Comment

Comment on Hexbear federation megathread

mxl@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

Unrelated, but honest doubt… because I know nothing about Hexbear and I’m very confused trying to tie the “for the lulz”/trolling behaviour, communism/leftism and Kremlin propaganda together. The modus operandi seems that of bigots/racists/fascists all over the internet which might relate to Kremlin propaganda, but I’m having a hard time figuring out where communism/leftism fits in here. Is Hexbear a former left-wing “forum” now taken over by fascist trolls? If someone might care to explain I’d appreciate it.

source

Sort:hotnew top

DoiDoi@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
it originated as a shit posting site after reddit banned the chapotraphouse subreddit, but it’s become its own thing over the past few years. Primarily it’s a left unity space - communists, anarchists, etc all welcome with no tolerance for sectarianism. Still a lot of shitposting, but also in depth discussions about news and books. It is 100% not full of trolls or fascists, I think a lot of liberals who have never heard from communists in any meaningful numbers are just very confused on their first encounter with us

source
- Catradora_Stalinism@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  
  no tolerance for sectarianism.
  
  slight tolerance for certain sectarianism, some ideologies are just useless
  
  like pol pot supporters
  
  source
- Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  It doesn’t help that some right wing critiques of liberals/Democrats are shared by leftists, but that’s not because they have the same end goal.
  
  source
- kree@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  This is a an amusing notion, considering that the “communism”, like all political ideologies, is sectarian and quasi-religious in nature.
  
  source
  - DoiDoi@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Anti-sectarianism as in no hostile ML vs anarchist debate club style shit, and no derogatory names for other leftist tendencies. The hostilities will definitely fly towards pro-capitalist views though.
    
    source
Shinji_Ikari@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
As a committed hexbear poster, I want to share something sorta quick that might give insight into the chapo rules for posting.

The culture generally arose from having a home-team advantage on the old sub. Where typically across reddit, Liberals and Conservatives would argue in bad faith with leftists, return to propaganda as proof, and generally ignore history and call it “whataboutism”.

The culture that came from the home-team advantage was a mix of well cited arguments and a ruthless trolling component. It’s a relentless form of arguing, where many people can get together and reverse the general consensus.

So when some far right person came in and thought they were being witty with some canned racist/sexist/homophobic remark, we would simply bully them, Tell them to post hog, etc. Same thing with Liberals depending on the comment. Good faith comments are typically met with a thoughtful response. Nowhere else on reddit could you have the level of backup to drown out the fascist elements on that site.

This culture is a shock to a lot of people but I assure you we’re very nice people and I think some of us are just a little too excited to dunk again.

I hope this helps a bit. We’re all extremely anti-fascist. We do have critical support for previous socialist endeavors, because the horrors of capitalism and it’s bedfellow, fascism, have still more than outdone the harm socialist projects caused.

source
- livus@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I'm not from this instance, just reading along to learn, but this troubles me:
  
  I think some of us are just a little too excited to dunk again.
  
  I get the whole genesis of "home-team advantage" you described, but finding excitement in going into other spaces to ridicule and troll people sounds like, well, an enthusiasm for bullying.
  
  And I've noticed that when people who derive benefit (or dopamine) from aggression are baulked of their righteous prey, sometimes they will go after the next best/closest thing.
  
  source
usa_suxxx@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
HexBear is a leftist form but the HexBear philosophy has always been to fight fire with fire. This works incredibly well against Right Wing Posters since everyone know they are being assholes. This doesn’t work with Liberals since Liberals don’t think of themselves being rude. The idea that HexBears are preaching Kremlin ideas, ideology or any of those ideas is incredibly offensive. It is pretty much saying, you can’t think for yourself. HexBear is capable of having respectful conversations but it really requires growth from both sides. HexBear needs to practice greater patience and Liberal posters really need to think about the implicit meaning of their words.

source
- PatFussy@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Thanks usa_suxxx im sure you are definitely not radicalized in some way that favors Kremlin type ideology. I dont need you to brigade our instance to tell us that we arent open minded enough.
  
  source
  - Mindfury@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    the absolute fucking irony of this reply and the post you were replying to
    
    i mean this in full sincerity: did you even read what you replied to?
    
    source
    PatFussy@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    What? I fail to see where there is any irony… i dont like the propoganda that you guys espouse. I dont need growth in Kremlinesque direction any more than you need growth in learning about why I would care. You guys act like bots
    
    source
  - ThereRisesARedStar@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    There are plenty of valid reasons to hate the US, ask indigenous people, black people, victims of US wars of aggression and embargo.
    
    To accuse every one of those people who dislike the US of being a Kremlin agent really shows a lack of awareness about the US.
    
    source
  - Catradora_Stalinism@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Okay but hating the US favors the collective good of humanity
    
    source
very_poggers_gay@hexbear.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Hi, I’ll try and share my 2 cents here bear-chill

Is Hexbear a former left-wing “forum” now taken over by fascist trolls?

Big no. Hexbear is made up of a diverse group of people whose political views generally fall under one or more of the big umbrellas of “communism” or “socialism”. Users on hexbear also hold and exchange a wide range of views about the USSR and Russia. Despite the range of views on some issues, we are explicitly anti-capitalist and anti-fascist (and generally speaking, we use these terms mindfully; i.e., we don’t call everything we don’t like _______), and we love our trans comrades.

In OP’s post and in your reply, I can’t help but focus on the term “kremlin propaganda”. I’m not the most well-read person ever, so I have trouble understanding what they mean by the term. Whether the “Kremlin” is in reference to the USSR of old or today’s Russia is unclear - and I think that is a worthwhile distinction. Also, many hexbear users have been accused of spreading “propaganda” when posting anything remotely political, especially if it counters the prevailing narratives of the US, NATO, etc. Hopefully a more knowledgeable user can provide some clarity on what is (and isn’t) “kremlin propaganda”?

source