News and discussion, but you start from a chosen community and work towards global connection. Also, no ads, no making you the product, and volunteer-based development and moderation.

“less toxic” can be interpreted in different ways. For example, I don’t always find people on Lemmy to be more open-minded across tribal boundaries. But you can perhaps find your tribe and experience less toxicity that way?

I love your insights, thanks for commenting. I’d just note that in some cases the word “nerd” has grown to mean just about anyone with competence or expertise due to their intrinsic interest & enthusiasm for the subject area. So maybe becoming an “equestrian nerd” or a “construction nerd” makes you immune to overbroad marketing claims in those areas!

I wonder what social media does.

This advice seems off-base to me. There is value in LinkedIn connections. But you have to make the connections outside of LinkedIn. Then it amplifies the value of those connections–you can discover that so-and-so knows so-and-so and then ask for introductions.

It also may be industry specific. I’m a software engineer, and I’ve had several employment opportunities come from these connections.