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Dear Lemmy, **why** Star Trek??

Every single large server in this federation has at least one Star Trek community. There is even an entire server dedicated to Star Trek.

Not only that, these communities are some of the most active I’ve ever seen. There is no other franchise I know of that dominates the federation as much as Star Trek does.

So, what’s the correlation with Lemmy and Star Trek? Why not other sci-fi series? Please, are there any connections?? Is this all coincidental?

PonyOfWar ,

dominates the federation

Well there you have it.

SturgiesYrFase ,
@SturgiesYrFase@lemmy.ml avatar

I see what you did there

halm ,
@halm@leminal.space avatar

federates the Dominion

FTFY

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Federate the Dominion? Are you joking?

https://i.imgur.com/hkRN7KM.gif

halm ,
@halm@leminal.space avatar

Apologies to his bat-eared grace Weyoun!

samus12345 ,
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

https://i.redd.it/tr4basjpo81y.gif

Bongles ,

I think it’s nerds. /s

I think a lot of the lemmy userbase are at least somewhat techy (also see the Linux communities), and a lot of techy people like Star Trek.

Namstel ,

Techies are Trekkies!

SpaceNoodle ,

Tech nerds are Trekkers!

Travalanche ,
@Travalanche@lemmy.world avatar

Eh, more like Trekkies are techies. I would consider myself somewhat of a techie, definitely nerdy, and very much into sci-fi, but I really don’t give a shit about Star Trek. I’ve seen a lot of it, just because I’ve had a couple girlfriends that really enjoyed it, but otherwise I probably wouldn’t have watched any after my childhood.
Now, if HBO were to do a hard R version, I’d probably get into it.

Broken_Monitor ,

I find star trek boring too, there’s a lot of far more interesting and exciting scifi out there so I really don’t get how it still has such a huge fan base still.

That said, if they start dropping the hard Rs in Star Trek I will definitely tune in to that catastrophe.

JamesStallion ,

Star trek is a big plate of mashed potatoes. People eat because it isn’t exciting.

z500 ,
@z500@startrek.website avatar

If it’s hard Rs you want, just put on any episode where O’Brien is mad at the Cardassians

ElBarto ,
@ElBarto@sh.itjust.works avatar

Star trek: in our universe racism is no more…

O’Brien: Damn Spoon heads!

Star Trek: Except Miles, he’s the exception to the rule.

jack55555 ,

Not everything needs to be action or drama packed. It’s like a good documentary, the premise is usually very exciting. Kind of like a what if.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

There’s a fun documentary called How William Shatner Changed the World about all the scientists and inventors who have been inspired by Star Trek.

Semi-Hemi-Demigod ,
@Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social avatar

I wish that title was different. Bill doesn't need his ego stroked anymore.

FlyingSquid ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, not the best, but still a really fun documentary.

acceptable_pumpkin ,

It’s ok, whenever you get annoyed about his ego, just go watch the clip of Ole’ Bill trying to pontificate after his trip to space and Jeff Bezos cutting him off. The look on his face is so sad and frustrated.

bronzle ,

hard R version

yardy_sardley ,

I never really thought about it before, but it seems obvious now. Trekkies and open source tech folks would have a massive overlap, and Lemmy kind of exists perfectly within that intersection of utilitarian principles. So of course we would all find each other here.

Osa-Eris-Xero512 ,

I'm convinced that Trekkies and open source tech are concentric circles.

AOCapitulator ,
@AOCapitulator@hexbear.net avatar

The top voted posts of the last week are programmer humor jokes that have 400+ upvotes but like 4 comments its weird why don’t yall talk

The_Picard_Maneuver ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website avatar

The Star Trek community has been going strong for nearly 60 years for a reason - Star Trek rocks.

When it started in the 60s (and continued especially strong with TNG in the 80s), it was unique in depicting a hopeful look at how things could be rather than a reflection of how things are, differing from how most shows do social commentary. It’s refreshing.

Star Trek is attractive to people who want to see a world where people work together toward great things in a post-scarcity utopia, with current day conversations of race, nationality, sex, gender, etc. being so far in the rear-view mirror that they’re non-issues. Plus cool technology. I think that appeals to the Lemmy crowd.

