The instance seems to be mostly right wing trolls. I know defederating is unpopular but I don't think much is to be lost in this case and it can save the mods some headaches.
Edit: the response on exploding-heads.com to my reporting of transphobia. Courtesy of the "second in command"
Sometimes people just don't wanna see slurs or dehumanizing content. Doesn't make them soft. Something you see that is "an opinion you dislike" might feel a whole lot worse for someone else depending on their age, race, sexuality, gender, ect.
How do those people function in real life where they don't have such a pre-filter?
By just dealing with it. Doesn't make it less shitty though.
I think the world would be a better place if everybody grew thicker skin.
While that may be true to an extent, it's also reasonable to want a place where you can let your guard down.
Perhaps that place should be a locked down instance like beehaw, not the public fediverse.
Surely there's a middle ground between "defederating hundreds of instances" and "defederating practically none".
I vote "practically none". If the admin stance on this changes, I'm outta here.
That's fair. And you'll also have to deal with more bullshit for seeking out that kind of community but it might be a worthwhile tradeoff for you.
In the end, most likely I'll just be forced to run my own instance.
You'd definitely have the ultimate control in that circumstance. Plus if you wanna get into web hosting and programming type of stuff it could be a good project.
I'm a software developer with 15 years exp, but thanks for the suggestion ;)
Well then it's definitely be a lot easier for you than me lol. I'd run my own instance too but I've only learned a tiny bit of C and python. I have a general idea of some software development paradigms but haven't actually studied them very much.
In real life, you can filter by not hanging out with people who speak abusively about and to you. You can walk away. And yeah, sometimes those abusive people follow you. So a lot of them seek online support communities as a retreat from the abuse. Saying "they should just toughen up" misses on what their daily life is like, and that no one wants to be subject to constant unending abuse
Can we agree that the public fediverse should not be a curated safe space where ideas not supported by your political leaders are suppressed but instead just moderated for personal insults and harassment and such?
The Fediverse, and what you see in it, should be what you want it to be. That's what the prevailing design decisions of the Fediverse have always been. You want more exposure to more of the Fediverse than I do. That's great. You should have that. I want a more curated experience where I don't have to deal with what I consider bigoted or abusive behavior. I should also have that. It's why instance choice matters. If you don't like how an instance federates, you are free to pick another instance or self-host. For me, what works is two accounts. One that sees more, and one that's more curated. That's been a pattern of use on the Fediverse for a long time
I don't think you should be expecting any curation if you're looking at the All tab.
So far this instance alignes with my values. If this changes I will leave.
Most people who share their hateful opinions on the internet only do it because they're anonymous and wouldn't dare show their real selves in the real world.
The filter in real life is called avoiding shitty people.