I joined lemmy after reddit API changes, as many people did. At first, it was amazing. The community felt so alive, so friendly and welcoming. Obviously, the activity wasn't exactly as large as it was on reddit, but I was patient, I knew more stuff was coming, and I was excited for it.
Unfortunately, this period would not last long. It would not last even a week until I got into my first argument with a tankie. I saw them and argued with them from time to time on reddit, but people there usually saw right through the bullshit and downvoted them to oblivion.
Here, it was so much different. They were all upvoted and supported by hordes more tankies. Constant genocide denial in China, support for Ruzzia, and somehow, for North Korea.
In retrospect, I should have left then, abandoned lemmy then and there, not really return to reddit, just leave both alone. I would have saved myself some sanity.
But I didn't, which I regret. I wasted my time here, constantly seeing this bullshit, and sometimes, I didn't even have the motivation or energy to argue with them.
The amount of genocide denial, dictatorship praising, and insane arguments I've seen in a month blew past the amount of this shit I've seen on reddit in a fucking decade.
I don't see the future in this, none whatsoever. Lemmy will be here, but it will always stay a tankie hellhole unless you block thousands of people and whole instances. And if you do, the tankies will always just migrate to other instances to keep spreading hate.
You guys are awesome. Keep doing what you are doing, but I am tired of this bullshit and I am done.
It's nice here on instances which have both Grad and Hexbear blocked. I remember the early days on .world, when Grad was still federated. Those were some high-intensity dipshits.
Anyway, you do what you need to for your mental health, my guy/gal/nonbinary pal. If ever you change your mind, most of us brainrotted terminally online types will still be here when you come back - and hopefully will have continued to marginalize the tankie fuckwads.
Really? I've noticed a decline in tankies, at least in the long-term. I remember when World News and Political Memes still had significant tankie contingents. Like, 1/5 comments/votes were tankies. Now it's more like 1/10. There are just a handful of prolific tankie or tankie-adjacent posters which linger, like a fart in an elevator.
But I often posts memes that get from a couple hundred to a thousand upvotes, and every time, atleast 15%-20% of my notifications are crazy tankie takes.