Lucien ,

Another key point I feel is often overlooked about Star Trek is the “Gulliver’s Travels” component of (at least pre-Kelvin) Star Trek. Every show, every race was secretly a fun-house-like caricature of humanity’s worst traits, with the humans of the show demonstrating growth past that point. You laugh at or shirk away from them, but really it’s modern humanity that is being depicted (Ferengi as capitalists, Klingons as warmongers, Romulans as subversives, etc.) And then we see what we could be, the hope that you talked about, in future humanity

The_Picard_Maneuver ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website avatar

It seems like such a creative way to do social commentary. We get to see our present failings in aliens, and then contrast it with how the crew (future humanity) carries themselves. Sometimes it’s very clunky and heavy handed (like that TOS episode with the half-white/half-black aliens), but it’s still good. My favorites are every time Picard monologues about their values to an alien race in TNG.

Even if you already share the values, it’s fascinating to hear them laid out so clearly.

Lucien ,

It helps that Stewart is such a fantastic monologist. It’s like hearing something complex about biology or ecology from David Attenborough. They both have such an effortless ability to communicate difficult subjects.

Nacktmull ,

Picard monologues are in fact what I appreciate most in TNG!

constantokra ,

Do you include Wesley as an alien in that instance? Because that monologue is solid.

The_Picard_Maneuver ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website avatar

I’m going to say yes. Every teenager is an alien.

constantokra ,

Good take.

Lucien ,

Shut up, Wesley

GreenTeaRedFlag ,

I really love it when it’s especially heavy handed. That’s my shit.

actual_patience OP ,

That’s very interesting. I think you’ve sold me on watching the show.

GalaxyBrain ,
@GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net avatar

The original series is very 1960s and I wouldn’t recommend for a jumping in point. I’d go with next Gen for that, it’s the quintessential trek more so than the original having had 3 spinoffs in the 90s and defining most of the canon. Here’s the issue though, the first 2 seasons of tng really suck. Like maybe the worst 2 seasons of the whole franchise. I’d check out some best of lists for those seasons and maybe sprinkle a couple random ones in, they did 26 hour long episodes per season and there are some amazing clunkers there, bad episodes are part of trek and you’ve gotta learn to enjoy them, but those first 2 seasons are rough.

Lucien ,

But if you hang in there, you get rewarded with a Riker’s Beard

GalaxyBrain ,
@GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net avatar

How’s Giant Spock doing?

Lucien ,

Still vibin

GalaxyBrain ,
@GalaxyBrain@hexbear.net avatar

Don’t tell him about that Lower Decks episode.

Professional_Lurker ,

startrekviewingguide.com

dessalines ,

To me, Trek is a mash of three great communities, each nerdy in their own way:

  • Science-fiction, specifically optimistic mid-century science fiction.
  • Theatre / Drama
  • Revolutionary Socialism

This article scratches the surface of it.

actual_patience OP ,

Thank you for the article. I’ll need to look more into this in the future.

jballs ,
@jballs@sh.itjust.works avatar

I think you personally posting more than the other Lemmings combined might have something to do with it…

thecrotch ,

Well, you see, Lemmy is full of nerds and communists.

Nacktmull ,

https://i.imgur.com/qEvZh3u.png “Workers of the world unite! You have nothing to loose but your chains!”

YoorWeb ,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/3ecedc48-42b0-4a99-9bd0-f6e523243783.jpeg

SuddenDownpour ,

Workers of the worlds you mean?

Nacktmull ,

I get your point and I thought about it too before posting but Rom in fact used the correct quote without alterations: youtu.be/Qag2bOBUVfQ?si=sCKNeq5xkSckQUzI&t=62

dessalines ,

https://lemmy.ml/pictrs/image/86ca13c7-cd31-46aa-84df-a6172a001b32.jpeg

ISometimesAdmin ,
@ISometimesAdmin@the.coolest.zone avatar

So others have already talked about how great Star Trek is. I agree with them, but I think that literally everyone has missed the point of your question:

https://startrek.website

It's its own lemmy instance. It was spawned from the migration away from reddit, and it's stayed alive since. So combine an active former-reddit community with lemmy and a good reason to all rally around, and finally the final ingredient of federation, and the Star Trek related rooms will always be on every server, and they'll always be populated.

Bishma ,
@Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

Yeah, I think this is a big part of it. The Star Trek sub’s total abandonment of Reddit and conversion to a standalone Lemmy instance during the Blackout was a big deal and a big driver of traffic in those days and beyond.

