Matrix definitely is federated.
You ran into the trap of taking "fediverse" at face value. It neither invented nor monopolizes federation. E-Mail is federated and has nothing to do with the fediverse. Wikipedia's page on federation lists the very internet itself as the prime example.
Not implementing ActivityPub doesn't mean Matrix isn't federated.
I disagree that commenting for the sake of commenting is a good idea. Quality over quantity, a single meaningful discussion is superior to a sea of low effort garbage. I also want the fediverse to take off, but not at the cost of adopting modern Reddit culture.
a “good post”, by this metric, is really just a post that baits lots and lots of engagement
Baiting anything is bad.
by thread bumping
Thread bumping is still possible on Reddit-like social media too. Just use a sort that responds to activity, like the Active sort on Mbin or Piefed.
There WAS 1 chick in the fediverse.
The situation took a dark turn recently.
No, they're downvoting because they don't like what the post is saying.
People misusing voting buttons as a like/dlislike button is a well known issue and reality, at least on Reddit. But considering the system works the exact same here, it's no surprise that the same problem persists here as well.
I assume it's due to people not trusting Youtube with false positives. They don't have the best reputation with the rest of their AI moderation stuff.
The notifications are redirecting even Old Reddit users to WWW...
That's not the issue. If you configured your settings correctly (they're per-device and get reset on clearing cookies), www.reddit.com is still old reddit too.
The issue is that neither chat nor notifications respect that. They both enforce shreddit despite oldreddit being configured as the default.
And yes, the only realistic reason is that they're phasing out old reddit by replacing its features one by one by shreddit-exclusive ones.
Considering your wording in the last paragraph
I'm really confused by people's reaction to OP here. I agree that I personally don't share OP's experiences, but what's wrong with that last paragraph? It's not overwhelming at all, so how does it indicate that their writing style is overwhelming? (I know MINE is, no need to point that out)
If people have trouble understanding it, then reading comprehension must really be at rock bottom.
I agree that formatting is important with l proper text length, but this is literally two lines, this isn't in need of bullet points.
If you ask me, anti-propaganda is facts
You know how "woke" (awake; aware of what's going on) is considered a negative by the far right?
Their entire point is to abandon the facts of reality and instead live in a dream world where only their imagination is real. Facts and people who cling to the real world are their enemy to that end.
"My name is Anaxagoras, one of the Seven Sages of the Grove of Epiphany, founder of the Nousporists. Now, don't make me repeat the following again. Rule number one: Do not call me Anaxa. Rule number two: Never interrupt me — silence is golden. Remember that."
▌ "Demised Scholar" Anaxagoras
The Grove of Epiphany, where knowledge flourishes and philosophers are born.
Yet here stands Anaxagoras the blasphemer, the Chrysos Heir who challenges the Coreflame of Reason: Would you truly embrace infamy and defy prophecy, driving the thorns of doubt into the Sacred Tree of wisdom?
— "Ridiculous. In a world full of lies, I am the only truth."
Affiliated City: Grove of Epiphany
Divine Authority: Cerces, Bough of Rift...?
It's not like we haven't had public downvoting in the fediverse yet. We already found out in the past.
Kbin had public downvotes and the main effect was that people put more thought into their downvotes. While I assume it wasn't without abuse, I've never seen it brought up as an active problem, just something that could theoretically happen.