The question isn't if you're useful to Lemmy or not. We don't deserve to exert any weight on your heart with opinions and upvotes.

Are you doing something you think is worth your time, with or without external validation? Is this something you would do if you thought it was basically the internet version of putting messages in a bottle?

When you are old and on your death bed, what will the value of your reddit karma be? What is the value of it now?

Do things that matter to you. Do things that help you grow and be a better person.

Do you enjoy posting? That's all that really matters in the end. Karma is pointless.

Controversy can actually be good, as long as you're not saying stuff simply to provoke it for its own sake. If I wanted to only speak to something that agreed with everything I said I could just go tell an AI to act that way and waste my time there. Should communities be insular bubbles where everyone believes the exact same things?

Ask not if you are useful to Lemmy. Ask if Lemmy is useful to you.

I don't see most of your posts in the wild but the one I did was good. Glancing at your profile, you post quality which is just going to get a different kind if engagement than what we're used to on reddit

Stand tall, king. Numbers just scale a little different here and things move slow. You'll notice your posts will continue to get engagement for a long time after a reddit post would normally die down too.

I’ve been posting a lot lately But I seem like I’m controversial no matter what I post. I came from Reddit with over 2 million karma trying the API controversy.

Forget about karma and algorithm: votes don't mean much around here.

What's not different from reddit, as already mentioned, is that some people only seem to enoiy acting like jerks. The right answer to that is to 1) ignore them 2) to block them. They will still be able to (meaninglessly) vote but they won’t get a chance to annoy you directly anymore.

Should I keep posting or give up on Lemmy?

Should you keep on posting?

The Fediverse (lemmy being a small part of it, I'm from Piefed another and even smaller part of it) severely lacks active users so, from the Fediverse’s perspective the answer is obviously: yes, you should!

But one should never do something only because they think or because ethey’re being told they should do it. Even posting content on a forum. So, if you don't enjoy doing it, it's probably not worth your time.

I do participate as regularly as I can because I think most of the discussions are enriching and done with a correct mindset. I would stop participating if that was not the case. Like I quit using reddit the day I realized I could not agree with their latest policy changes (that was a couple years ago).

So, do you enjoy participating? If so, by all means keep on doing it as I have no doubt other people do appreciate your contributions too.

Every person that logs in and interacts in good faith in some way is useful to Lemmy.

Judging by your recent post history, it looks like you’re doing a good job at attracting positive engagement. Many upvotes and comments on your posts. Of course, with that you also attract some negative engagement, but that’s inevitable when posting about politics.

You’re useful.

Don’t stress about it. I think reddit gives people an unhealthy mindset about how internet forums are.

Don't feel like you need to be useful, but thanks for contributing.

Seems like a bit of a "pickme" post. You do you, don't worry about your 2 million updoots on reddit.

What you should do is stop caring about "karma", it has no value (even more so here, it's not even a thing). Don't do things to get likes, do them because you like doing them and/or think they can help others.

I haven't heard of any controversy, but I think you do important work. May not be glamorous work, but having a consistent flow of news on Lemmy helps me keep up to date on the goings-on of the world. I assume most people think similarly

For what it's worth, I appreciate your contributions. 👍

None of us are useful to Lemmy because Lemmy is not "useful." Lemmy is a shit-pile of all of our combined thoughts and efforts. So, while no social media site is "useful," Lemmy brings us a place to be entertained and informed/misinformed.

Most of your posts are shit. Most of my posts are shit. While we each usually shit in our own corners, we occasionally look at each other's shit and say, "hmmm... This shit stinks." Or, "this shit is a little nutty and I like that!" And even less frequently, we cross paths while shitting and our shit combines to create a new type of shit that other people can enjoy.

So, don't try to measure your Lemmy "usefulness" based on karma, and instead focus on the shit. I often appreciate your shit, and your username always gives me a chuckle. Whether anyone likes it or not, all of our shit makes Lemmy's shit the shit it is.

Thanks for your contributions!

You know what I have enjoyed about Lemmy? Compared to Reddit, I get fewer replies if I make a comment, and fewer upvotes. Yet the comments I do get are generally more interesting and more likely to be human. As I’ve grown more accustomed to Lemmy, I’ve begun to wonder what percentage of Reddit interactions were bots.

However, I’d love to see this grow some more. The large communities are taking off, but I will still use Reddit for more niche subjects (area-specific gardening, following a local sports team) because they haven’t taken off on Lemmy yet and I’d be talking to myself. And that means that you are useful, because a community needs members to thrive.

I don't see controversy in your first page of your profile, but discussion about the articles. IMO, that's what you hope for.

Your posts seem reasonable and you're contributing real content. Seems to me like that's the very definition of being useful to the community at large.

Judging by your recent post history, it seems you're mostly here for US politics, the one thing I am not interested in / don't like here (because it's so much and spreads everywhere). But I am not Lemmy. It just means I'm not your target audience.

I came from Reddit with over 2 million karma

No one cares.

