This isn’t your college or work place break room. If people are saying something you disagree with you can just say it and you won’t be fired or ostracized for it. Yeah, people will probably get angry and say mean things to you but those are just words which can be ignored. Offence is taken, not given.
This is mostly for the lurkers who upvote unpopular opinions but don’t comment. You can speak up - you’re not alone.
won’t be fired or ostracized for it.
Wanna bet?
Of course you can. You’re not free from consequences of what you said though. The internet remembers EVERYTHING. Especially on federated platforms like lemmy. Some of my first messages on newsgroups in the 1990’s are still floating around the internet.
Never say anything you aren’t willing to stand behind. Because it won’t go away. And with authoritarian regimes coming to power… you gotta be cognizant of the potential consequences
But generally, I agree with you. The further we get away from groupthink the better we are for it. When we self-censor out of fear of disapproval we are perpetuating the cycle and making it more likely the next person doesn’t speak their mind.
Just because everyone believes something is right, does not mean it is. The majority has been wrong in the past and it will be wrong in the future.
For the past 10 years or so I’ve pretty much assumed that at some point a superintelligent AI or similar will be able to find everyone’s online profiles and link them to the actual person behind them. Then we’ll all be held accountable for the things we’ve said in the past. That’s why I never lie or say something I don’t actually believe in. I’m not proud of every comment I’ve posted but those are my actual beliefs and what ever people will be able to dig up I can stand behind and explain reasoning.
You can be fired for what you say if it is linked back to you. That actually happens pretty regularly
Well, sure if you’re posting with your own name but not when you’re posting as MrPoopbutt.
Your anonymity will only hold until you have pissed of someone dedicated to track you down.
And some people do not need much information to do just that. Stories online include finding a location based on the reflection in someones eye or finding a address in London based on a single picture of the window taken from the inside.
Of course you can just not post real pictures and be careful with any details but just the topics you talk on and the hours you are active can give you away.
In the end it doesn’t matter how much actual effort you put in obscuring your real identity, one slip up being found is enough to get the ball rolling. And if people hate you they will gladly keep it rolling.
Sure, but this is true about being online in general and not only relevant to the people saying unpopular things.
It’s also the reason I keep making new accounts when ever I reach 1k comments. Better not have all the eggs in one basket.
This is often patently false
Don’t make fun of him, it’s a family name.
On the internet you can just freely say what you really think even if you know it’s unpopular.
This advice is SUPER dependent on where you live. People in the Middle East have been executed for saying the wrong thing on the Internet. People in the UK have been imprisoned for saying the wrong thing online. Criticize social policy or Government in China and its quite possible you’ll be off to prison.
Even in the good Ol’ USA there’s limits to how free your speech can be online.
in minecraft
A fine specimen
Lol sounda like it bro’s first time online
I’d rather be new and decent than experienced and dismissive - thank you for the perspective.
On the other hand, no one is obligated to listen to you, and freedom of speech does not equal freedom from the consequences of said speech. If you voice an unpopular opinion, be prepared to not be popular.
Absolutely. In-fact I’d say most people aren’t blocking enough. If someone thinks of free speech as freedom to be an asshole then they should be blocked by everyone and left to shout into the void. However, I don’t think the unpopularity follows you outside the thread you were saying unpopular things at. The vast majority of people wont remember you.
Ironic to find someone saying this on Lemmy. It’s a miserable echo chamber here.
That’s why I’m saying it. I often feel like I’m in the minority of people willing to speak up and get dogpiled for it. I posted this for the handful of people who upvote those comments.
I can’t see down votes so I have nothing to lose!
Pineapple is allowed on pizza
Fuck the haters, pineapple pizza is delicious.
So are anchovies
You disgust me
That’s the spirit!
Yeah, people will probably get angry and say mean things to you but those are just words which can be ignored. Offence is taken, not given.
This is naïve. The no one likes being insulted and downvoted for expressing their views. Sure, it doesn’t bother some people as much as others, but it’s not a conscious choice to “just ignore it,” as though that will prevent any negative feelings. The reality is that people with unpopular views stay silent to avoid these consequences, and that’s an entirely rational choice. You would do better to spend your time chastising people who attack those with unpopular views than to try to convince those with unpopular views to willingly expose themselves to online abuse.
I agree. I didn’t quite mean it as “you can just ignore it” but rather that “understand it’s just words and you can learn to not take it personally”
I say plenty of unpopular things here myself and though I have downvotes disabled I can still feel the pain when being dogpiled on despite having years of experience with it. No one is immune to it - we just have different levels of tolerance.
I’ve often been banned, blocked, or mass downvoted for saying something unpopular.
Downvotes mean pretty much nothing
And that’s why I tag users lol (sorry, wouldn’t normally share this, but enjoyed the irony of it being in this thread).
You got anything on me? (I had to unblock you to find this comment)
lmao, no
Now I’ve added that you blocked me but I assume you will reblock me and I probably won’t see you again.
I no longer use this account. My new one just is so fresh that I doubt you have anything on that one. I don’t have you blocked on that account because I’m trying new approach to curating my feed and I’m using word filters now rather than blocking people when even they say something stupid.
Also, blocking doesn’t hide my comments from you - just yours from me.
I wish Lemmy would have this feature as default. I’d rather give people few chances rather than immediately blocking them when they say something utterly moronic as I do now.
Me too. I basically don’t block anyone.
Edit: why hate for this?
No idea, I don’t block people either. I do identify them with a tag if I read something interesting or peculiar from them.
Yeah, not all my tags are bad. I just find it odd that would be the comment people downvote, not the one where I actually showed one of my tags. 🤷♂️
Ikr, I suppose it can be just a couple of salty people to push you into the negative
True, but the first two don’t.
Join an instance with downvotes disabled :p
Downvotes can also be disabled in the settings.
Doesn’t that diable all votes?
No, there are separate settings for up- and downvotes. I don’t see downvotes myself but I see upvotes.
Oh, that must have been added since I last checked.
Good to know!
My instance doesn’t even keep them. They get dropped before they hit our database.
Just like you’re free to say it, others are free to not listen. If an user blocks you then so be it - I’m sure you’ve blocked people as well. Downvotes on the other hand are equivalent to mean comments; it can just be ignored. Getting banned is a real risk though, I’ll give you that, but then again, you can just make a new account.
YSK too that not everything that’s said has equal value or merit.
This is important for both expressing and hearing/reading opinions.
I heard op of this post is the actual shooter in the murder of the Brian Thompson case. Sources say he went mad after his claim to be turned into a cat e girl was denied by united
Source-trust me bro
That’s patently false.
Ironically one of the first comments I saw in this post was “deleted by a moderator.” I guess that person doesn’t get to say whatever they want.
Lemmy is only pseudonymous and is a bit of an echo chamber. Lots of things you write or otherwise share on the Internet (here or elsewhere) can come back to haunt you.
It’s just words on a screen. Easy enough to scroll on by without commenting. On my screen, upvote usually means ‘thanks for sharing’ rather then agreement.