Star Trek is big in the Threadiverse for the same reason that Earth is big in the Federation. They were a massive force in the early days.

constantokra ,

And it’s a great example of how viable lemmy is as an alternative. Not sure about random subs, but any of the really nerdy ones could make the jump.

USSEthernet ,

When I left reddit because my favorite app rif was shutdown, that was the first instance that caught my eye. I love Star Trek.

actual_patience OP ,

Both this and all other answers are good for different reasons. From what I’m reading, the beliefs and politics displayed within Star Trek are beyond progressive for the time it came out, while also shaping sci-fi. This creates a very committed fan base that when Reddit started acting up, they were able to move a large chunk of their user base away to Lemmy, since Lemmy is filled with similar-minded people.

nixcamic ,

Why is the show about gay space communism popular on the gay space communism network?

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

quark might be bisexual, true, but he is definitely a capitalist… but we won’t hold that against him

EdibleFriend ,
@EdibleFriend@lemmy.world avatar

You decide to talk about bisexuality and DS9 and somehow your mind goes to quark instead of fucking Garek??

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

garek is amazing and he is the best boy <3 i only said quark because i was commenting more on the socialist/capitalist topic from the previous comment :D

madelena ,

Quark is also one-time transgender, so I guess that counts as genderfluid, although we prefer not to talk about that episode.

Bluegoon ,

Fuck off.

qevlarr ,
@qevlarr@lemmy.world avatar

Wow, relax

Cowbee ,

He made an account 20 minutes ago just to post inflammatory, reactionary comments from a hyper-conservative angle, lmao.

Bluegoon ,

Holy shit this sucks. Bye.

qevlarr ,
@qevlarr@lemmy.world avatar

Bye

h3mlocke ,

👋

qevlarr ,
@qevlarr@lemmy.world avatar

Confirmed. What a douche nozzle

nixcamic ,

I meant in a light hearted tongue in cheek way, no need for hostility.

Cowbee ,

He made an account 20 minutes ago just to post inflammatory, hyper-conservative reactionary comments

h3mlocke ,

😭😭😭

lolcatnip ,

For a show franchise about gay space communism, it’s not very gay at all.

worldsayshi ,

They’re happy most of the time.

peopleproblems ,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/48b77e49-feee-4ff7-935d-6a1e65a1f84f.jpeg

that’s why

otter ,

The French line at the bottom 😄

Omega_Haxors ,

The funny irony is that assimilate is a slur in Canada due to its rich history of genocidal intent, to the point someone got into legal hot water because they had a novelty star trek license plate containing it and people thought they meant basically our equivalent of the n word.

They had to explain to a bunch of people including the news what they actually meant and they were like “we don’t care, change it” which is especially rich coming from a culture and government which still continues assimilation-styled (as well as actual killing) genocide to this day.

Ensign_Crab ,

Soon we’ll all be sorry.

intensely_human ,

Asking why Star Trek dominates the Federation? tsk tsk tsk

scratchresistor ,

Like some kind of… Dominion?

scrubbles ,
@scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech avatar

Most of the internet was started with Star Trek boards. If I recall correctly, one of the first emails ever sent was about Star Trek

The_Picard_Maneuver ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website avatar

Also credited with the first widespread fanfics of a TV show, I believe.

cheesymoonshadow ,
@cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world avatar

I haven’t thought of this in years but back in the '90s I participated in an email fantasy RPG where we all roleplayed Romulans. One person would write a chapter from their character’s POV and email it to the group, then the next person does one, and so on, so the story unfolded in unexpected ways. It was actually pretty fun.

The_Picard_Maneuver ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website avatar

That sounds like such a an awesome early internet thing.

cheesymoonshadow ,
@cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world avatar

It was. And then of course this one guy asked me if I wanted to take it private so our characters could have their own little love subplot. And uh… I said yes.

The_Picard_Maneuver ,
@The_Picard_Maneuver@startrek.website avatar

Now THAT also sounds like early internet too…

Xariphon ,

Including the one that is the reason we call laughably stupid perfect characters Mary Sue.

GreenTeaRedFlag ,

And first male pregnancy fan fiction, fan fiction rings, shipping wars, and so on. House wives created the world AO3 writers live in today

thezeesystem ,

Do you know of a wiki or link to this about trek boards and first email? Search engines now a days are getting on my nerves about not showing what I typed into it.

actual_patience OP ,

Wow, didn’t know the roots were that deep…

Stoneykins ,

We may never have a good answer for why the gay nerdy communists love the colorful scifi communist space adventures

Meowoem ,

If you’re trying to say the way ryker throws his leg over a chair is the cause of me becoming a communist programmer then I have to tell you that you are sorely accurate.

