Let me preface by saying, I would love to hear counter points and am fully open to the fact that I could be wrong and totally out of touch. I just want to have some dialogue around something thatās been bothering me in the fediverse.
More and more often I keep hearing people refer to ānormiesā. I think by referring to other people as ānormiesā, whether you intend to or not, you inadvertently gatekeep and create an exclusive environment rather than an inclusive one in the fediverse.
If I was not that familiar with the fediverse and decided to check it out and the first thing I read was a comment about ānormiesā, I would quite honestly be very put off. It totally has a negative connotation and doesnāt even encapsulate any one group. I just read a comment about someone grouping a racist uncle and funny friend into the same category of normie because they arenāt up to date on the fediverse or super tech savvy or whatever.
I donāt want to see any Meta bs in the fediverse. I barely want to see half of the stuff from Reddit in the fediverse. I donāt want to see the same echo chamber I do everywhere else.
I do want to see more users and more perspectives and a larger user base though. I want to see kindness and compassion. I want to talk to people about topics they are interested in. I want to have relevant discussions without it dissolving into some commentary on some unrelated hot topic thing.
I think calling people normies creates a more toxic, exclusive place which I personally came here to avoid.
Just my two cents! I know for most people using the term it isnāt meant to be malicious, but I think it comes off that way.
Love to hear all of your thoughts.
Orā¦
āNormieā shows a hint of self awareness that the people on this platform arenāt representative of the general public. Weāre a bunch of tech weirdos.
Weāre the āabnormiesā.
Pretending there isnāt any condescension toward the ānormiesā when using the term is blatantly exhibiting the exact behavior the OP referenced. Itās not how inclusivity works in a community at all. It alienates anyone that isnāt already a part of it.
Why? Because I donāt expect a person whoās not entrenched in a specific hobby to understand the ins-and-outs of that hobby?
Itās not condescension. Itās setting reasonable expectations.
I guess thatās something I didnāt consider. I kind of feel like that is still creating an us vs them mentality thoughā¦
But thatās pretty much what a group of people is? The people who are inside the group and those that are outside. What is the problem with this?
I mean not get too far down that rabbit hole, but I would argue that we are all human beings first and we all belong to many different groups, not just one.
And I think youāre missing my point.
of course can groups overlap, and we are all humans but that doesnāt mean that group dynamics are a bad thing?
These arenāt actual group dynamics. In any way. Exclusion and āus vs themā is not a positive group dynamic. Do not promote it.
So youāre saying there are people who DO use ānormiesā and people that DONāT use ānormiesā. These are not two groups of people. Shit, I just joined this thread, so that makes ME one of YOU, and thereās OTHERS that arenāt here. Are WE the elitists? Or are THEY the ānormiesā? YOU said thereās no thereās no US or THEM, so EVERYONE is talking in this thread. ANYONE not in this thread must not exist because I know I exist, so YOU thread posters must exist, but wait, that makes ME an US and YOU a THEM.
(Iām not trying to be snarky, but this argument is exactly as nonsensical.)
You missed to very key letters here. Hereās the original statement with the two key letters highlighted:
Nobody that Iāve seen here has said that there is no āinā or āoutā vis a vis the group. The objection is over those two key letters.