5 ms·

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I agree there is a positive to isolating the worst of social media off on a separate site. On the othe

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I agree there is a positive to isolating the worst of social media off on a separate site. On the other hand, we're (maybe) just starting to see Facebook etc take some action on the worst elements of social media. This subverts that and makes it harder for Facebook to take further action in the future: shareholders will rightfully ask "what if you lose even more users by banning <socially negative thing>". Also, the bad thing about fb etc is that they just want to sell you advertising. But that's also the good thing, Facebook don't care about your politics, they don't particularly want to influence you as a person, they just want you to click on ads for shit you don't need. I wonder about other social networks, eventually someone will weaponise one, and sell votes rather than clicks. Is this the start of that? An expressly Conservative social network is much better placed to sell souls than clicks...

faitswulff 6y ago
Inevitably these kinds of safe spaces for hate speech lead to hate crimes: https://www.wired.com/story/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-gab-tree-of-life/ https://www.wired.com/story/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-ga... As long as the FBI are aware and can prevent these things, I suppose it's a nice honeypot, but if not then it's a literal weaponization of social media.
- LatteLazy 6y ago
  I actually hadn't thought of that side of it but you're right. This must be a good source to see what groups and where on the spectrum of "unhappy to planning sedition"...
- ch4s3 6y ago
  I'm not sure that we can provably say that they LEAD to crimes. I think there's a strong case to be made that people interested in carrying out these crimes find like minded people online and engage in meme culture. You can probably make a good case that things like 8chan encourage copy-cat elements in these attacks. I'm just not quite sure the case has been convincingly made that internet cess pools generate crime that would't otherwise happen. I could probably be convinced otherwise, but I'm not sure.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- concordDance 6y ago
  Note that echochambers leading to enough hate is a problem for both "left" and "right" aligned people. The violent actions of some people claiming to be Antifa being a recent example. Echochambers based on hatred (of Trump supporters, "SJW"s or black people) just leads to awfulness, what's needed is controlled exposure to average members of the hated group to cool them down.
calinet6 6y ago
I think it just delays a bigger problem, kicks the can down the road. In 2-4 years' time, we'll have an even bigger festering cesspool of self-reinforced beliefs than ever before, and an more difficult time having rational discourse among our society about how to run it.
- npsimons 6y ago
  How do we get back from where we are now? I have to admit, my social skills are lacking, my patience is low; and the problem just seems so vastly overwhelming that I can't imagine where to even begin.
  - tomjen3 6y ago
    Reinstitute the draft, or national service where every young kid has to spend a year fighting along side people they didn't know before hand, far from home. Or spend a year traveling the US doing worthwhile projects (fixing up broken jungle gyms in schools) again with people they didn't know. It is a little bit less likely that you dislike heartland America when you spent a year working with Fred the Farmboy before you headed to Princeton. Fred could probably swap stories with a kid from the ghetto and may be they would come out with the understanding that they were not quite as different after all. Of course, like any draft it would be a huge violation of the persons personal freedom.
    - npsimons 6y ago
      > It is a little bit less likely that you dislike heartland America when you spent a year working with Fred the Farmboy before you headed to Princeton. I find it interesting you choose this as an example, and not rather say that "Fred the Farmboy" might actually see those "librul coastal elites" or "ivory tower intellectuals" as people like himself. The latter are terms I've actually seen used. But on the topic of a Civilian Conservation Corp, yes, definitely bring that back!
      - mistermann 6y ago

faitswulff 6y ago

Inevitably these kinds of safe spaces for hate speech lead to hate crimes: https://www.wired.com/story/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-gab-tree-of-life/ https://www.wired.com/story/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-ga... As long as the FBI are aware and can prevent these things, I suppose it's a nice honeypot, but if not then it's a literal weaponization of social media.

LatteLazy 6y ago
I actually hadn't thought of that side of it but you're right. This must be a good source to see what groups and where on the spectrum of "unhappy to planning sedition"...
ch4s3 6y ago
I'm not sure that we can provably say that they LEAD to crimes. I think there's a strong case to be made that people interested in carrying out these crimes find like minded people online and engage in meme culture. You can probably make a good case that things like 8chan encourage copy-cat elements in these attacks. I'm just not quite sure the case has been convincingly made that internet cess pools generate crime that would't otherwise happen. I could probably be convinced otherwise, but I'm not sure.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
concordDance 6y ago
Note that echochambers leading to enough hate is a problem for both "left" and "right" aligned people. The violent actions of some people claiming to be Antifa being a recent example. Echochambers based on hatred (of Trump supporters, "SJW"s or black people) just leads to awfulness, what's needed is controlled exposure to average members of the hated group to cool them down.

calinet6 6y ago

I think it just delays a bigger problem, kicks the can down the road. In 2-4 years' time, we'll have an even bigger festering cesspool of self-reinforced beliefs than ever before, and an more difficult time having rational discourse among our society about how to run it.

npsimons 6y ago
How do we get back from where we are now? I have to admit, my social skills are lacking, my patience is low; and the problem just seems so vastly overwhelming that I can't imagine where to even begin.
- tomjen3 6y ago
  Reinstitute the draft, or national service where every young kid has to spend a year fighting along side people they didn't know before hand, far from home. Or spend a year traveling the US doing worthwhile projects (fixing up broken jungle gyms in schools) again with people they didn't know. It is a little bit less likely that you dislike heartland America when you spent a year working with Fred the Farmboy before you headed to Princeton. Fred could probably swap stories with a kid from the ghetto and may be they would come out with the understanding that they were not quite as different after all. Of course, like any draft it would be a huge violation of the persons personal freedom.
  - npsimons 6y ago
    > It is a little bit less likely that you dislike heartland America when you spent a year working with Fred the Farmboy before you headed to Princeton. I find it interesting you choose this as an example, and not rather say that "Fred the Farmboy" might actually see those "librul coastal elites" or "ivory tower intellectuals" as people like himself. The latter are terms I've actually seen used. But on the topic of a Civilian Conservation Corp, yes, definitely bring that back!
    - mistermann 6y ago