chaosCruiser

LOL. Here, have some Lemmy Silver.

That's exactly the kind of energy I like to see.

Same thing when your boss calls.

[tele tubbies ring tone]

Gulp. The whole office must be on fire and it's all my fault, isn't it.

[answers the phone]

Oh ok. Lunch at 11.30. Sure, no problem. See you there. Bye.

Phew.

Some times you just roll the dice and see what happens. Make a risky comment of the day, pay the price, get back up again and do the same thing next week. Basically, just spread your unpopular opinions in places that weren't designated for it.

I've burned my fingers a few times, but also found some unexpected supporters. Write a teasing remark about a particular group, and you'll find that everyone hates you and you get downvoted to oblivion. Say the same thing in a different place, and all you get is upvotes and comments that go even further than you did. It's a dangerous game for those who like to live dangerously.

Blindly agree with the majority if you want to play it safe. Not a very spicy way to live your life, but I can see the appeal of it.

Yeah, I try to think about the number in a more neutral/positive way, even though my initial emotional reaction could be less helpful. You're absolutely right that those are also opportunities to learn.

That's actually one of the best things about Lemmy, and even Reddit to some extent. Let's say you think you know something about a specific topic (like maps, steam locomotives, pharmacology or whatever), because you read an article about it 5 years ago. You write a short comment based on what you think you know, and then someone with a PhD in underwater basket weaving corrects you, because you didn't get half the details right. That should be taken as an opportunity, but it doesn't always feel like that. Even when the comment is helpful and friendly, I still know I screwed up. It's not a big deal, but my feelings aren't rational about these things.

Let me guess, you throw those light-hearted boomer jokes in political threads. I prefer to avoid places like that, since they bring me no happiness. For me, the web is a place to chill, a balancing force to the dull reality of normal life. Sticking with nicer places makes the web serve my purposes.

Anyway, that's yet another very interesting way to use Lemmy and its inbox. I'm learning so much from people in this thread, so thanks for opening my eyes. If I had kept my mouth shut, expecting everyone to use Lemmy the way I do, I would never have found out.

That visual noise angle is true though. Once the number grows beyond a certain point, it looses all meaning. Might as well disable the red dot entirely, since it serves no purpose any more.

BTW "save for later" is a thing. I use that when I want to get back to something.

That is very interesting. Talking to people about weird things like this shows me that we use the same tools in very different ways. For example, many people prefer to look at the "all" feed and filter it with an ever expanding black list. I do the exact opposite, which is to use a reasonably short white list. Just ignore the "all" feed for the most part, focus more on the "subscribed" feed, and you get what you want.

Now I can see that people don't even use the notification inbox the same way. If there's an alternate way to do things, some people are going to do it that way.

You're approaching it in a more sensible way, and I prefer that style too. It's just that my immediate emotional response to seeing the number is not in line with that sort of thinking. Most of the comments are totally harmless, so why worry so much. Some part of my mind just does irrational things.

Yeah, that's a familiar feeling. One evening, you find interesting things to write about, and the next morning you have a stack of replies from the other side of the world.

That's an interesting strategy. Looks like we are using the inbox in very different ways.

LOL. So, I take it you never mark any of them read. I mean, that's one way to fix the problem, sure.

Emotions and rational thinking don't really see eye to eye. One is like: "OMG! We're all gonna die!" while the other is like "Take it easy. It's not a big deal."

In many cases, you think your emotional response is unique and applies to nobody besides yourself. In reality though, many people feel the same way, but they just don't talk about it.