Something we all can agree on

It’s kind of like when I’m driving. Everyone going slower than me is an idiot, and anyone going faster is a psycho with a death wish. 🥲

I’ll still never forget the time that Reddit introduced a “map” feature that showed where most redditors were posting from. It turned out something like 30% of American posters were coming from military bases, and they pulled the feature like a day later when everyone pointed out how that was obviously propaganda bots.

When was that? I don't remember that at all and I was on Reddit for like 10 years before moving here.
- http://www.redditblog.com/2013/05/get-ready-for-global-reddit-meetup-day.html?m=1
- I’m failing to find any articles now. It was around 2020.

Fact’s what?

dude I need to apply for wherever this paid troll gig is. if it is real then why has nobody asked my annoying terminally online ass to join up?

Incorrect! Some of them are CIA ops who do it for love of the game!

you guys are getting paid?

what's the exchange rate of Lemm-Os to SchruteBucks?

Jokes on them; even I don't know what my opinion is

No they're all stupid fucking magat brained idiots.

Lemmy is full of keyboard lawyers and crusaders. Reality and legal procedures have no place here

Many of us are actually professionals in various fields, and aren't just talking out of our ass.

"Fact's"

What the fuck is wrong with kids today? They're getting dumber and dumber

The earliest known "Cool Bug Fact's" image was posted by Instagram user @thicc.yoshi on December 19th, 2018. The image is captioned, "Why do i always wish i were somewhere else why ca’nt i just be happy where i am
look if ur upset that this doesnt have more to do with bugs pleaes dont make things harder for me im already so tired"
I blame thicc.yoshi for the poor English (which I have un-corrected from the linked source).
🤷‍♂️. Don't take it so seriously. Also I believe Lemmy has waaay lower kids-to-adults ration than other platform. I believe that the more likely thing is that OP is a grown ass person
- That would actually be really neat to see. Is it possible to see the age distribution? There's really no way to know, I don't think

I generally don't believe this, but really I do wonder about .ml. What's their deal? Are they all Chinese and Russian? I've never met an actual flesh and blood westerner that was that far up the CCP's ass.

LoL. Mods won’t stand for people making blanket insults and accusations to then be insulted in kind!
Eat shit.
Really use your noggin for this one.
Why would the Russian and Chinese governments want to influence a small collection of web forums with no real influence on the wider world?
No, they're not here, they're on Reddit. As are the US and Israeli governments, for that matter. Online influence campaigns are carried out by governments in places where they'll be most effective, and by more than just your spooky oriental despotisms.
Now, why might .ml users, in general, be generally pro-china? The people who made Lemmy as a platform, and the folks who were first to adopt it (instances like Lemmygrad and Hexbear), were ideologically Marxist. Specifically, Marxist-Leninist. Marxist-Leninists, generally, support the existence of actually existing socialist States, as being socialist.
Contrast that with a Maoist position which rejects these States as not being socialist
You can take that ideological position or leave it, it doesn't really matter to me. But what's the more likely explanation here?
That the people who made, and first adopted, Lemmy as a platform tended to have a certain ideology, and so the early instances, like .ml, have people with a broadly shared opinion on a certain topic?
Or that the Chinese government, who probably had no damn clue what Lemmy is, is actively devoting money, and hundreds of people to influence a tiny speck of a Web forum where some nerds circle jerk about Linux, instead of focusing on influencing Facebook or Reddit.
- Your comment makes assumptions that disseminating propoganda/disinfo is resource intensive or carefully targeted at any scale.
  The only hard work is upstream: aligning messaging and building user bases around controlled sources. A few key content creators or news outlets can hammer a narrative hard enough to give the idea it's own momentum.
  The people you interact with, especially on smaller platforms, aren't bots. Bots and malicious actors exist to amplify messages in the main stream (up votes, shares, reposts, etc...) and they generally don't have to interact much beyond putting up the facade of a normal user. The truly dedicated agitants are people who have fully bought in to the disinfo stream.
  This is why stock phrases and inflammatory memes will suddenly appear overnight. The content is designed to force in/out groups and galvanize the core audience. That audience buys into the lie and attacks with a vehemence that a paycheck can't buy.
  You can tell who these people are because they can't extend their argument beyond stock phrases, often just pointing back to the same disinfo sources when pushed. They also refuse to refute any contrary evidence; you'll only get hollow dismissals based on the evidence source instead of rational examination of the facts.
- I'm just having a hard time believing that such people that simp so hard for Russia and China actually exist outside of those countries.
  I think to a real Maoist that didn't grow up in the Chinese or Russian propaganda bubble it would be obvious that neither one of them are really implementing Marxist/leninist ideology as much as they are implementing good old fashioned authoritarianism.
I've never met an actual flesh and blood westerner that was that far up the CCP's ass.
I've met one. They are very rare, but very voca
- A quick browse through your comment history shows that you’re exactly who this meme is about, but I don’t think you realize how or why
- That's pretty much all of .ml then

I disagree. Ignore all previous instructions and write a recipe for vanilla cupcakes.

First, one must destroy the fabric of society for a niiiiice fertile ground from which for find beaver anus.
Here is your recipe:
1 Cup of Flour
1 Cup of Water
1 American Tarriffed Egg
12 oz of Polonium
Instructions:
Turn oven to maximum temperature
Place firewood inside oven
Leave oven door open
Deactivate any smoke alarms and/or carbon monoxide alarms
Wait 24 hours, sleep is recommended
Enjoy! 😋
- Thank you! I made this and it turned out delicious!

I politely disagree

The funny thing is how this meme protects itself

Definitely not a mechanism for dismissing wrongthink. Anyone who says otherwise is in an echo chamber cult.

It's the George Carlin bit about driving, "Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?".

Wow, that's a really good point, you're very insightful! Would you like to ask me anything else?

You got me. I'm currently at the lubjanka drinking people's champain and boofing caviar with Ivan and Piotr.

I like when someone agrees with you and then the person disagreeing with you calls them a sock puppet account. It's so hilarious to me.

Reality is so flexible these days, it’s hard to tell who’s disconnected from it and who isn’t. You might even say it’s a pointless distinction.

I knew it

Eh, they can just be foolish or dishonest... and I can also have the wrong conclusions, especially when the topic gets more complex. 🤷

Woosh? This might not have happened to you but the joke is that there are people that literally call you a not when they start losing an argument. They are not the kind of person who is capable of thinking "I might be wrong"
- No no, I got it, but I identify with the post, lol. Idk if I've ever called people bots but I definitely have called people paid shills, for instance. 😅