I've had you tagged for some time for past discussions I found dubious and recognize by sight your name now but don't stop posting what you believe; I still want to hear what you say unlike others who just seem like trolls or bots. I often agree even. I don't want an echo chamber; I want ideas challenged in both directions.

I appreciate you, @[email protected] and if you left us it would be a major loss.

I pay no attention to down-voters. The growing popularity of the fediverse brings as many bad people with it as good ones.

I'd say keep posting. We need the content! Engagement is always low here, there is a lot of varied opinions here as well. Don't let it get you down.

How did you even get the idea you're not "useful"? When I look at your profile, all I see is 90%+ upvoted posts, not that upvotes necessarily matter very much.

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/66240489

Over 2 million karma. Ooh La La dork jk

Yes

Let go of the thought that updoots matter and you will find harmony.

Nothing wrong with controversy. Know who you are and be open to learning.

isnt controversy good as long as conversation is civil?

1. Controversy is always going to happen with anything politics, which is clearly something very important to you
2. Your worth is not a measure of the controversy your posts generate or karma
3. Maybe instead of giving up completely, consider also posting about some things that bring you peace and joy. I have no doubt that there is much more to you than very understandable anger about the world we live in.

In my case, I can't survive on a diet of outrage alone, especially when I'm often picking up my phone to get away from some kind of life stress, so I'm always keen for more posts in art, photography or pet communities. It helps to break up the wall of misery that is the news and reminds me there are still things worth fighting for. Sometimes I need to see a photo of a beach sunset someone saw and thought was pretty, or read a post about how they discovered a new hobby even if I'd never try it. Show me the cute dog you saw on a walk, or the weird random trash you found on the street, I'm here for it.

Consider it a form of community building. rest, and morale boosting for the war against humanity and the environment that we've been caught in, if you will.

yes. i enjoy your posts. i am happy to see you and many others.

All posting here is useful at this point

Give up on reddit. There is no karma here.

I have you at +10, so you’re at least posting things I find meaningful. That being said, you post a lot of political things, so expect to bring many sides of the conversation to light. The fediverse has more types than Reddit.

I think Lemmy (or the Fediverse in a broader sense) really benefits from everyone in it to just output as much as possible. More interaction, more content, more people coming for that content. If somebody does not like what you have to say they can just block you (or if it's really hateful be banned)

I usually don't post links to news articles because I assume someone else will do it or already did it. And I'm right people people like you do it. So thanks. Just don't do it for 'karma', we don't need this silly competition for internet points here.

One thing about Lemmy that follows the Reddit formula perfectly is there’s always one jerk in every comments section. Don’t let em bother you.

More content is good in a system like Lemmy which is designed around filtering. So continue posting!

What do you mean "useful"?
I can understand being useful to a community, if you're an expert and expertise is sought-after, but idk what it even means to be useful to Lemmy as a whole unless you're developing Lemmy or apps for it.

Bee useful to a community, but don't try to be useful to everyone

If you get dozens of upvotes, you are not controversial. If you get half a dozen negative comments, just ignore them. Don’t let the comments get yah!

It's probably not you who is controverial. In my experience, a lot of Lemmy subs/pages seem to be echo chambers and circlejerks. Don't worry too much about karma. Lemmy is a whole different ecosystem. Sounds like you're trying to bring status into a place that doesn't value it. You're either preaching to the choir, or speaking your mind and getting flamed.

Don't worry about the votes. You are free now.

Post what you are interested in.

Taken as a whole, I like your contributions here. But I – ironically, because I'm responding – also don't think you should give a shit what I say or really what anyone in this thread does. The only validation you need is your own; if you enjoy posting here, if you enjoy the comments you get* and conversations you have, if you think you're giving people something worthwhile, and if you think you're staying within the rules and on-topic, then that's what matters. If you don't, then that's also fine and maybe means you're burnt out and could be more fulfilled reducing your time here in favor of something else.

* I'm confused what you mean here by being "controversial"; Voyager shows you as +208 upvotes for me, and I'm sure I'm at least a bit notorious to regulars of this small pond as a cranky, critical, cynical fuck.

I’m with you, homey.

I'd recommend using the block feature freely. I've had to start doing that. There are quite a few arrogant hateful shitheads that will reliably respond negatively and self righteously and I have no use for that. Binary thinkers are a stressful waste of time.

Are you useful? How would I get to Ozma without you?

I came over after getting banned with more then half a million karma. I just post my shit. if folks like it, neat, if not oh well, not like there's a century club here or anything.

You post mostly interesting content. Keep it coming.

Does it matter if you're controversial? I also left during the API debacle. Couldn't tell you what my karma was. Couldn't tell you what it would be here. Up votes just tell me if a post was well-received or not, I'm really here for the comments. This is my only form of online interaction with people.

As long as you're posting something, you're contributing.

I personally prefer controversy because that means people are saying what they want, not just what other people want to hear.

Contribution is important

Please, keep feeding me content.