Gabu ,

no other franchise I know of that dominates the federation as much as Star Trek does.

You answered your own question, brother.

verity_kindle ,

Because Trek fans were the first to organize conventions. They started out small in the late 60s. Now every single weekend, somewhere on this planet, there’s a Trek convention being held. The conventions also raise massive money for charity. They are the nerds other nerds want to be, in terms of organization. I’m here for the memes.

actual_patience OP ,

I did not know that, thanks!

Dagwood222 ,

en.wikipedia.org/…/1st_World_Science_Fiction_Conv….

Dagwood222 ,

Sorry, but there were science fiction conventions before Star Trek.

en.wikipedia.org/…/1st_World_Science_Fiction_Conv….

You are right that Star Trek conventions were the first time a single show was the focus of a convention, and the Star Trek conventions lead to things like ComicCon.

kerrigan778 ,

Ah yes, the nostalgic leftist scifi show that defined generations is popular amongst the left leaning members of the nostalgia generation.

RizzRustbolt ,

Nah. It’s all that O’Brien poundcake.

mrcleanup ,

I prefer the cellular peptide cake myself.

ggppjj ,

With mint frosting!

Gabu ,

I was about to make a joke about Troi and the expected qualities of a cake, but I’ll leave it at that.

Odum ,

Wait but which O’Brien? Miles? Or the clone Miles that was meant to infiltrate the peace talk? Or the Miles from 7 hours in the future that just replaced the present day Miles? There’s just so many to choose from, it’s so hard

dessalines ,

Or mirror O’Brien that thinks nothing of kidnapping Jake Sisko even after Real Sisko saved his life on multiple occasions.

Cowbee ,

Same reason Linux is popular on Lemmy. Lemmy is essentially an explicitly leftist community that appeals to people nerdy and techy enough to leave Reddit and join a smaller platform. Linux is a FOSS, ie leftist techy OS. Star Trek is leftist Sci-Fi.

Nerds, tech, and leftism all congregate on Lemmy.

C126 ,

ELI5…what’s leftism?

maynarkh ,

In my experience it is a very very loose collection of ideologies that share the common idea that there is no innate hierarchy between people and that helping others does not necessarily erode your own place in society.

Edit: Oh, it was an ELI5, then a leftist is someone who thinks other people in their sandbox does not make the sandbox worse.

Cowbee , (edited )

Collectivization of industry, ie a rejection of Private Property. FOSS is leftist as it rejects individually owned IP and the profit motive.

Socialism, Anarchism, Communism, etc. are examples of leftist ideologies.

If you want a true ELI5, instead of one dude owning the factory and therefore everything the Workers create in it, imagine the Workers owning the factory and democratically deciding how to allocate profits and whether or not to elect a manager to help facilitate this.

OnlyTakesLs ,

Its so big and wide and vague, theres no good answer.

But basically, communists and hippies

Cowbee ,

Pretty simple to sum it up as collectivization of industry, or as abolition of Private Property in favor of collective ownership of the Means of Production.

Anything else, such as a rejection of hierarchy or a focus on democratization of production, is an abstraction and benefit of the previous statements.

barsoap ,

A leftist is someone who, in the French national assembly, sits to the left, as seen from the lectern: Supporters of the Ancien Régime (monarchists) sat to the right, revolutionaries (of every colour) to the left.

As such the core tenets of leftism are Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, in short, enlightenment values later coalescing into humanist values, as well as the metric system. Which is why the US cannot into leftism.

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

as well as the metric system

please. it’s proper name is the correct system.

calypsopub ,

A political catch-all for non-conservatives

qevlarr ,
@qevlarr@lemmy.world avatar

For me, the defining characteristic of leftism is trying to achieve social equality through redistribution of wealth and power from those who have plenty to those who don’t have enough.

PsychedSy ,

I’m a voluntarist and think the federation model is an interesting stepping stone to better systems that would enable either direct democracy or polycentric law.

FangedWyvern42 ,
@FangedWyvern42@lemmy.world avatar

federated platform full of nerds

asks why there are Star Trek fans

Guess.

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