skytrim

I use the Stealth app downloaded from f-droid. You log in to read Reddit but without a Reddit account so you cannot post (not that I ever want to). I like Reddit for community answers e.g. how to fix stuff like a broken household appliance, advice about a glitch in software, useful things like that. I prefer it to YouTube (which I access via Clipious or similar apps, also on f-droid) unless I need to see a job done to understand the repair method. I enjoy some of the jokes and memes and nonsense posts so its cheap entertainment. And, to be honest, I learn a lot about relationship skills by the AITA or TwoXChromosomes reddits - on the whole, I am impressed by the lucidity and maturity of the reddit 'agony aunt' stuff although there is also a lot of crap which I think of as part of the entertainment - 'my wife had sex with my dad, now I am not sure my kid is mine, would I be over-reacting if I asked for a paternity test?' or 'I came out as a horse and now my kids refuse to visit me, should I cut them out of my will?' sort of written version of the Jeremy Kyle Show (British tabloid t.v. nonsense). What is missing on Reddit or anywhere else is 'positive masculinity' stuff so that is a 'gap in the market' for anyone looking for a project. Not sure I could name a living male role model I respect so maybe that is the reason Reddit feels unhelpful at times - you cannot promote what is not there? Men step up, is the take away message on this. Women cannot carry men's social media activities for them so maybe quite a lot of stuff is dying because men do not make enough effort to keep it going.

It sounds good in principle but would be hard to do in practice because everyone would have to do a lot of work negotiating 'standards' (technical stuff and editorial principles like how to handle NSFW content etc) that would apply universally across the federation of forums and as this is all voluntary work it is asking a lot of people.

I was a 'early adopter' for technology most of my life. I tried Facebook when it was new. As soon as I signed up for an account, I saw how it was abusive - taking away my choices, treating me like a farmed animal being milked for data. I signed up. And immediately started the process to cancel my account. They tried every trick to stop me closing my account. I do not know if it ever was closed! I did the same with everything else that was new and closed all of it very quickly as it was almost always abusive or time-wasting in some way.

The only stuff I stick with is stuff I consider ethical - which is why I am using Mastodon and Lemmy not commercialised social media. And I tend to use that episodically and then get frustrated and stop using it for months before another flurry of use. Why do I use social media? I guess I use it when I am scared and need reassurance from others. Why do I stop? When I do not get the community care I need. We talk about 'loneliness epidemic' in contemporary society. I am not sure its 'loneliness' - I live alone and like it. What I feel is fear. Maybe we are ashamed to admit it. I am not ashamed to say it - the prospect of fascism, WW3, loss of a 'safety net' does frighten me. It is rational to be afraid! When afraid, you look for others who also feel threatened and you test to see 'do they have my back?' If there's a sense of safety, mutual support, you stay. If there is not, you move on.

Social media 'works' if it solves real life problems, if it does not help you stop using it. Sure, kids with no real worries because they are protected by adults can post rubbish online for 'shits and giggles' but anyone aged 14 or older quickly loses that privilege as they move into adult life and then they use social media differently - for fun, yes, but also it must help you survive by giving you ideas, comfort, information, encouragement, escape for a bit etc. If it only adds abuse to a hard life, who has the energy for it?

I just closed my The Guardian UK version account. I used to comment on the news stories. I can no longer be arsed because of the stress it causes - 99% of comments are so damn stupid and adrift from reality. Most of the comments are from people who (1) voted Labour in order to get change despite being warned by Labour itself, as well as everyone on the Left, that it was not offering change and (2) are now belly-aching because Labour is too Rightwing for them and no better than Tories. Starmer says he 'likes and respects Trump' - what the fuck!?! Leopards are eating Labour voters' faces and they are lacting shocked? If you say so, your comment gets deleted by the moderators because we are not allowed to be truthful or challenge MSM's imaginary version of the world which is carefully curated to be cosy and profitable. Fuck 'em all.

I only want to hear from people willing to face reality. I need to find a community that is living in the real world not in some self-indulgent fantasy in their head like most British voters seem to be. I reckon that the age of social media is dead because the age of comfort is over. It was fine wasting time on posting nonsense when you were not watching a coup or seeing WW3 developing in real time or could still believe that whatever happened online, offline life was ticking over normally and you could still feed yourself, access housing, get healthcare, rely on benefits if you were sick or old. All of that safety in real life is gone - so to survive this shock we bunker-down and that means finding your village to shelter with because who wants to bunk with Nazis or cultists?

There will still be social media going forward but it will be fragmented because in times of war, you take a side and you do not fraternise with the enemy. Anyone lamenting this is pretending we still live in the past when you could get along with others and 'two side' debates because actually you agreed on 90% of stuff and were disputing details. Now we dispute the nature of reality and fundamental morality and there is no two sides to such existential matters. I mean it has been brewing for almost a decade (i.e. in the west, started much longer ago in places like Russia and 'untruth no reality stop-think' probably infected the west from those places) - ever since the rise of 4chan and bizarre conspiracy theorists started undermining reason, was turbo-charged by the pandemic, and started to infect reality via stuff like brexit and MAGA. There is no excuse to be surprised that we are here, it was clearly signposted for years.

