Has anyone else noticed how prevalent Hexbear posters have suddenly become? Maybe sometime last week I noticed nearly every political post had at least one long thread of Hexbear users that do nothing but repeat CCP talking points while waving anyway anything even remotely reliable as Western propaganda. That or getting all excited about trolled libs. The way they tell it, you'd think everything from DW, to Fox, to Propublica, to straight up AP News articles, are all written by the same people.
Not to mention, their info on the Fediverse observer is either straight up wrong or there's some serious botting going on. According to that, the instance is less than a month old, yet somehow they already have one of the largest, most active userbases, along with far and away the most comments of any instance.
Seems to me like Lemmygrad on steroids. Considering we defederated from them, seems like a no-brainer to block Hexbear as well.
So glad this thread could become such a perfect microcosm of why we need to defederate.
Because honestly very very few online communities are like this one. This community has given each other hours and hours of entertainment, support, and knowledge far beyond anything I've seen before.
I've been here for three years and I've seen people get jobs because of training resources and answers provided by other users. People who were 'leftish' but didn't have library or academic access who were given links to free courses, books, and basically a whole leftist education they couldn't have gotten otherwise. People have started reading groups for learning more and discussion. Gaming and movie watching groups for people who are isolated or just want to hang out digitally with comrades.
People have helped organise for various good causes and trans comrades have been given advice and help to find the medical supplies they need when living in places it would otherwise be impossible. The mutual aid that's happened here has gotten people off the streets, helped unhoused people, paid for meals people otherwise would have had to skip, and kept people's electricity on until payday.
I'm lucky enough not to have needed any of those things, but someone still sent me codes for a couple of video games I was curious about just because I mentioned I was stressed out one month and looking for something new to play. I could have bought them myself, but was a lovely gesture so I thanked them and threw the same amount I would have spent towards mutual aid.
Yeah, there's a whole lot of shit posting, some struggle sessions, and occasional assholery too. But there's a reason so many people are so active here on Hexbear. It's special.
So talk shit, defederate, or maybe approach in good faith without your presumptions. Whatever you choose, we'll be just fine.