Agreed. Though it is not just that one isolated user - the admins of Lemmy.ml are quite well-known themselves for administering their server in bad faith as well. The side-bar just says “A community of privacy and FOSS enthusiasts, run by Lemmy’s developers” (and then a link to “What is Lemmy.ml” that returns an error when I try to click it - btw for you with an account, does it go anywhere? maybe a community that is only visible to those locally with an account? for me it says “There was an error on the server. Try refreshing your browser. If that doesn’t work, come back at a later time. If the problem persists, you can seek help in the Lemmy support community or Lemmy Matrix room.” - but what about when you click it?). And it while people on that instance constantly criticize the USA’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, nonetheless if you whisper a criticism towards the likes of Russia, China, or North Korea, you will be banned even from communities that you have never once visited. That is simply how they do things over there. (further reading, see also so, so very many examples in !yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com or !fediverselore@lemmy.ca or !meanwhileongrad@sh.itjust.works etc.)

Sadly, I am not anywhere close to joking or exaggerating. Also, while they ban people for mentioning that e.g. people died in the Tiananmen Square massacre, they also protect mods who act horribly towards their fellow human being. Here’s an interesting example that you can read it for yourself e.g. at https://hexbear.net/post/3706906/5518427 where after the mod told the poster (over a misunderstanding of an in-game event) that he wanted to kill them, and then even the unremoved comments from the mod doubles down with “nono I don’t want to shoot for pointing that it’s a game, I want to shoot you because…”, and then later tripled down still further, e.g. stating “I hope you die soon.”). To be clear, this post shows up on hexbear.net (for some reason, despite the original having been removed entirely), but the incident occurred on and the mod is from lemmy.ml - those instances are often intertwined, along with lemmygrad.ml.

So you may want to consider switching instances. A further thought: I am having to reply to you from a different instance than my original comment since I have blocked all users from lemmy.ml (although PieFed’s Notifications system is newly implemented and still not fully functional yet, causing me to have to hunt down why I received a Notification for a comment that I could not see:-). You will often face similar prejudice when speaking from that account on that instance - e.g. the apps Sync and Connect can also do such user-blocking of instances, and several instances such as lemmy.cafe and quokk.au and dubvee.org have outright defederated from lemmy.ml entirely. Thus you may sometimes feel like you are speaking into a void and wondering why nobody will respond to you - I am explaining that this may well be a reason why.

I hope that you don’t feel that I am picking on you personally, just trying to share that thought that could help you understand the contentious situation between the “tankie” vs. “liberal” instances on the Fediverse:-). If you wanted an instance that is specifically leftist, slrpnk.net seems awesome? In contrast, lemmy.ml merely pretends to be leftist, while actually advocating solely for formerly communist powers, despite them being currently capitalistic, and definitely authoritarian - e.g. you will see people praising the virtues of North Korea there, but nowhere else on the Fediverse that I have yet seen! Although for me, it’s not even what those users believe, so much as their improper argumentation form about it, e.g. here’s an example from the bad-faith user you mentioned, posted just prior to the USA election, which seems to be an attempt to encourage the BuT bOtH sIdEs EqUaL ThO rhetoric:

And I see this kind of thing so often from users on lemmy.ml, that I just blocked the entire instance - again, I hope you personally don’t feel attacked by this, just sharing my reasoning in case that may be helpful for you.:-)

How did you kn… uh I mean, nuh-uh!

So many nerdy references, it is masterfully crafted with love!

Like when he finishes charging early in the movie, he makes the Macintosh boot-up sound. It’s so easy to miss those kinds of things, but when you notice them, you really appreciate them.

Breaking Bad was like that - like a love letter to the viewers. So very many shows, most even, just don’t give a damn and instead are purely about profit, like Game of Thrones (I hear, never having watched that one), where you can see such things as Starbucks coffee cups or plastic water bottles that break the immersion.

So it makes Wall-E all the more special to have been crafted so extraordinary well.

God made dragons and eldritch monstrosities the likes of which horror shows can only try to emulate.

But yeah I guess dino bones are cool too? :-P

Are we so certain that it is not a toilet paper roll? :-P

Let’s see what is left to cover…

You guys have whole entire inches from the wall to spare?

Indeed, I find that if we don’t take care of ourselves, we become a burden to others and can’t help anyone, so that’s so important to remember (that if we want to help “others”, it has to start with ourselves).

A finger to sit on? How wonderful? 👍

Wait… you guys have bathrooms?!

*I* do not, and if there’s one, then surely there’s more like me? :-P

Moreover, I think it’s impressive that you have dedicated so much of your efforts to improving people’s experiences here on the Fediverse. Even if people disagree with you on some point - which for myself I am aware of nothing but even if there were - that would still be true. You probably don’t get thanked often, so I offer it, and I hope that you will accept.

But also, I hope that you find a way to show kindness to yourself too:-). Our families may have royally fucked us up for life, but we can do different, for ourselves! Or at least, I very much (desperately) hope that can be true.

Thank you for sharing this story.

Since GamerGate was mentioned, here is a link to Innuendo Studios’ analysis called “Why Are You So Angry?”, although I prefer its more broad sequel “The Alt-Right Playbook”.

Though without the kind of linked personal stories, so many people would not be receptive to hearing such analyses, so they both are kinda necessary. :-)

Damnit, physics wins again!

Okay, you now know what your next drawing target should be - get quacking!

Oh man, some written phrases you can just hear!

Naw. It needs jeans. Or beans. Or both.

(None of your images looks like drawings of a duck to me!?!?!?!:-P)

There literally is a !bestoflemmy@lemmy.world :-)

I suspect fowl play!

Surprisingly that advice works?