4 ms·
> meanwhile we are ignoring actual privacy violations being done by e.g. Facebook or Twitter, or the millions of ad networks This is becoming a form of digital
by kodablah 8y ago
> meanwhile we are ignoring actual privacy violations being done by e.g. Facebook or Twitter, or the millions of ad networks
This is becoming a form of digital whataboutism and false equivalence. I can't read comments about seatback airline cameras without being reminded of these other "violations" as though they are related. Maybe the collective "we" are ignoring them because "we" don't consider them privacy violations or just don't care, despite the fact that those bombarding us want us to.
- kelnos 8y agoI'm always torn on whataboutism. On one hand, yes, these are all problems that should be addressed, and you shouldn't dismiss one just because there are some worse problems elsewhere. But I think a lot of what we sometimes label whataboutism is just people marveling how people in general are just so terrible at risk assessment that they'll latch onto minimal-risk items and get outraged about them, while at the same time engaging in higher-risk activities in the same context. But there's also the fact that the "what about"-er has no idea what the parent poster is concerned with; saying they're "ignoring actual privacy violations being done by e.g. Facebook or Twitter, or the millions of ad networks" might be entirely false. Maybe they're concerned about both things.
- kodablah 8y ago> I'm always torn on whataboutism I'd say there's a difference between idly attempting to gain perspective/compare, and dismissing/shaming the original content and its interested receivers via contrast. The latter is the problem, especially when it's framed as a mutually exclusive option between the primary subject and the contrasted subject, as though there is a fixed maximum of concern that can be had.