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People are going to poll their connections in support of all kinds of ideas. Some of those ideas will be perceived as toxic by some while some others will be p
by fwn 8y ago
People are going to poll their connections in support of all kinds of ideas.
Some of those ideas will be perceived as toxic by some while some others will be perceived as toxic by others.
I think that it's a strange idea to argue against collaboration with the argument that everyone can do it. As if there were something immoral in providing unmoderated collaboration.
I'm sharing your second criticism though. The feature is probably designed to gain legitimacy by being the petition platform people actually use. Would be very unwise for a bueraucracy to allow anything like that provided by a private company.
- jimmytidey 8y agoYou are correct, 'toxic' is a value judgement, I should have said extremist. One problem is that it will be impossible to know if a Facebook poll is representative; most likely it will not be, and will instead be taken mostly by people who already have similar views to the author of the poll. However, the polls may help convince users their views are actually mainstream (even if the "mainstream media" is ignoring them). Such users may feel free to take an even more extreme position if they believe their current views are actually about average. This is one mechanism Cass Sunstein has identified for driving extremism is groups. Voting isn't intrinsically democratic or empowering for voters - North Korea has elections. Presenting informed people with meaningful choices is what matters.