He did something wrong. But the vitriolic, puerile response to this whole episode, coming from all directions, confirms his overarching argument beyond any doubt.

The fediverse is a place that harbors a disproportionate number of misanthropes and people who have struggled in their personal lives for a variety of reasons. And I have always hoped that could become a strength of ours, but I have come to realize that an internet forum is not a venue that is conducive to healing broken people. Instead, it seems to amplify their toxicity in the vast majority of cases. Based on the behavior I have observed, which has continued to worsen over the years, this platform will perhaps never succeed in its objectives. It seems that it would require an act of god at this point.

The brief period after the APIcalypse seems like a distant dream now. There are still many fine people here who are doing their best, but the majority of emotionally stable, casual users have steadily, silently abandoned this sinking ship over the years. And it shows. Taking glee in another person’s pain and downfall is not the behavior of a mature, emotionally well adjusted adult. We clearly have precious few of those remaining on this platform. Perhaps that is also the case for our society in general, to be fair.

I’m not the type to quit, but I just can’t find much enjoyment in coming here anymore. Thanks to the open ended format of the network, there will always be hope. But it’s incredibly exhausting to watch users chase away and harass anyone and everyone who plays any sort of productive role in the development and/or administration of the platform. Not only are they doing it for free, but they also have to deal with a peanut gallery of cackling hyenas, just waiting for any opportunity to desecrate their corpse. What a sad state of affairs.