Rant: I hate the term “normie”.

Like everything else context matters

I just see the term to mean the opposite of specialist, or someone who is passionate about the topic.

In internet terms, it generally means not a geek.

It's a good distinction, because for geeks, internet is something inherently interesting on a technological and philosophical level. For, well, normies, it's just an appliance they don't need to know much about.

Similarly if you go to a car show but don't really know shit about cars other than they have 4 wheels, you're a normie in that environment. Your requirements on what a car should be like, are fundamentally different from someone who likes to tweak and tinker.

I wish the term could just mean that without any negative connotations, because I don't see anything wrong with that distinction.

Ed/add: Nobody can know everything about every topic, so everyone is a normie in some category. Usually without realising it. So that's just it. Not necessarily an insult, and doesn't even make much sense as one, I think.

Normies just means people who aren't in the in group and to me means we are the weird ones, exclusive group or have uncommon interests or knowledge.

It is important to be self aware that in the context of the fediverse and meme culture things you are use to are weird, different, and sometimes confusing. Perfect example has been the beans and the 3 day poop thing. Normal people don't get and will think it is weird if they know nothing about the trend. Another example is I am a rock climber if I reference a jug or a sloper it means nothing to normies or people unaware of the lingo. So a jug joke isn't something other people get

I really dislike that term, it makes me cringe to be considered part of a group that uses it unironically. That’s 4chan speech, let’s keep it in that cesspool.

I’ve always assumed that people who use “normie” in their language are probably teenagers with superiority complex.

The cycle of social tech becoming mainstream and conversational norms being dragged down to a least common denominator predates modern social media. The earliest example I can think of is Usenet (newsgroups):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EternalSeptember

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Usenet and the Internet were generally the domain of dedicated computer professionals and hobbyists; new users joined slowly, in small numbers, and observed and learned the social conventions of online interaction without having much of an impact on the experienced users. The only exception to this was September of every year, when large numbers of first-year college students gained access to the Internet and Usenet through their universities. These large groups of new users who had not yet learned online etiquette created a nuisance for the experienced users, who came to dread September every year. Once ISPs like AOL made Internet access widely available for home users, a continuous influx of new users began, which continued through to 2015 according to Jason Koebler, making it feel like it is always "September" to the more experienced users.

It's the same cycle. Social tech starts off being used by a smaller number of technically inclined people. Communities are smaller and normalized civility is more commonplace. Peer pressure holds people to those norms. Once a social tech balloons from mainstream interest, the norms (or zeitgeist if you prefer) shift toward the incoming population because they outnumber the early population and exert more peer pressure. The new norms become a compromise between the norms of the incoming mob and what the community moderators are willing/able to enforce.

It's tempting to put a label on the incoming demographic and use it in a derogatory way, but removing the label from the equation doesn't change the source of unhappiness; the memory of what once was and the knowledge that it can't last when cultural dilution sets in.

(no, I'm not providing any solutions to the problem, this is just rambling that might provide more insightful people with a starting point)

I can't take anyone who uses "normie" seriously. The meme video plays in my head instantly, and I laugh at it.

I agree with the toxic use of it being dumb. Which is also why I can't take it seriously. But yeah, doesn't make it less infuriating or hurtful.

Also I've co-opted it into fun new ways like, "hetero-normies" and "neuro-normies" all as a joke

Normies don't exist. Like birds.

I don't know, you have a better word than that? If you want to refer to everyone from your coworkers to the supermarket cashier to your grandma, that's a really huge and diverse group of people. The word gets the point across, that's all that matters. If you want to use a phrase like "non-technologically inclined" or something like that, it actually sounds worse like I'm looking down on them. At least normie is self depreciating, which is more acceptable.

Normie is a term used in many circles, not exclusively fediverse. I don't think it's a slur, as the people who use it aren't inciting violence or enacting discriminatory pricing or whatever. It's like calling a person boring.

A true normie would end up being pushed out for a myriad of other reasons first. If they even come to a place like this in the first place.

Didn't everyone want to defederate entirely from Threads? That would have kept out more people than calling them "normies" would, I imagine.

I personally don't care either way though; on one hand, I like Lemmy as it is now so don't care if there's a huge influx of Threads users... but on the other hand, while with more users you're definitely going to get more garbage, it also brings in a few more diamonds.

I come from IRC and message boards during the dial up days, so I'm adaptable.

i feel some people use it derogatorily but i think of it as more "your average person", in this context that would be people used to the mainstream networks and haven't tried anything better

i try to avoid saying normies because the word kind of has a negative connotation even though some people don't use it maliciously

I've become comfortable with saying, "it's not worth it being normal", and thus am ok with the normie tag, even if I don't want to turn it into a slur. Normal is a form of social construct that tends to be imposed on us: it's when the teacher enters the classroom and the class sits down and shuts up, not because they explicitly agreed to, but because it was normalized. There isn't anything in particular suggesting that normal = good.

And that does have an elitist ring to it, which does upset the goal of equitable outcomes in some ways. There are certain philosophies in which a premise of elitism is assumed, as in, some people just won't be able to access the necessary understanding to participate, so it's better to have a gate than to let anyone wander through. This is the view of Leo Strauss and followers - for a really detailed explanation try Arthur Melzer's book Philosophy Between the Lines.

Even if you don't read that book(it's a good book), I would make the case in this way: it's the difference between online gaming that uses automatic matchmaking, versus a martial arts dojo. Online gaming and toxicity correlate because there is no lower bar on who can play, so all sessions are pushed to the lowest common denominator of cheating, griefing, etc. But someone who participates in martial arts like a gamer gets kicked out of the gym, if the standards are high: an instructor who values students does not let them attempt to eyegouge each other or slam their head on the mat.

Occasionally someone like that will sign up for a tournament, commit an illegal move in the first round, and get themselves disqualified. But they can leave their opponent seriously injured in the process, and maybe end a career. So the standards tend to condition a degree of gatekeeping, respect for others, etc. Not every gym does well at this, and some styles like boxing have a norm of "hard sparring" where full-contact is trained and damage is expected. But predominantly the focus is on getting the techniques and training without destroying yourself or others.

And I do liken the idea of complete access to, essentially, allowing dirty street brawls to be the only kind of sparring, the only way in which you can interact online with strangers.

Martial artists also sometimes use the normie term. They will say it outright: you have to be a weirdo to spend so much time getting beat up and choked out. We can have a gate and still be tough on ourselves to do better.

Its in the chorus of a song by one of my favorite bands and I cringe every time I hear it.

yet another term I have never encountered till I did.

I don't think that calling people normies, newbies or rookies is toxic behavior. Everyone was one at the beginning, but they learned and understand. Those who cry outside being called that and refuse to engage with the group dynamic/community... well I can live without those tbh. BUT I also can live without those who refuse to give interested people pointers or help on their way to no longer be a noob.

Its pretty much a double-edged sword.

We all have our pet peeves, I suppose.