I get you, but this is how people are today - and the internet feeds it. We get a lot more positive feedback from negativity these days and the internet brings more people together which means there’s more chance for a spontaneous negativoty circlejerk. And honestly, it’s harder to be positive against the grain in such a situation than it is to join the circlejerk.

This behavior has nothing to do with Lemmy or Reddit or Mastodon or Twitter or whatever platform. Yes, each has a “culture” but those cultures are easily changed as more people join. And that’s the problem with Lemmy. What you remember is a smaller community with enthusiasm for a new platform. Over time, as Lemmy gets more people and the “newness” dies down, negativity will surface. The only difference between Lemmy and Reddit is the management and federation, the people are always going to be the same.

The only thing we can do is be the change we want. Create your own positive posts. Interject negative circlejerks with positivity. Run against the grain. What you’ll find is that, whilr you’ll get hate, people will come out of the wordwork to join in your positivity - but only once someone else does it first. Misery does love company, by positivity is infectious and sometimes needs a patient zero.

Think about your contributions to this goal. You saw a lack of positivity and your immediate response was to complain about it with this post. You’re feeding the thing you hate with this very post. If, instead, you had posted something positive, then you’d be woking towards a more positive Lemmy. But instead, this post is pulling it down and forcing everyone to wallow in the very negativity you think is destroying Lemmy.

Now, of course you did it because it’s a much easier way to force a conversation. You see a problem, you want to talk about the problem. But that’s exactly why you see more negativity. It’s way easier to see and react to the negative than to react with positivity. And that’s why no matter what platform you’re on, you’re always going to have this issue.

The best anti-war stories are those that are set during peacetime, because they show the alternative, rather than glorifying the violence of war. At the same time, you cannot fight negativity with negativity.

If you want Lemmy to be a more positive environment, you’ll need to add some positivity of your own. But I promise you, your investment will pay dividends. People will come out of the woodwork to join in whatever positive message you put out. Sure, you’ll have haters, but others will defend you. You just have to start the ball running.