4 ms·

Can someone provide background context for gab.com?

wgerard 8y ago
Twitter : Gab :: Reddit : Voat
krapp 8y ago
A "free speech social network" used by white supremacists, neo-nazis and other extremists who have been banned elsewhere from social media (among others - I know people will be triggered if I don't explicitly disambiguate that not all Gab users are extremists and racists) and recently by the suspected Pittsburgh synagogue shooter.
jsheard 8y ago
It's ostensibly the "free speech" version of Twitter, in practice it mostly caters to the far-right. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooter was a user: https://archive.fo/k63LE https://archive.fo/k63LE His profile has now been nuked by Gab, but only to save face after the shooting. They would usually pride themselves in not removing that kind of content.
- tptacek 8y ago
  It's worth noting that in its heyday --- usage on Gab appears to have plummeted, at least measured by the front page, and seems to be dominated today by bots --- the content on that page was absolutely par for the course for the front page of the site. There was even a House candidate, Paul Nehlen, who campaigned using almost identical anti-Semitic rhetoric on Gab. You wouldn't want to leave anyone the impression that this kind of stuff was somehow buried on individual user pages on Gab. Rather, it is the raison d'etre for the whole site.
- commandlinefan 8y ago
  I’ve noticed that uncensored discussion boards tend toward right-leaning, whereas moderated ones always end up tending left-leaning.
orf 8y ago
Scroll down to "Popular posts" here[1] to know exactly what kind of site this is. 1. https://gab.com/popular https://gab.com/popular
- nkkollaw 8y ago
  Doesn't look that much different than Facebook, honestly. Most posts look pretty normal.
  - orf 8y ago
    Picture of cat, picture of eagle, JEWS ARE DESTROYING AMERICA, picture of cat, picture of dog, THE BOMBER IS A FALSE FLAG, picture of dog, LOOK AT THIS HORDE OF MUSLIMS COMING TO DESTROY US, picture of house
    - nkkollaw 8y ago
      I don't know, I signed up after reading about the ban, but I didn't have the impression of really heavy posts. Facebook comments and posts are just as random, and Voat is definitely worse. Not worth a ban from PayPal, for sure.
    - tptacek 8y ago
      It is much saner looking today (not that it looks sane); again, posting traffic on Gab pages seems to have plummeted. A year or two ago, the whole front page was racist and anti-Semitic memes. Oh, and of course, picture of cat, picture of eagle, picture of house.
      - nkkollaw 8y ago
        Ah, I see. It's also possible that they cleaned up the "popular" section specifically after the events.
        tptacek 8y ago
        That's been reported, yes, but really the thing to know about Gab in 2018 is that it seems to be like 80% bots and 20% white supremacist UGC, which is what really makes it look more normal than it is.
anigbrowl 8y ago
You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy - a cheesy quote that happens to fit the bill perfectly.

Twitter : Gab :: Reddit : Voat

A "free speech social network" used by white supremacists, neo-nazis and other extremists who have been banned elsewhere from social media (among others - I know people will be triggered if I don't explicitly disambiguate that not all Gab users are extremists and racists) and recently by the suspected Pittsburgh synagogue shooter.

jsheard 8y ago

It's ostensibly the "free speech" version of Twitter, in practice it mostly caters to the far-right. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooter was a user: https://archive.fo/k63LE https://archive.fo/k63LE His profile has now been nuked by Gab, but only to save face after the shooting. They would usually pride themselves in not removing that kind of content.

tptacek 8y ago
It's worth noting that in its heyday --- usage on Gab appears to have plummeted, at least measured by the front page, and seems to be dominated today by bots --- the content on that page was absolutely par for the course for the front page of the site. There was even a House candidate, Paul Nehlen, who campaigned using almost identical anti-Semitic rhetoric on Gab. You wouldn't want to leave anyone the impression that this kind of stuff was somehow buried on individual user pages on Gab. Rather, it is the raison d'etre for the whole site.
commandlinefan 8y ago
I’ve noticed that uncensored discussion boards tend toward right-leaning, whereas moderated ones always end up tending left-leaning.

orf 8y ago

Scroll down to "Popular posts" here[1] to know exactly what kind of site this is. 1. https://gab.com/popular https://gab.com/popular

nkkollaw 8y ago
Doesn't look that much different than Facebook, honestly. Most posts look pretty normal.
- orf 8y ago
  Picture of cat, picture of eagle, JEWS ARE DESTROYING AMERICA, picture of cat, picture of dog, THE BOMBER IS A FALSE FLAG, picture of dog, LOOK AT THIS HORDE OF MUSLIMS COMING TO DESTROY US, picture of house
  - nkkollaw 8y ago
    I don't know, I signed up after reading about the ban, but I didn't have the impression of really heavy posts. Facebook comments and posts are just as random, and Voat is definitely worse. Not worth a ban from PayPal, for sure.
  - tptacek 8y ago
    It is much saner looking today (not that it looks sane); again, posting traffic on Gab pages seems to have plummeted. A year or two ago, the whole front page was racist and anti-Semitic memes. Oh, and of course, picture of cat, picture of eagle, picture of house.
    - nkkollaw 8y ago
      Ah, I see. It's also possible that they cleaned up the "popular" section specifically after the events.
      - tptacek 8y ago
        That's been reported, yes, but really the thing to know about Gab in 2018 is that it seems to be like 80% bots and 20% white supremacist UGC, which is what really makes it look more normal than it is.

anigbrowl 8y ago

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy - a cheesy quote that happens to fit the bill perfectly.