Lemmy is VERY hateful. In some cases more than Reddit because we have less people but more radical. the amount of hate one can get just because it mentioned specific words is insane. There is no debate here, if you mention a couple of specific topics and trigger words you are sent to hell.

And I'm not even talking about .ml, that place is psychotic.

Controversial posts that get engagement are probably thought-provoking and worthy of discussion. Discussion is much more important than karmafarming. Continue!

I'll be honest here. The majority of the content I see from you is defeatist doomer shit. We don't need that crap at the best of times, but certainly not now. Take a break and see if your outlook improves, for you, but you'd probably feel better ditching the doomerism.

I disagree with your takes sometimes (although not since I switched to PieFed), but you always have an argument and I’ve never seen you have one I couldn’t see any merit in. As good as it gets, imo.

Lemmy has a bit of a reputation of being the "fight club" of the fediverse...

To a degree, I'd agree on that one. Some people come here looking for an argument, farming vibes in the doorway, don't let it get to you.

sounds to me, you take social media too seriously

I think you’re useful! I have Voyager’s tags on for votes, and it shows that I’ve upvoted your posts hundreds of times, so your content definitely has value for me.

Your account always stands out to me, I notice your posts and am happy to engage with them.

That said, do you, if you’re not feeling good about things lately a break probably couldn’t hurt (though my feed will suffer!).

Eh, I like you.

I love your posts! Thank you for being here and all your posts!

The points were always imaginary and made up… keep posting!

I have no idea who you are.

I'm reading a lot here and also read a lot of your posts. Sometimes I agree with what you post, sometimes I do not agree. But reading your name next to a post title has never discouraged me to not click on your postings! I would be missing a lot of content if you weren't there.

But ultimately, neither I or anyone else should matter for if you post or not - if it's good enough for you, and you aren't breaking any rules, post away! I for my part do enjoy the content you post.

I'm controversial

You've ended up with +5 in my book, so you must be doing something right. At least according to me.

People are always going to have varying opinions, that doesn't mean they have to break up. We are going to butt heads sometimes, that doesn't mean we also cant tell each other how nice those jeans make each other's ass look. So I'm going to say you filling them out real nice. Haha, on a serious note, I hope your doing well. Inbox is always open if you need to rant to someone

So many tiny Lemmy communities out there. Any engagement is useful engagement. I think useful is an interesting metric to use though. It should be, “Am I different?” and “Am I open to being wrong?” We don’t need more of the same people posting the same buzzwords and opinions jerking each other off with no critical thinking. Lemmy/the world needs constructive conversation.

Probably not. Then again, being useful was never an requirement for being on here so by all means, keep going.

You do you, even if that means taking breaks, or finding new communities/instances within Lemmy, or finding new hobbies or groups within your real life community.

For what it's worth, You are one of the few names I recognize without tags and I often enjoy what you post.

Thank you for contributing!

Oz you have like, legit 1.2k upvotes from me according to my app lol. Your contributions are much appreciated. Keep posting! 😊

In general I have thought so for a long time.

Even when we disagree, which has happened.

When you know the crowd downvotes are more satisfying than upvotes.

I see people complain about you a lot, but I've never felt like anything you've contributed to Lemmy has been negative or harmful.

Let the haters hate. Block exists for a reason. If those losers blocked you and every other superposter who provides content they'd complain that nobody posts anything.

As you said, you can't make everyone happy no matter what you do. Just do what you feel like you want to do right now.

I appreciate you mate 🫂

I for one am deeply offended by this post. Deeply offended. It has ruined my day. I am now crying.

I generally appreciate what you're doing

Only you can answer that.

That's something you need to ask yourself. I'm just a commenter, not a poster though. An analysis of the various comments reacting to your posts may be another good place to start. Don't look so much at the up/down votes but the content of the comments (and the context as well). We all have our own little space to carve out in this world.

Lenny’s rather new compared to Reddit, so by that fact alone I’d say keep at it. If you get to the point where you no longer want to post, don’t. But I appreciate your work as I’ve seen it.

Your post history seems positive though, maybe I'm sorting wrong

what are you saying that is controversial?

lots of lemmy users are are hostile echo chamber people who are hostile to anything that isn't part of their head canon.

Hm, give me a million karma and I think I can help you out

You're one of the few users that are keeping Lemmy alive with content. If you stop, Lemmy will lose one of the most prolific posters and it'll be a loss for all of us.

If you protest and meet counter protesters, do you pack up your bags and leave?

Nope

More useful than me for sure! I just looked at your history and found so many of the posts I clicked on in the past couple of weeks were yours so thanks for that!

I've seen your name before in both posts and comments. I can't even say if I've agreed with your content, but your goal should be to post things you're okay with. At most, if you get a negative reaction assess your opinions and your audience and see if one or both need to change. External validation is always a risky and potentially harmful thing.

Its important to keep in mind that in terms of upvotes what you post matters significantly less than where you post to and who happens to see it. One post in the same community on a different instance can initiate the opposite reaction.

this post was useless