this post was submitted on 25 May 2025
29 points (73.8% liked)
Ask
621 readers
81 users here now
Rules
- Be nice
- Posts must be legitimate questions (no rage bait or sea lioning)
- No spam
- NSFW allowed if tagged
- No politics
- For support questions, please go to [email protected]
founded 2 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Reading comprehension isn't great which can often cause misunderstandings that lead to downvotes.
That's expected: we have a lesser percentage of native English-speakers here(compared to Reddit, for example) so formulations might not be easy to understand.
I've had native English speakers downvote me and/or argue with me because they either didn't read or didn't understand something. Nothing amuses me more than watching people act like I'm the Devil because they didn't bother to read what they're replying to; not understanding, in short, that I fully agree with their points (though I obviously still think they're idiots).
Yes, but that is a universal argument applicable to any platform. I was speaking about something more Lemmy-specific.
I honestly haven't seen any difference between "people unable to read basic English" on predominantly anglophone sites and mixed anglophone/other sites. People don't read and react to what they want you to have said. Indeed I'd go a step farther and say that the non-anglophones are probably more careful in their reactions because they know they're going to miss things.
I think the main reason is that very few people are actually interested in hearing views that seem to challenge their preconceived notions - even if what’s being said doesn’t actually contradict them. People are constantly on the hunt for “the other,” and the bar for labeling someone as the enemy based on a few wrong-sounding noises is extremely low here. The capacity to give anyone the benefit of the doubt is almost nonexistent.
It’s a team sport, and when they suspect someone’s not on their team, the instinct is to tear them apart. Most people aren’t interested in changing minds - let alone being open to having their own mind changed. They just want to sling dirt and rack up upvotes from the audience.
Adding to that, people will outright make up things you didn't say or imply and attack that strawman. Then others come along and pile on.