I know it is the Far-Right who brought us to this crisis but as a radical Leftist I say 'bring it on!' You started this conflict, I am determined people like me will win it. I just need to find my comrades and unite in push-back. I get my inspiration from democracy protests like those currently happening in Serbia, Greece, Turkiye. Why is there nothing like that scale of reaction in USA or UK? Because most people in those places are still feeling comfortable and do not grasp the reality of the crisis they are in. They will not react until it is too late. They frustrate me past expression!

I needed to vent.

I agree with you but I got side-tracked because of the way my childish mind thinks and started chuckling to myself as I imagined an enormous 'dictator's support'. The Trump Truss (patent pending). I am visualising something Steampunk style with polished brass, gears and levers, and puffs of steam - a bit like the walking house in Howl's Moving Castle but bolted around the Tangerine nethers. Cheered me up!

Beware the Ides of March, huh?

If I recall, Shakespeare's Caesar says to Antony:

*Let me have men about me that are fat,

Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights.

Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look,

He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.*

Trump certainly has plenty of fat men around him. I just thought it was a coincidence rather than a strategy but maybe he has some well-read people in his security team? Nah, on reflection, I think it's just a coincidence.

I think we have to explore moral questions. I think it immoral to just refuse to think. It is wrong to simply assert 'killing people is wrong' instead of arguing a case. Games, imaginary scenarios, give us laboratories in which to test out our ideas without hurting anyone.

Like you, I am very reluctant to harm any sentient being. But is it always wrong? Example of a thought experiment: you are passenger on an airplane, a terrorist hijacks the plane, says he is going to fly it into a hospital and kill thousands of people. You just came out of the rest room and are behind him, he has not realised you are there, you could jump him but he has a gun, you might have to wrestle for the gun, and he, or you, or a bystander might get killed. What do you do? If you must never kill, then you must not take the risk of killing him, or yourself, or a bystander while you wrestle so you just have to let him fly the plane into the hospital and kill thousands. Or you might argue it is morally better to act, risk killing someone rather than do nothing, and as a result thousands die.

For thousands of years (probably far longer) humans have asked themselves 'what if...?' questions. We did this with stories around the camp fire, with theatre, with novels, with radio, movies, t.v., cartoons, comic books. Now we do it with video games. Speculating and questioning and debating is how we develop moral views. This is how humans do human. This is the way we got to having courts of law to argue cases, democratic institutions to argue over what is best government. Asking a question is not immoral. Refusing to ask questions is - those who do not think for themselves, often have their thinking done for them by others, and that is at best infantalising, a refusal to do adult, and at worst a form of willing slavery. That's my view.

I could see a role for 'elder statesmen and women' as a chamber of cousellors i.e. they offer advice when asked but are not 'hands-on'. Instead, they step down at a retirement age (about 60 years old say) and their juniors step up. That way you get the best from all generations and no generation selfishly dominates decision-making.

You make fair comment. I don't disagree with 99% of what you say. However, I stand by my words about addiction. I agree gaming is potentially a very benign thing and I get a lot of pleasure from gaming but I still want to red flag some aspects of it where addiction does seem to be a factor. Being addicted to gaming has led to health problems for players e.g. repetitive strain injuries or tendonitis - it has adversely affected my health, made my arthritis worse, caused tendonitis so I have had to cut back etc. In extreme cases, addicted gamers have murdered their own babies or been violent to partners because they were distracted by them while playing, lost their temper, and lashed out. And getting players addicted is obviously potentially profitable but making profit from addiction is evil. I say 'responsible gaming' needs to be the uncompromising rule just like with anything else that can be addictive or mood-altering or get under our skins the way a well-made game can.

Isn't that a old Chinese curse? 'May you live in interesting times...' Hold on to your hat!

Good point!

Cheers, thank you for that info. It's good to hear from people with lived experience, real knowledge and experience. Yeah, I use a vpn and suspected it was the problem but even after I turned it off, cleared my browser cache etc, the captcha thing was not working. Bit of a mystery still.

I am not fanatical about stuff. I would consider changing my gaming set up - I like playing on a console so I might try a Steamdeck one day, like when my Switch needs replacing. I like the games I play on my Switch - but they are all ported from other platforms and were developed for them. I find most of the games available for Nintendo Switch, i.e. developed for it, totally uninteresting. Not the sort of thing I would ever want to play so in future I would be looking for a less restricted technology and access to more content. Also, I find the Nintendo shop unuseable. I recently looked for a virtual tennis game because I thought it might help me be more active and I used to enjoy tennis. Could not find a decent option - just cartoonish rubbish like some Mario tennis or Pokemon tennis rip-off. I get the impression Switch games are made to exploit children. That is a big ethical violation in my view. So, yeah, its a complex topic and I am still learning my way around.