4 ms·

There’s a dark underbelly of incel/redpill/GamerGate people in the tech world who are easily triggered by other perspectives, and my impression is that nearly e

by mwfunk 8y ago

There’s a dark underbelly of incel/redpill/GamerGate people in the tech world who are easily triggered by other perspectives, and my impression is that nearly everyone who would identify with those groups are Trump supporters. I could be wrong, but anecdotally, it sure seems that way. Given that they appear to be motivated by emotions, and portray themselves as victims, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if a small handful of such people spent inordinate amounts of time managing a bunch of sock puppet accounts just to amplify their downvoting power. If so, it is a strange and ironic phenomenon.

crankylinuxuser 8y ago
I'd go a bit deeper, honestly. Peter Thiel is a avowed Trump supporter, and a billionaire who was a YCombinator partner from 2015-2017. Combine it with this article https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/15/why-silicon-valley-billionaires-are-prepping-for-the-apocalypse-in-new-zealand https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/15/why-silicon-val... and "In 2016, Sam Altman, one of Silicon Valley’s most influential entrepreneurs, revealed to the New Yorker that he had an arrangement with Thiel whereby in the eventuality of some kind of systemic collapse scenario – synthetic virus breakout, rampaging AI, resource war between nuclear-armed states, so forth – they both get on a private jet and fly to a property Thiel owns in New Zealand." I think this is pretty straight-forward that these hidden/flagged posts isn't some sort of bot army, but instead having a button on the mod-switch at the root console for this website. To me, it's clear that Thiel was the one who put his head out espousing Trump support, to see how the tech community would take it. But I think at least in the elites in SV, they're all Trump supporters.
- mwfunk 8y ago
  Who knows, but I’ve learned to be perpetually disappointed by Thiel in any situation involving morals, ethics, or intellectual integrity. I can’t imagine that he would waste time on this stuff, but at the same time, he’s shown that it’s certainly not beneath him.
- noobermin 8y ago
  Going to keep it real. I get irked by downvotes and I have no love for Thiel, but this sounds a little far fetched. I don't really have an opinion of Altman and it's possible SV boys like Trump at the very least because they like taxcuts and they're rich, but that the reason for the dearth of rather quick downvotes is a mod switch is seems less likely to me as much as it's over zealous Trump supporters. Regardless it's just a website. If anyone wanted to manipulate opinion, manipulating hn of all places is unlikely to do much. And hey, even if they are, they've succeeded in manipulating a bunch of people who might have money but seriously have little power.

by mwfunk 8y ago

crankylinuxuser 8y ago

I'd go a bit deeper, honestly. Peter Thiel is a avowed Trump supporter, and a billionaire who was a YCombinator partner from 2015-2017. Combine it with this article https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/15/why-silicon-valley-billionaires-are-prepping-for-the-apocalypse-in-new-zealand https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/feb/15/why-silicon-val... and "In 2016, Sam Altman, one of Silicon Valley’s most influential entrepreneurs, revealed to the New Yorker that he had an arrangement with Thiel whereby in the eventuality of some kind of systemic collapse scenario – synthetic virus breakout, rampaging AI, resource war between nuclear-armed states, so forth – they both get on a private jet and fly to a property Thiel owns in New Zealand." I think this is pretty straight-forward that these hidden/flagged posts isn't some sort of bot army, but instead having a button on the mod-switch at the root console for this website. To me, it's clear that Thiel was the one who put his head out espousing Trump support, to see how the tech community would take it. But I think at least in the elites in SV, they're all Trump supporters.

mwfunk 8y ago
Who knows, but I’ve learned to be perpetually disappointed by Thiel in any situation involving morals, ethics, or intellectual integrity. I can’t imagine that he would waste time on this stuff, but at the same time, he’s shown that it’s certainly not beneath him.
noobermin 8y ago
Going to keep it real. I get irked by downvotes and I have no love for Thiel, but this sounds a little far fetched. I don't really have an opinion of Altman and it's possible SV boys like Trump at the very least because they like taxcuts and they're rich, but that the reason for the dearth of rather quick downvotes is a mod switch is seems less likely to me as much as it's over zealous Trump supporters. Regardless it's just a website. If anyone wanted to manipulate opinion, manipulating hn of all places is unlikely to do much. And hey, even if they are, they've succeeded in manipulating a bunch of people who might have money but seriously have little power.