What is Lemmy and the Fediverse?

It makes sense to first start with the Fediverse. The Fediverse is a collection of instances (i.e. servers) that host Fediverse services and communicate with other instances to disseminate information. One of those services is Lemmy.

Lemmy is free and open-source software (FOSS) that can be used to host link aggregation and discussion forums. It is similar to Reddit in appearance and user experience, but with the major differences being (1) that Lemmy is FOSS, (2) rather than one Reddit there are many Lemmy instances, and (3) Lemmy can communicate with other Fediverse services running ActivityPub.

Lemmy.Autism.Place

You are currently reading a post that was made to lemmy.autism.place. This is a Lemmy instance with the specific purpose of autistic users and allies to have an online place of their own founded on the principle of autism acceptance. As such, we have specific rules and guidelines to help meet that purpose which can be review at out Terms of Use.

Donations

Lemmy.autism.place and all other autism.place services are financially maintained by private persons because we believe in it purpose. If you would like to help pay for our costs, please any of the donation links in our instance sidebar.

How Does Lemmy Work?

Each instance is managed by its own team and connects to other instances they allow connections with (i.e. federate/federation) while blocking federations with instances chosen by the administrators. All instances have their own purpose and rules set forth by their administrators.

Users can create communities (similar to sub-reddits) on Lemmy to aggregate posts and comments based on their desired purpose. Once a user creates a community, they become a moderator in charge of maintaining that community. Other users can then join the community and participate by posting links, making text posts, or commenting within posts. Posts and comments can also be voted on by users. Common understanding is that upvotes suggest that the content is worthy of being seen and downvotes suggest that the content is not worthy of being seen. It is important to consider that voting does not imply agreement or disagreement. Therefore, a user that disagrees with a comment but believes it is an interesting discussion could upvote it for visibility.

Tailoring Your Lemmy Experience

Lemmy can be personalized so that users can increase the content they are exposed to and discussions in which they participate.

Communities

Communities are created to share and discuss content typically revolving around a common interests. Users can create or subscribe to communities so that their posted content is shown in the user's home feed. Communities can be found through the search function which can be accessed by clicking on the magnifying glass on the top right of the main feed.

Forcing Federation with New Instances

Sometimes, communities on instances that have not been federated with may not show up at first. To force lemmy.autism.place to federate with another instance that hosts a community you would like to join, search for the community by placing the community name followed by the instance as follows: ![community]@[instance]. For example, one would enter "!autism@lemmy.world" which would force our instance to federate with lemmy.world. This will mostly be an issue in the beginning of our instance since users will eventually cause our instance to federate with other popular instances as they make use of our lemmy.

Moderation

We have created a moderation guide for our instance.

Home Feed

When someone logs onto a Lemmy instance, they are typically shown their home feed. This is a list of content posted onto Lemmy. However, the feed can be adjusted to aggregate communities based on certain factors.

Community Lists

• Subscribed
  • Content posted onto the communities in which the user is subscribed.
• Local
  • All content posted into the specific instance they are signed into.
• All
  • All content posted across Lemmy instances which are federated with the specific instance.
• Moderator view
  • Content posted to communities which the user moderates.

Sorting Communities

The order of content in the news feed can also be adjusted.

• Active
  • Rank is based on the vote score at the time of the last comment, while decaying over time.
• Hot
  • Similar to active, but the post time is used for the score.
• Scaled
  • Hot with a boost to less active communities.
• New
  • Orders content based on chronological order with most recent first.
• Old
  • Like new, but reversed.
• Most comments
  • Orders posts with the most comments first.
• New comments
  • Orders posts based on the most recent comment.
• Top day/week/month/year/all time
  • Order posts by score within the last 24 hours/7 days/30 days/12 months/eternity.

Blocking Not Safe For Work (NSFW) Content

Because the content on Lemmy is submitted by users, there is a vast diversity of what is shared. Some of the content will be material that is not appropriate for places of business/work, public, or minors. This content is referred to as Not Safe For Work (NSFW), and can include nudity, pornography, erotica, and violence. Our rules require that users mark NSFW content accordingly. Lemmy settings allow users to filter out NSFW posts from their feeds to avoid accidentally accessing it. Do block NSFW posts, go to your profile settings and uncheck the box next to "Show NSFW content".

Themes

Lemmy.autism.place allows users to select among various aesthetic themes. To review and change themes:

1. Click on your username name on the top right
2. Click on "Settings"
3. Scroll down to "Theme"
4. Use the drop down menu to review the various options
5. Once selected, make sure to click on the "Save" button at the bottom

User Profiles & Settings

Users can adjust their user profiles to control how they represent themselves on Lemmy. A user can choose to have a display name (name presented on posts/comments) that differs from their username (name used to create and login to their account). Users can also change their avatar (small picture shown in posts/comments) and profile banners. Additionally, users can opt to include their Matrix username so that other users can contact them via that system.

