Sunspot
It sounds like you’re upsetting the right people.
My wife is a practicing witch. She definitely needs a shirt like this.
Back when I was Christian, I hated what I was. I spent my youth “praying the gay away” and all that. As a result, I suffered from depression and anxiety pretty much straight out of the womb.
Then I came out, was ostracized by my Christian family, and everything I was afraid of happening happened.
But you know what? I ended up finding a new family who loves and supported who I am. I married a wonderful woman who loves me in all my trans masc non-binary, bisexual confusion.
I realized that what I hated wasn’t my being queer, what I hated was that my family would never love me unconditionally. Now I love who I am and I honestly feel happier than I ever did performing the cis straight dance.
I’ve only been here for a day, but the lack of homophobia and transphobia here compared to Reddit has been a breath of fresh air. I’m not afraid of posting here like I was on Reddit, where I’d actually have to debate with myself for a minute or two before posting. It’s like finally leaving a bad relationship; now I’m starting to see how bad that all was for my mental health.
The worst of it, by far, is of course the front page. But some of the subs I can think of off the top of my head where I encountered trans or homophobia are r/Science and even r/Pathfinder2e (if you know anything about the Pathfinder universe, this might seem mind boggling). There was pro LGBTQ+ support in many of these subreddits, but there was always a comment or a debate or whatever in every queer related thread.
The subreddit for the state I live in, while generally supportive, has numerous comments debating my right to exist as a queer person in most threads even vaguely LGBT related. It’s frustrating knowing I could basically only find refuge in LGBT subreddits. Everywhere else, there was always someone making a jab or starting an argument. It’s exhausting.
I joined my state’s subreddit to keep an eye on local happenings. Our news outlets aren’t the best, so it was a good way to hear what was going on. For the most part, it was a good community. But there was always a handful of people who had to argue equal rights every time it came up and it was disheartening to see the same hate every single time.
Apparently I should get into photography, because your experience on Reddit sounds so chill! LOL
That’s a relief to hear. There’s been a Twitter shaped hole in my heart since I quit. I think I’d been a Twitter user since my freshman year of college and I’m in my 30s now. LOL
You’ve convinced me to give Mastodon a chance! Thank you for your reassurance. It really does sound like what Twitter should have been.
I’m all for a good debate. I frequented the technology subreddits since they’re related to my work and I love a good OS or language debate. I’ve learned a lot from hearing other people’s arguments. So that all sounds like friendly banter to me!
I do think the smaller the subreddit, the safer you are. Most of my best experiences are in those subreddits. I just found myself wishing I could explore Reddit a bit more without walking away bummed out by all the hate. It’s hard finding a good subreddit.
I’ve been through a lot of social media sites over the years. MySpace, Facebook, Twitter. I think you’ve got the right idea avoiding them all at this point! LOL
And I 100% agree regarding third party apps and open protocols. I tried several Reddit apps before Sync really grabbed me. I thought it was so neat having so many options, something I hadn’t seen since the early days of the internet. And then Reddit had to ruin a good thing and take all those away.
I do think the fediverse has the right idea. We shouldn’t all be crammed into a single “one size fits all” site. Now we just need some good apps to go with it!