream TV.

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[–] cloudless@piefed.social 85 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Most of Lemmy is anti-AI, especially generative AI.

[–] gigachad@piefed.social 33 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

Which seems uninformed and ridiculous as Deep Learning for classification and regression problems is an absolute valid tool that cannot be replaced anymore in many domains. I don't care about LLM bullshit, but being "against Deep Learning in general" is stupid.

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 23 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Nobody* is talking about machine learning when they say “AI” these days. They mean LLMs and generative AI and especially the way it is being forced into everything and destroying the environment to do so.

* not literally; there is certainly at least one person out there who objects to machine learning, deep learning, or whatever you want to call it. However this is not the general sentiment.

[–] Cruxifux@feddit.nl 15 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I think the biggest issues Lemmy has with it, which are valid, boil down to environmental impact, AI being used to replace working class people instead of making their lives better, and the way it’s being used to erase art as a part of human culture. If those three things weren’t an issue I’d be less wary of AI.

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[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 13 points 3 weeks ago

Biases are indeed usually uninformed and ridiculous.

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[–] bollybing@lemmynsfw.com 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

If you get all your info from Lemmy you'd probably think that AI is a worthless hype bubble that can't do anything right and will collapse and go away in a few years.

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[–] naught101@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago (14 children)

Are people anti non-generative AI? Or is broader AI just getting dragged in to the justified anti genAI sentiment?

[–] qaz@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think it's both. Some people dislike all AI because of generative AI like LLM's, but many people seem to care about making the distinction between generative AI and traditional ML.

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[–] galoisghost@aussie.zone 43 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (7 children)

People before profit.

Cities should be walkable

AI as we know it was unethically developed and is more marketing than solution.

Trans rights are human rights. Even more, gender is a spectrum, so everyone really, is a tiny bit trans.

Fuck Israel.

Punch fascists.

Instant nudeln eignen gut für MaiMais

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[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 37 points 3 weeks ago (19 children)

Lemmy prefers Star Trek over Star Wars.

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[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 33 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Lemmy is not neurotypical and it shows up with various discussions. Discussions here tend to assume autism or AuDHD as typical behavior, when it is only typical for the group of people assembled here.

[–] Scott_of_the_Arctic@lemmy.world 28 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Also half of all lemmings are transgender. No idea why.

[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 20 points 3 weeks ago

The chemicals in the protocols are turning the nerds gay

[–] lemmyknow@lemmy.today 17 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Woke and DEI, is why. Now put the damn socks on and get to work. Once Arch is installed, you may indulge in one Blåhaj

[–] Scott_of_the_Arctic@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)
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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Trans people are almost attacked or banned all other platforms or at least astroturfed, it does make sense

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[–] littleomid@feddit.org 31 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

It is very left, sometimes infuriatingly so when the people here defend autocratic countries such as Iran.

[–] qaz@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Or communists defending the CCP seemingly entirely due to their name

[–] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

That's mostly .ml users not most of Lemmy and none of PieFed

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[–] otp@sh.itjust.works 13 points 3 weeks ago

Always will be that way, too.

IIRC, Lemmy.ml was the first instance; the ones who built Lemmy. We're kind of the "normies" who've invaded their space.

I appreciate them for building Lemmy and letting it remain free ("freedom" free). Still, I'll argue with people who are saying crazy stuff like NK being a good place for its citizens to live...

[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 12 points 3 weeks ago

"Maduro must have won the election fair and square because the US said he didn't."

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Arguing that Israel and the US shouldn't indiscriminately bomb Iran is not the same as defending their leadership.

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[–] Kennystillalive@feddit.org 30 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)
  • anti religion.
  • full of leftists or liberals
  • people are more concious about their personal data.
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[–] knight_alva@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

IMHO Lemmy feels similar to how Reddit felt 10-15 years ago. The community seems closer to my age. The population is smaller. The content is less formulaic.

The biases shown here feel like a distillation of the broader internet (similar to what Reddit used to be). We like animals and nature, we hate intrusive powerful forces like large corporations or invasive governments. We share a shit-post-y sense of humor. We tend to lean left politically. We love to feel like we know more than we actually do.

On any given subject, if you ask “What would the internet think about this?” you will probably find that same opinion reflected strongly here.

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[–] zxqwas@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Clearly a severe leftist bias. Not just in the context of US politics.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 18 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's not a bias if you're right

[–] RichardDegenne@lemmy.zip 47 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

No, we're left, please pay attention 🙃

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[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 26 points 3 weeks ago (17 children)

This probably sounds like a dodge of an answer, but...

It depends on the Lemmy instance. Some are anarchistic, some are very left wing anti-establishment, some are hardcore tankies, and I've heard somewhere there's a right-wing instance? Some hate certain technologies, some love those technologies, etc.

I don't think it's realistic to lump all Lemmy instances (and users) together under a single ideological umbrella. That's like lumping everyone from America or any other county together for their opinions.

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[–] MyDarkestTimeline01@ani.social 26 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I've run into:

  • Pro-liberalism
  • Pro-LGBTQ+
  • Pro-Linux
  • Pro-Communism/Socialism
  • Pro-Agnostic
  • Pro-Indie(movie and video games)
  • Pro-Body Autonomy
  • PC Master Race
[–] theywilleatthestars@lemmy.world 23 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Thinking we're better than everyone who's still on Reddit

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 11 points 3 weeks ago

It's not bias if you're right

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[–] gointhefridge@lemmy.zip 22 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Linux/SteamDeck = Good Anything else = bad

Porn games should be available for all, but GOG sucks because they did something shitty years ago.

The only thing worse than a right winger is the wrong kind of leftist. (I feel this is a global thing not only US)

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[–] psion1369@lemmy.world 21 points 3 weeks ago (10 children)

All capitalism is bad, and any attempt to rein it in is failure before any attempts.

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[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

World == USA

Incredible US bias here to the point where many discussions completely ignore the existence of the rest of the world.

Lemmy is actually worse than reddit here. The only network that at least tries to be cosmopolitan is Mastodon and that's why it just feels so much healthier there.

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[–] missingno@fedia.io 20 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Nintendo is worse than EA, Activision, Konami, Ubisoft, Epic, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Nestle, and the IDF combined.

There may be some things they do that annoy me, but there also a lot of things they do that I like, and I don't think they're anywhere near the worst in the industry right now. It is just so very tiring that it is seemingly impossible to discuss anything related to Nintendo at all without threads immediately devolving into a circlejerk about how much some of y'all hate anyone who dares to even enjoy their games.

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[–] Schwim@lemmy.zip 16 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Since the rules preclude it, we can't discuss what Lemmy is most biased about. The remaining biases tend to be in the tech/nerdcore genre, which makes sense, since many average Joe users have problems navigating the registration/instance selection process, keeping their numbers down on the platform.

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Im still pretty unclear on the whole instance selection thing. I just tried a few until one worked.

If in doubt, just try it until it works. If it still doesnt work either learn why or give up.

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[–] ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I haven't seen much Zionist propaganda here (unlike major subreddits, for example) and, when it is posted, it's e-boo'd with downvotes. 👍

[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today 13 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

For as politically Left as Lemmy tends to run there still seems to be a high level of mysoginy.

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[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 12 points 3 weeks ago

Two things that I haven't seen yet.

  • Much higher general tech and math/stats literacy than other spaces on the internet

  • An overwhelming hatred for Nintendo when most of the rest of the internet swallows their boot in order to play their new games because let's face it, they make some of the most well-polished 3D platformers.

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