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People on social networks who talk about US politics, to a foreigner, are a complete shitshow. Like monkeys in a zoo hurling turds at each other. You just have
by vahno 8y ago
People on social networks who talk about US politics, to a foreigner, are a complete shitshow. Like monkeys in a zoo hurling turds at each other. You just have to see the responses to any tweet by Trump or Clinton to see that. I wonder if this new or if this was always the level of politics debate.
- gallerdude 8y agoI think it's definitely a bias of those who feel the strongest about an issue feel the strongest that they have to post. I don't love the term silent majority, because basically anyone can summon one up to make their point seem more valid. But I honestly to believe that there's a majority of people who just don't want to step into the political arena and get yelled at by people who are more passionate than them.
- akkartik 8y agoPlease link to tweets showing that other countries have a superior level of debate on Twitter.
- vahno 8y agoI didn't mean to say that at all, it's just that I don't use Twitter much but I sometimes get to see some tweets about American politics (especially tweets about Trump) and they are shameful. I expect them to be the same for any other country of course. I have edited my post a bit to make it clear.
- munificent 8y agoThere's always been a fringe of people willing to say horrid things but the scale of it is much larger today. You must have missed out on Brexit, Marine Le Pen, and many other things if you think this is unique to the US.
- heavenlyblue 8y agoTo be fair, there's also the case for US having a huge population compared to other countries. And all of them are English-speaking, which means that a foreigner sees way more of that.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoThe reach is much larger today. It used to be that the troll would be the loudmouth at the bar. He might get in a fight with someone else at the bar, or he might just annoy the other patrons, but it was a pretty small set of people. Now the troll is saying the same things, but on Twitter, and the whole country can hear his trolling. He's no different, he just has a bigger reach.
- maxxxxx 8y agoTotally agree. I am always surprised how much attention a single person can get for saying something stupid. It would be much healthier if they just got ignored.
- crooked-v 8y agoConsider that in 1856, one Senator attacked another with a cane on the floor of Congress and beat him nearly to death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Charles_Sumner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_of_Charles_Sumner
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- jpindar 8y agoThere is plenty of serious, polite political discussion on social media, but the people who are actually interested in a discussion know better than to try to respond directly to a tweet by Trump or Clinton. Responding to one of those tweets is a waste of time, shouting into the wind. Try following some journalists, authors etc. rather than searching by topic.