Posting & Commenting

Users can contribute to the site by posting and commenting in communities.

Posts

Users can make posts to either (a) share a link, (b) share an image, or (c) create a discussion (i.e. text-post). Posts must be made into an appropriate community. Therefore, to make a post, go to the main feed of the relevant community, and click on the Create Post button on the right and complete the form. Including a title is mandatory. Including a URL, image, or body is optional, but at least one of them must be included. Posts that include content that is not appropriate to access from employment locations, in public, in family settings, or by minors must be marked as NSFW (i.e. not safe for work). This informs users of the content nature of the post before accessing it. The following content must be marked as NSFW:

• Violence
• Nudity
• Sexual topics

Comments

Comments are statements that users make within a post. They are hierarchical in nature so that users can either respond directly to a post (i.e. top-level comment) or to another comment. Top-level comments are flushed left, where as next-level comments are indented one-over from the comment it is a response to.

Text Formatting

The text included in post bodies and comments can be formatted using Markdown syntax.

Further Reading

For more information on how to use Lemmy, review the "For Users" section of this guide.

Thanks for creating and/or moderating a community on lemmy.austism.place! As previous moderators, we know that it is a difficult job that is often thankless, so we want to make sure your work is appreciated. To help you with moderating communities on our server, we have provided the guidelines posted below. As a reminder, the purpose of lemmy.autism.place is to provide an lemmy instance that is tailored for autistic culture. Please keep that in mind with all moderation practices.

1. Feel free to start communities

• Communities do not have to be directly associated with autism. Rather, we are attempting to create communities in which we can share and discuss all matters with the general autistic community.

2. The majority of any moderation team of any community should be self-identified as autistic.

• This is a place for us. We would like to allow autistic people opportunities for leadership positions and to contribute ideas that help design and maintain this instance tailored to autistic culture.

3. Aim to have at least 3 moderators per community.

• While this is not a rule, we encourage each community to have at least three moderators each. We have lives apart from Lemmy, so as things come up, we might disegage from time to time. Additionally, as autistic people, we are prone to shutdowns and need rest time to receover. Allow modertators, including yourself, recovery time as needed. With at least 3 moderators, it will be less likely that the entire team is in a shutdown or otherwise unavailable. Considering the worldwide reach of lemmy, we also recommend that the moderation team have members from across time zones so that someone is active at most times.

4. Be considerate of autistic traits.

• Consider that autistic people have unique social skills, mental and sensory processing. Take that into account when moderating by addressing reports with compassion and understanding. It may help to believe that everyone is doing their best.

5. Make use of closed encrypted chat rooms

• It is quite likely that your community will have a purpose and goals. It is also likely that you will have questionable reports that you might not be certain on how to respond. An encrypted closed chat room for the moderation team will provide an avenue for moderators to collaborate on goals and discuss situations that may arise in your community.

6. Do not engage with trolls. Just ban them.

• Trolls seek emotional reactions from others. It typically does not matter whether the reaction is complimentary or insulting. As such, we believe that the best approach is to avoid rewarding them. This means that rather than argue or punish them through rational discussion, it is a best practice to simply ban them with the stated reason being "trolling".

7. Make use of the !moderators@lemmy.autism.place community to discuss all moderating topics.

• It helps to have many moderators reviewing and discussing moderation topics. Other community moderators may have already solved an issue that is new to your community, or vice versa, you may have a solution to a problem in another community.

8. Respond to reporters

• Contacting users that make reports with your decision and logic can help with engagement, transparency, and collaboration. If users see and understand how you moderate, they are more likely to stay engaged in the community and less likely to become antagonistic. You do not have to agree with them, but it helps to respectfully communicate.

9. Check reports at least once per 24 hours

• It helps to address reports as soon as possible to reduce the number of users affected by rule violations. Furthermore, if users frequently see that rule violations are going unaddressed, then they would be more likely to commit violations themselves or leave the community. Accounts used for moderating a community may lose their moderator status if they have not been active on Lemmy for more than 3 weeks.

If you have any recommended changes or additions to these guidelines, please post them below. This instance will become what we make of it, so lets work together in our aunarchistic fashion to create the best place we can as an autistic and allied community.

Terms of Use

The intent of autism.place is to create a multi-service online community for autistic people and allies with the principle of autism acceptance. As such, autism.place is designed based on autistic culture so that autistic users can feel at home and flourish. In order to meet this goal, we have established the following Terms of Use (ToU). Anyone using or accessing any autism.place website or service is agreeing to these Terms of Use.

"We", "us", "the website", and "the instance" refer to any site hosted by autism.place.

