Has anyone else noticed this, across the fediverse, Lemmy specifically. A lot of new users, but also a lot of first posts that are very inflammatory/rage baity.
Do we have another legit influx of new users? Or do we just have some bad actors trying to stir the pot? Or maybe I’m imagining it.
On the other hand, this is often the case in small communities. Most Lemmy instances are general-purpose or large enough to have a typical mix, but I have been to a few sites which will moderate away any hostility whatsoever, and that does make the site unusable for some personalities. These kind of sites have rules like “No politics. No insults. No drama.” Toxicity isn’t inevitable, there’s nothing forcing community staff to tolerate mean people or mean outbursts, but it does take a mixture of design decisions and careful micromanagement which most communities, and especially most large sites, don’t bother with.
edit: and on the flipside, there are also communities where toxicity is expected and it’s amazing to see someone acting nice there, it might even be done as a trolling method.