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Should we defederate hexbear? (aussie.zone)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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We’ve already defederated one tanky instance, and frankly I think I’ve rarely had a positive interaction with Hexbear users. Their defence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or of China’s genocide against the Uighur people, is hard enough to stomach. But what prompted me to post this is their commentary in this thread where even without any of the propaganda-based reasons to justify their beliefs, they seem to delight in being rude arseholes to people.

Personally, I don’t think they provide us any real value, no we’d be better off without them, just as we are better off without lemmygrad and exploding-heads.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes, we’re still federated with them. You can check the federation status of instances by going to [instance-root-domain]/instances.

In that thread, you’ve got:

Multiple users sarcastically pretending not to know what Beehaw is
A user making fun of them
"Don’t let the door hit you on the way out." Incidentally this is the comment that inspired me to make this post.
A user literally just laughing

And of course many of their users in that thread have the trademark transphobic sarcastic pronoun indicators.

Not one comment from a Hexbear user that’s actually providing valuable commentary. These are comments that are deliberately setting out to be mean, and do nothing more than that.

Many users from other instances that are critical of Beehaw in that thread (some great examples are azuth and donuts) are at least explaining why. Hexbear users are just arseholes, and seemingly proud of that fact.

There are rude users on other instances too, but not in such a high ratio as in Hexbear.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Id consider most of these examples you've provided to just be playful banter. Lemmy is a social network and you shouldn't expect every interaction to be completely serious all the time. Besides, one aspect of Australian culture is "bants with mates at the pub" and none of the things posted by HB users in this thread, or any other thread I've seen for that matter, come close to some of the horrid stuff I've heard be excused as "they're just joking around" IRL.

Why do you think that including one's pronouns in a username or bio is transphobic? Or do you take issue with a particular user's pronouns?

Finally, regarding your point about not being familiar with Beehaw, I'd point you to my first point about banter but also to the fact that Hexbear is a very large and old instance; up untill a couple of months ago they were running a version of Lemmy that did not support federation. The fediverse is diverse enough that unless you're on an instance federated with Beehaw or engross yourself in a meta thread about it, some of the confusion may be legitimate.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

to just be playful banter

Jesus that's very generous. It's "playful banter" in the way 4chan uses the term, or Donald Trump does, maybe. It's toxic behaviour, plain and simple. The only thing up for debate is whether they're doing it out of ignorance or, as I suspect, because they deliberately want to drive out the kinder voices.

bants with mates at the pub

Are usually, I dunno, funny? They're also contextual. You don't rib a mate when he's looking for sincere feedback, you read the room. In their case, they're reading the room and seeing a prime opportunity to prey on the vulnerable.

Why do you think that including one's pronouns in a username or bio is transphobic

It's not. The way they use this incredibly inclusionary tool to make fun of the concept, however, is. Saying their pronouns are "comrade" and "use name" makes a mockery of the concept. It reminds me of that old transphobic "attack helicopter" joke.

Hexbear is a very large and old instance; up untill a couple of months ago they were running a version of Lemmy that did not support federation

Is it theoretically possible that this is the case? Sure. But again you're being very generous to a group of people who have demonstrated themselves not to deserve that generosity. Especially when we're talking about people who care enough about the issue to comment on it in this thread.