this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2024
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Comradeship // Freechat

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I am looking to join some leftist Discords but unfortunately some of them seem to be controlled opposition (example being Workers' Alliance).

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[–] multitotal@lemmygrad.ml 33 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Don't use Discord. They forward all chats to the FBI and the software is proprietary.

[–] RedWizard@lemmygrad.ml 23 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, I wouldn't touch discord with a 10ft pole in regard to “leftist politics”. Seek something like matrix. I know there is a GenZedong matrix channel somewhere, but it doesn't get a lot of traffic.

[–] GrainEater@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

the GZD Matrix space (link in the instance sidebar) is actually fairly lively these days

[–] RedWizard@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 8 months ago

Definitely +1 for the GZD Matrix Space. Though, every time I think I understand Matrix, I feel like I don't haha.

[–] kig_v2@lemmygrad.ml -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I got banned from a GZD Discord for "talking back" to a mod 😅 I was polite asf mind you. Fucking megalomaniacs.

[–] thefreepenguinalt@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] kig_v2@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 8 months ago

Huh? Who?

I can see a couple downvotes so I might have upset someone, so for some context:

The mod was a she/her with an anime girl pfp. My name on there was KiG V2, I'm that everywhere. I genuinely can't remember the nature of what got me banned, I think it was, like, I said something contentious, I was having a civil discussion with a few others, the mod stepped in with a very different tone and was like "you're wrong shut up," I just talked to them like anybody else just tried to very plainly and politely speak my piece, I guess this was intolerable because I was immediately permabanned.

I messaged two separate people from the incident, they assured me that I did nothing wrong and that her behavior was regularly a petty "my way or the highway" type deal, that it was less about me breaking a rule and more about me insulting her personally for not being immediately defferent. Which is, in my experience, pretty typical Discord mod behavior (no hate if any of the mods etc here are also mods on Discord, I like all the mods here everybody strikes me as reasonable, not power tripping brats like that one).

I don't know, it happened, like, a year ago I think.

[–] kig_v2@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Is there realistically anywhere that doesn't?

[–] GrainEater@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

there are several E2EE messaging protocols with dozens of open-source clients each, e.g. XMPP and Matrix

[–] kig_v2@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 8 months ago

I keep seeing people mention Matrix, maybe I'll give it a shot!

[–] darkcalling@lemmygrad.ml 24 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Don't use discord. In addition to all logs being forwarded to the FBI, the NSA, and probably British and European intelligence agencies, discords are frequent spaces for intrigue and drama. I've seen it spill onto reddit from otherwise, at the outside, normal, well-adjusted seeming groups multiple times.

But what do you expect from something used primarily by gamers and kids? Kids who may not be serious about Marxism and become ultras or outright anti-communists or just be deeply unseriuous like those channer leftypol types.

Discord is meant for FOMO group chats. It's not meant for intelligent discussions, that's what forums are for and lemmy is a forum-like place. It's meant for memeing, for forming secret access channels that the 17 year old owners (or 26 year old owners who act like 17 year olds and certainly the appreciation and admiration of teenagers) can create and hand out access to those whose memes they like and who make them laugh and who are yes-persons and then those people are given mod powers and abuse them for personal vendettas and disputes and go on power trips. There was that severely mentally ill and dangerous woman in one who would find lonely people, talk to them in discord, private message them, get them in her claws, make them cut themselves and declare her their owner/goddess whatever and abuse the shit out of them and use them to manipulate others and servers. And I'm not talking about general discord, she was in left-ish spaces discords and probably still is as she got something from hurting and controlling and abusing people. Anyways she had several server owners in her sway under her thumb and a number of mods. Basically cult leader.

Discord is the height of evil on the web. If reddit killed forums, then Discord aims to kill all open, easily searchable discussion online by siloing it in ten million different partially feuding little silos run by one million different power tripping weirdos. Knowledge that can't be found via search engines. It's basically a way to kill info on the web. It's useful for raid night with your world of warcraft guild and coordinating virtual D&D and tabletop but not for serious discussion.

[–] lil_tank@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 8 months ago

Discord is only a good replacement for Teamspeak. I can't stand how nowadays a lot of community projects like open source development is managed via Discord rather than forums. Using a chatroom instead of a forum for things like assistance is absolutely idiotic, since nobody can find the already answered questions so you end up with experienced members answering the same exact thing 10 times a day.

[–] kig_v2@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Damn...is people acting culty and convincing each other to self harm really that common? I know a girl in a Discord just like that, and I met someone close to me in a Discord that was full of people exactly like that, two separate instances. And yeah, both Left-ish. This is fucking nuts.

[–] Lorraine@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It seems to happen in specific communities. On a large scale, perhaps it doesn't seem like a large number. I only know that a few fashion/aesthetic/disordered communities overlap with these self-harming ones, so it is a notable thing within those specific groups (?) Like, maybe you won't find them in regular anime groups but more niche ones

[–] darkcalling@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

From what I heard this was an individual (perhaps untreated ASPD would be my guess but I'm in no position to diagnose and not qualified anyways) who gains something out of controlling, dominating, abusing, and hurting other people. What I would describe as someone with severe dark traits in their psychology who seems to have some significant grasp of psychology and the propensity to weaponize that. This is the type of a person who spends months grooming their victims, insinuating themselves into their lives, building dependency, etc.

It wasn't so much from what I recall just wanting people to get into cutting it was more "cut yourself to show you love me enough" or "carve my name into your skin to show your devotion" type stuff.

My point was this person was quite at home like a fish in water in discord, it was a nice hunting ground for them and they were able to gain power and insulate themselves.

[–] PoY@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 8 months ago

I’ve seen it spill onto reddit from otherwise, at the outside, normal, well-adjusted seeming groups

that word... seeming... is the only thing that makes this sentence make sense

[–] olgas_husband@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 8 months ago

if privacy isn't a issue to you like the other comrades pointed out, u can check out Soberana discord server, they are a brazillian collective of marxists content creators, they have this server so people can join to discuss theory or just pal around, there is a channel for english speakers

https://discord.com/invite/soberana

[–] Nimux2@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 8 months ago

Prolewiki has a server, but I couldn't get a direct invite link.

I also know Socialist Roaders, formerly known as GenZedong.

[–] Weyland@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 8 months ago

Couldn't tell you. Got banned during the first months of COVID from a dozen of them.

I've learned you can quote Chinese post-Mao socialist theory as long as you don't accredit the source.

Going on Discord to ask recommendations past beginner reading lists and memes is probably just a waste of time. Sadly there are few orgs who are better.

[–] thefreepenguinalt@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 8 months ago
[–] Eastgermankitty@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 8 months ago
[–] 201dberg@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 8 months ago

The only leftist one I am on that isn't run by some crazies is the official Deprogram server because I donate to their podcast patreon.