this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2025
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I've been using Lemmy for a while now, and I've noticed something that I was hoping to potentially discuss with the community.

As a leftist myself (communist), I generally enjoy the content and discussions on Lemmy.

However, I've been wondering if we might be facing an issue with ideological diversity.

From my observations:

  1. Most Lemmy Instances, news articles, posts, comments, etc. seem to come from a distinctly leftist perspective.
  2. There appears to be a lack of "centrist", non-political, or right-wing voices (and I don't mean extreme MAGA-type views, but rather more moderate conservative positions).
  3. Discussions often feel like they're happening within an ideological bubble.

My questions to the community are:

  • Have others noticed this trend?
  • Do you think Lemmy is at risk of becoming an echo chamber for leftist views, a sort of Truth Social, Parler, Gab, etc., esque platform, but for Leftists?
  • Is this a problem we should be concerned about, or is it a natural result of Lemmy's community-driven nature?
  • How might we encourage more diverse political perspectives while still maintaining a respectful and inclusive environment?
  • What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of having a more politically diverse user base on Lemmy?

As much as I align with many of the views expressed here, I wonder if we're missing out on valuable dialogue and perspective by not having a more diverse range of political opinions represented.

I'm genuinely curious to hear your thoughts on this.

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 days ago (4 children)

There appears to be a lack of "centrist", non-political, or right-wing voices (and I don't mean extreme MAGA-type views, but rather more moderate conservative positions).

TBF, they don't exist.

They're might be some that on appearance hold reasonable views that are considered centrist /moderate conservative but if their privilege is questioned or their fragile egos get scuffed, they always and invariably go full on far right.

Their moderate views are just a veneer that are held to appear as such and never stand up to pressure.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (37 children)

like bluesky is rightist , lemmy may be leftist . it also depends on the server , left has blocked right and vice versa . try to find a right one

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I’m kind of surprised to see a post like this here, reference most of the many comments. In my experience online discussion trends towards radicalism and it’s not an ideal forum (ha) for reasonable political discussions; for example it’s very simple to demonize something, and with minimal penalty. One thing I can tell you is that there’s plenty of extremism here, and my feed is even spec’d towards memes and to avoid politics. The concentration is aggressive enough that these other perspectives you’re looking for are quickly savaged and oftentimes only expressed by people who aren’t smart in picking their fights and it shows in their viewpoints too. No idea how one would address that, like I said I think online forums are probably not the right tool for this sort of thing. Idk man, I just want my memes and hobby info without watching people seethe about American politics and wish for the murder of rich people in almost every community, political or not

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I think a lot of the responses you're getting (and their upvotes) are pretty good reflections of the problem you're addressing.

I imagine the user base is a bit more diverse than the comments etc let on. It is just exhausting to even try to explain a conservative perspective viewpoint t here so I think a lot of folks just keep their heads down on anything political.

While a lot of folks have zero interest in venturing outside of their ideological comfort zones, I wonder if there sre enough of us that we could make some /community work. There were a few on reddit that were private or super tightly moderated that were pretty interesting for stuff like that...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm not sure if there are any socially rightwing people in Lemmy (they would have to be very accepting of things they hate to remain) but there are definitely moderates in the economic stance

Even then, it's only 10% v. 90% from what I've seen, most are fully against private establishments within generally government ran departments

Even if someone did it, it would take a lot of people to move there and for what? I definitely wouldn't go, and I don't really care my opinions about the economy is hated

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

I'm saying moderates instead of rightwing because fuck you if you want vital government departments privatised (health, electric grid, rail, education, news)

[–] [email protected] -5 points 3 days ago

This guy clearly hates lgbtq

Rheee🤡

[–] [email protected] -3 points 3 days ago (7 children)

Reading this thread, i think lemmy has a real problem. There sre a few comments that appear centrist or left-leaning, but the majority of comments are extremely left.

I'm not asking for neo-nazis or far right, just more centrist opinions like in this thread

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