So, I started blocking accounts that don’t engage with the stuff I post and just make personal attacks. After blocking these handful of accounts all the harassment stopped entirely. Vast majority of people on the lemmyverse are across different instances aren’t attacking other people. There are just a handful of really active trolls out there, and I think the best policy might be to just start blocking them when we see them.
We engage with people on other instances with hopes of enlightening them motivated by love. Encountering these folks you listed can cause us to lose sight of that original motivation.
This is a very helpful post, thank you!