What brought me here:
When breadtube became a thing around 2016 it was my refuge from the horrible reactionary shitshow the internet was at the time. It opened me to things further left than Obummer. I lurked on Reddits sorry excuses for leftist subs and heard them whisper about the CTH sub as being “bad leftists” but they never explained what was bad about them so I checked for myself and checked out the podcast and was like “They aren’t bad they’re just a bit obnoxious.” I didn’t really hang out on r/CTH, only saw the occasional post, and I listened to the podcast every now and again (and not at all anymore, stopped listening after the 2020 primaries) and that was about it. Then r/CTH was banned, this place was mentioned and I got curious. It felt like I had finally found a place that wasn’t going to demand I be civil towards Nazis. I wasn’t going to be banned for saying “kill all slave owners.” I also thought you guys were really funny. So yeah, Ironally r/CTH made you guys more appealing lmao. It also helped that you retained the “fuck being civil to horrible people” energy while at the same time attempting to make sure marginalised groups weren’t thrown under the bus.

What made me stay:
A community of weirdos that genuinely want to make the world a better place and stand up for their marginalised comrades. Whether it’s the mutual aid comm helping people the best it can, the news comm shining a light on events the world tries to bury, or simply the movie comm providing a safe fun area to chill, I feel like this place provides something other places on the internet don’t. It also is a place I feel like I can ask any questions about leftism and not be called an idiot. You guys taught me things ranging from practical stuff how to take part in my local org, to mundane things how to make a rad bean recipe. I think that’s worth something. Also I still think you guys are hilarious.

EDIT: added some more context because I was reminded of stuff I had forgotten.

  • Angel [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    18·
    4 days ago

    What brought me here: looking for a leftist, queer-friendly alternative to Reddit.

    I first left Reddit due to the API controversy, came back a bit later after I first left, and while using it, I just started feeling even more sour about the other aspects of the site as well. Even Reddit spaces that were supposed to be “good” had a lot of bad in them. For instance, mainstream trans subreddits had heavily-upvoted enbyphobia and transmedicalism slide by on multiple occasions.

    I then began seeking out Reddit alternatives, and Lemmy was at the forefront of them. In trying to figure out what instance I wanted to belong to, I used Blåhaj Zone at first, but I wasn’t digging the vibe tbh. I then looked back at join-lemmy.org and sorted by LGBTQ+ instances once again, and Hexbear caught my attention because of its explicit admission of being a leftist space.

    What makes me stay:

    • Leftist/Queer/ND/etc. solidarity: I’m far more understood here than other spaces
    • Organizing and theory resources: Hexbear has been useful for providing resources about organizing, good theory to read, and other forms of media like videos and leftist music.
    • Making the place less mayo: I want to be a prominent empoc user on Hexbear so that I can sniff out colonial bullshit that the vast sea of cracKKKers on this site might miss. Also, I don’t want any other empoc who come along, are already here, or have been here way before me to feel like they’re alone in not being a honKKKy on Hexbear.
    • To share my interests: Prog metal, vegan cooking, goofy memes, you name it.
    • Mutual aid: I can’t stress enough how much this site has helped me survive and have basic needs met during this very rough time of looking for stable employment as a black androgyne in Florida.