Exploding-heads.com is another instance on Lemmy where alt-right MAGA types tend to reside. Some people on this server want us to defederate from them immediately, some people want to save defederation as a last resort. They have 104 active users (more stats below).

It seems that exploding-heads has also experienced a recent botswarm invasion. This is obviously another point in favor of defederating them, assuming you are worried about botswarms, which is currently being discussed here.

My advice to you all is please try to discuss this in a civil manner, we need not allow them to create divisive conflict inside our communities. No matter how the vote turns out, you’re not going to be able to defederate from your fellow sh.itheads so be nice.

I’ve linked many of the previous discussions below so people who are out of the loop can get a general sense of the situation.

https://sh.itjust.works/post/216888 https://sh.itjust.works/post/225714 https://sh.itjust.works/post/281126 https://sh.itjust.works/post/410325

Lemmy.world just recently defederated them.

https://lemmy.world/post/747912

https://lemmy.world/post/577526

Although this could be considered a point in favor of defederation, it actually means even if we vote to remain federated, people have a great alternative in lemmy.world where they can still participate in our communities and simultaneously be protected from exploding-heads.

Ensuring diversity of servers is beneficial to the platform as a whole, but it is also not our responsibility to bear that burden.

TLDR, just wrap up any last points in this thread before we open the vote tomorrow. Please be civil.

EDIT: To clarify, this isn’t the official vote, this is the final discussion. The vote thread will be posted tomorrow and you will only be allowed to make a single comment saying Aye or Nay.

EDIT2: Vote thread is up, this thread is now locked. Very lively discussion thread sh.itheads. Please try to be more respectful next time.

  • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.worksOPM
    151·
    1 year ago

    I’d feel much differently if there’d been any kind of explanation of why the first vote on agora was just summarily ignored despite the topic cropping up multiple times per day before and since, but aside from “we need some time to think” buried into comments, I’m not aware of anything.

    https://sh.itjust.works/post/216888

    Do you mean this post? This is not a functional democratic process. The OP himself describes it as a shitshow. If we had simply defederated them based on that, I’d have everyone else at my throat for allowing a sham of a democracy.

    This, right now, is a democratic process. I linked all of the other threads, the people have access to all of the information they need to decide on their vote. We are currently having an informative discussion.

    I think this is working, don’t be so pessimistic. Lemmy is going to be different.

    • socialjusticewizard@sh.itjust.works
      61·
      1 year ago

      First, I want to make it clear I’m not specifically talking about you personally, though I’m sure you’re included in the group I’m talking about. I understand there’s a lot of administration involved… That is one reason a big instance isn’t a great idea, it takes much more work to do anything or make any significant changes.

      I was pretty active on this instance and I have no idea who manages what. All I know is agora opened, we had a vote, and then we had a long period of people asking what’s up and not being given any answers. Something like “we’d like to get a better voting system in place first” would have gone a long way.

    • CodeInvasion@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      1 year ago

      It probably doesn’t get said very much because it appears to be the status quo for how you run this instance, but I, and I’m sure many others, greatly appreciate the measured response you are taking, and have taken in the past.

      It’s understandable that some people want more rapid responses to things, but defederation is a big decision, and should be made with great care. It’s obvious you care about curating a positive, engaged community, and you also recognize where your own biases may be impacting your decision-making, so you seek further consult. These are the hallmarks of a great leader, and I hope you continue to carry them with you.

      What you do is a thankless job, and it takes a strong person to carry on through the critics to parse important feedback. I hope you don’t take criticisms like the above too personally–not everybody is going to like your decisions.

    • haxe11@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      11·
      1 year ago

      The voting process was young. It probably wasn’t great. It might have even been a “shitshow.” But it was still good enough to agree on defederating a malicious instance.