Ah, the Newgrounds Adult section. My young, impressionable adolescent mind stood no chance.

They are being constantly bombarded with algorithm-fueled targeted media designed to make them feel just good enough about themselves to keep watching the next video of ‘woke woman gets owned on camera and everybody claps’. Source: my childhood friend gets recommended this trash daily on his youtube homepage. I try to push against it without re-enforcing the narrative that The Liberals are the reason why he doesn’t have any friends. I don’t think it’s working.

This. When you’re life sucks and you don’t know how to deal with it all, there’s something viscerally satisfying about the idea of making other people hurt as much as you do. It’s a really infectious mindset, too. I wish I hadn’t found 4chan when I was in my early teens, because I’m still trying to manage that need to be cruel. As long as Lemmy.world is an easily kickable sandcastle, it will be kicked.