Hexbear is far more likely to have users entering and using our comms, being another large socialist instance, albeit dedicated to left unity rather than Marxism like ourselves. I think there is enough of a culture change that we need to have a pinned post for hexbear users coming here explaining what kind of content/attitudes they might see here/what different rules to follow
There should also be a section dedicated to explaining to lemmygrad users to respect hexbear comm rules and what to expect from their users etc.
I think this would help ease any potential cross site struggle sessions
I was really involved in it a couple years ago because I ran a West Marches DnD server that primarily recruited from Hexbear (I’m not really involved anymore but it’s still going, DM or reply and I’ll shoot you an invite). So I know a lot of the posters relatively well personally (though none of the administrators ever joined). Drama is an understatement and I think it ultimately derives from the administrators feeling like they need to personally intervene in every little issue, inevitably blowing it up into massive proportions.
The one moment that has stuck with me is when a user (who was a common player in our DnD server, we’ll call her Tammy) made a post mildly criticizing another poster who was making overly saccharine “You are all so valid ❤” posts literally every single day. Basically saying “Hey I get you mean to be nice but this is just annoying”. The other user made a big, long “THIS IS WHY I’M LEAVING HEXBEAR!!!” post and Tammy ends up being not only banned (with a snarky ban message) but accused of being a TERF. TAMMY WAS A TRANS WOMAN. She was eventually unbanned and the conversation got turned into “Making allowances for our Neurodivergent members” which is basically saying “You were in the wrong but it’s okay because you’re a r*tard.”
Half of the people in our DnD server who were active in Hexbear would eventually be banned; most (myself included) just stopped using it at some point.
For what it’s worth, as long as we get to keep our downvotes and I don’t have to NSFW-tag my meatposting, I don’t really mind, if anything it’ll be fun to laugh at them when they come in here and complain.
Thanks for the reply and sorry if I came off a little too strong. For what it’s worth I’m completely in favor with federation and if the administrative team has gotten better, I’m glad to hear about it (though from what I understand the problem was far from just one or two rogue mods; but at this point I’m dealing with 1-2+ year old memory of ancient struggle sessions).
I know Hellscyth, one of our moderators, was banned for complaining about the admins during the early “If you complain about the staff at all you’re a ‘wrecker’” days (though she’s kind of fallen off in activity and I would feel weird bringing this up to her now; and for what it’s worth she seemed pretty done with Hexbear anyways by that point). I don’t honestly think I’ve heard a single person in the A&S mention Hexbear for the last year and a half, so we’re all talking ancient history at this point. Out of our current staff and regular playership, I think she’s the only one still around with a Hexbear ban.
Between the “Wrecker” fiasco, the three or four separate trans issues struggle sessions, the downvote removals, (EDIT: The Vegans!), and the constant browbeating from certain members of staff over users who are “Posting online and not going out and doing real Praxis, like me”, there’s a reason I stopped interacting (except to shill my DnD Server, sorry lol) well over a year ago.
But I also recognize that I’m obviously not the target audience for Hexbear, and I probably never would have felt completely at home with the direction it was taking. I like arguing with chuds and libs. It’s what keeps my blood churning. Safe spaces are boring (to me). The only times I really interacted with the Hexbear were, ironically, during the struggle sessions, because it gave me something to actually engage with. Lemmygrad with federation brings back some of that original Chapo feel, with the “home” where you can be affirmed and the “hinterlands” where you go off to fight the posting wars.
I feel like people who complain about the vegans are sus. As evidenced by the “plant-based beer”, reactionaries want to oppress them. So we as communists should protect them, I’d say.
I don’t have anything against Vegans who don’t expect me to change my behavior to accommodate them, but Veganism is a political ideology, not an unchangeable personal identity.
I don’t like it when people put subcultures (esp. Veganism or Furrydom) on par with actual marginalized groups (whether by ethnicity, religion, gender or sexuality, etc.). Hating furries makes you rude. Hating trans people makes you a bigot. How reactionaries care about either group doesn’t enter into the equation at all; I don’t like someone just because bigots hate them. Even the bigot clock is right twice a day.
Vegans believe that animals have many of the same rights as people. I like some animals (I have a pet cat I love like family), but I fundamentally believe that animals are property and should not have rights beyond that except where their mistreatment negatively impacts humans. These are irreconcilable differences in opinion and while I’ve never gone out of my way to vegan-hate, I want to be able to use Lemmygrad without their interference.
Bans on Hexbear are basically a brush back pitch. Many banned users simply create a new account and move on. Mods do not try to sus out if a new user is a formerly-banned user; it’s a clean slate.
All things considered I think this is a good approach. It has the added benefit of reducing the number of “power users” (hate that term) and encouraging people to be less terminally online.