"Community" and "communities" refer to any sort of grouping of users based on a common interest within autism.place. This includes Lemmy communities and Matrix chat rooms.

Updates to Terms of Use

These ToU will be updated occasionally. It is the users responsibility to stay updated by checking them regularly.

Purpose of Autism.Place

Autism.place provides Fediverse instances that grant users media to share digital information with other users. As such, content that is shared on autism.place is not representative of or endorsed by autism.place.

Users are not allowed to use any autism.place website or service for illegal activities. Autism.place will place systematic measures to prevent the use of its services for illegal activities as best as possible. Users that become aware of any other users using any autism.place services for illegal activities are required to report the content to autism.place moderators or administrators.

User Access and Responsibilities

1. Users may access and use autism.place only if they agree to our entire ToU.
2. Users that have been banned from any autism.place site or service may never access or use our site unless provided with explicit approval by an autism.place administrator.
3. Users are responsible for their experience on autism.place websites and services.
4. Users must report any illegal content or posts/comments in autism.place that are being used for illegal activities. To submit a report, use the relevant service's report feature to alert moderators and/or administrators.

Rules for Users

All users must adhere to the following rules in order to access and use any autism.place sites or services. Violation of these rules may result in being banished from the site permanently.

1. Do not threaten or attack other users

• All users have the right to use autism.place free of fear of harassment or harm. User may not conduct any bullying, stalking, sealioning, doxxing, or threats of violence. Autism.place has the right to report any threats of violence to appropriate law enforcement agencies.

2. Do not discriminate against protected groups

• Autism.place will not tolerate any discrimination against groups and individuals of said groups based on the following:
  • Race/ethnicity
  • Age
  • Disability/ability
  • Religion
  • Sex/gender
  • Queer groups (LGBTQ+)
  • Nationality

3. Do not share content with the purpose of upsetting others

• Do not post or share content provocative, inflammatory, or offensive with the deliberate purpose of derailing discussions, sowing discord, or causing distress in others, otherwise know as trolling.

4. Do not share other user's private information

• Do not share the following information of another user without their explicit documented approval:
  • Names
  • Addresses/location
  • Social media accounts
  • Other information that could be used to deduce a user's identity

5. Do not conduct any activities that may interfere with the functioning of autism.place services

• Autism.place will not tolerate any attacks that may disrupt its normal functioning. Additionally, users may not use any autism.place services to share information on how to violate/bypass user bans, disrupt access to our services, or violate security measures.

6. Do not use autism.place services for illegal activities

• Autism.place will not tolerate the use of its services to conduct illegal activities. This not only includes violating actual laws, but also promoting, facilitating, or providing information on conducting illegal activities. Illegal content is not allowed on any autism.place websites or services.

7. Do not use our services to directly conduct piracy or copyright infringement

• Do not share links to any sites or files that violate copyrights. This includes magnet links and torrent files that violate copyright laws.

8. Follow the rules of individual communities as established by their moderators

• Autism.place will allow users to create individual communities. Moderators may establish enforceable rules within their communities as long as they do not violate ToU or instance-wide rules.

9. Do not share any pornographic, erotic, or violent material

• Any material the depicts pornography or erotic sexual acts, whether it includes visual nudity or not, is prohibited. This includes nudity, erotic stories, and audio portraying sexual acts. However, respectful questions and discussions regarding sexuality for educational and philosophical purposes are acceptable within appropriate communities as long as they are clearly identified and marked not safe for work (NSFW).
• Do not share video or audio of extreme violent acts or injuries, to include emotional reactions, abuse (human or animal), assault (violent or sexual), self-harm, gore, combat/war footage, dismemberment, charring, suicidal behaviors, and death.

10. Do not share or spread misinformation

• Autism.place will not tolerate the use of its services to spread information that is without any merit, verifiably incorrect/false, or based on pseudoscience.

11. Moderators are responsible for maintaining the ToU and community rules

• Users that decide to moderate communities are responsible for upholding the ToU and any rules that are established for their respective communities. Moderators are expected to respond to reports in a timely manner and to apply moderation actions fairly.

12. Do not spam

• Do not copy & paste the same material/content repeatedly throughout autism.place sites and services. Crossposting is okay within reason.

13. Post and comment in English

• To help with administration and moderation, the majority of any post or comment should be in English.

Autism.Place Rights

In order to provide services that meets our purpose, autism.place maintains the following rights:

1. We may modify the ToU as we see fit.

2. Modify services to help meet our purpose as we see fit.

3. We may remove content or users that violate our ToU. We may also ban users permanently for gross or repeated violations of the ToU.

4. Banishing communities for gross or repeated violations of the ToU.

Autism.Place Governing Laws

Autism.place is currently hosted on a server in Germany, so we are governed by German and European Union laws.