6 ms·

When I saw the cryptic 1 sentence tweet that he wasn't going to be there, the first thing that came to mind was that he was telling his supporters indirectly th

When I saw the cryptic 1 sentence tweet that he wasn't going to be there, the first thing that came to mind was that he was telling his supporters indirectly that they could do whatever they wanted since he wouldn't be in harms way. So perhaps it is a huge stretch to some, but we need to remember it is also not a stretch at all to many, especially given the recent events. Therein lies the danger.

1propionyl 6y ago
Same. If anything I was a bit surprised to see Twitter go there and read between the lines. But that was my immediate first thought, and likely that of a large number of folks.
danijelb 6y ago
I've been browsing thedonald.win today to see how his supporters are reacting to recent events, and that is one of the ways some users interpreted his tweet. Other than that, a ton of crazy theories. They literally take any two-three words from his tweets and make it mean whatever they want it to mean. To give you an example, in one of the recent tweets he put words "GIANT VOICE" in caps and they interpreted it as a reference to a military communication system with the same name. From that other people started theorizing how Trump will use the military system to circumvent the "big tech censorship" and deliver some dirty secrets about his "enemies" So, looking from that perspective any tweet of any person could be taken down because some conspiracy theorist interpreted it in a particular way. And in their heads, this ban only gives them more "proof" that they are right.
- mzs 6y ago
  Incidentally* about half an hour ago: >from discord: "While there is no evidence of the server being used to organize the Jan 6 riots, Discord decided to ban the entire server today due to its overt connection to an online forum used to incite violence and plan an armed insurrection in the United States" Cloudfare is still serving thedonald.win though. * https://twitter.com/alibreland/status/1347694525930680320 https://twitter.com/alibreland/status/1347694525930680320
- KraftKacke 6y ago
  > "So, looking from that perspective any tweet of any person could be taken down because some conspiracy theorist interpreted it in a particular way." And yet only Trump attracts this sort of lunatic following. Let's be honest, he does speak in a particular way and avoids statements with clear interpretations. And arguably he actively plays with the occult crowd's obsession with hidden meanings and symbolism. Fact is, his communications do have severe, real consequences and he fails to recognize that. It is therefore completely irrelevant how something could possibly interpreted otherwise. Human communication doesn't work like that. There is context, state and prediction, which cannot be ignored.
blendergeek 6y ago
I saw the tweet as acknowledgement that Biden will be president. I have never once thought the Trump would attend Biden's inauguration as that doesn't seem in character for him. I think that Twitter does themself a disfavor by using such weak evidence of Trump's violations of the terms of service.
- dragontamer 6y ago
  There's worry that Trump's supporters are seeing it as "Trump's not at the inauguration, time to riot again since he won't be there".
dillondoyle 6y ago
I think that's important to contextualize: these people are insane and are acting on these tweets. The Q people dissect these tweets twisting them to confirm their conspiracy beliefs. They thought that Trump's tweet about transition meant that he would fire Pence and that's the transition, applying numerology. At this point no matter what he says it's dangerous because of the thousands (millions?) of deranged psychopathic terrorists he has created who read them and act violently no matter what he says.
- dragontamer 6y ago
  > these people are insane While I agree with your emotions, the use of the word "insane" might be counterproductive. As a group, we're mostly optimistic, trying to find the best interpretation of actions. "Insane" implies that these people are not in control of themselves or their actions. That's not what is going on: they are fully in control and are CHOOSING to feed themselves with conspiracy theories... hoping to undo the 2020 election. I don't know what word to use to describe them. Conspirators might be more accurate and helpful. Ex: > I think that's important to contextualize: these people are conspirators and are acting on these tweets. The Q people dissect these tweets twisting them to confirm their conspiracy beliefs. By and large, these people are NOT suffering from any mental illness. They'll be going to work on Monday, and will probably take off this weekend, maybe go to Church on Sunday. They are choosing to participate in the conspiracy.
  - dillondoyle 6y ago
    maybe. what's a better word though? Are they really in control? That word is too coarse I think for the situation. HN talks all the time about the power of social media, the studies showing quick radicalization, etc. That implies some level of manipulation e.g. not 100% free will.
    - dragontamer 6y ago
      None of us are subject to 100% free will. I'm influencing your opinion of the situation right now. My words have some degree of power over you. That doesn't mean I'm responsible for your actions or your words. We draw the line at individual responsibility for a reason. Its not perfect, but the buck stops at your own actions. ------ I'm sure you trust in a fair number of leaders. I don't know who your role models are, but if they started calling for violent insurrection, it would be your choice whether to follow them down that path of degeneracy.
azangru 6y ago
> the first thing that came to mind was that he was telling his supporters indirectly that they could do whatever they wanted since he wouldn't be in harms way Wow, it would have never occurred to me to read it like this, but then I am hopeless at teasing out hidden meanings from what people say. To me, this is just so consistent with the overall picture of him that's been consistently painted in the media, and which he only verifies by his own behavior — that of a stubborn, spoilt, petulant child — that I can't but take his words at face value, i.e. that he's informing the world that he won't show up because of spite. I am also amused that there seems to be a non-negligible amount of people who apparently care whether he will or will not attend the ceremony. To a foreigner like me, it just sounds so insignificant and puny.
- jaycroft 6y ago
  A symbolic gesture signaling approval of the peaceful transition of power for arguably the most powerful political apparatus on earth is quite significant to a lot of Americans. It is probably considerably less interesting to people watching from the outside.
  - Aeolun 6y ago
    The symbolism of him attending is much more important to me than the symbolism of him staying away. Few people will start a riot if he is there transferring power to the new president. A legion of people will show up to disrupt the proceedings if he isn’t.
- weaksauce 6y ago
  > that of a stubborn, spoilt, petulant child could be that and also him accidentally stoking the flames of stochastic terror.
hchz 6y ago
Read the Turner Diaries.
Miner49er 6y ago
This is the same type of conspiracies that the right is accused of having. Was there anyway that he could have announced he was boycotting the inauguration and it wouldn't be taken this way by some?
- tt433 6y ago
  His supporters were literally talking about that exact scenario in the replies
  - rcstank 6y ago
    > His supporters All 70 million?
    - whymauri 6y ago
      You don't need 70 million people for organizers on Parler to be dangerous.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
    - Miner49er 6y ago
      Just because someone voted from Trump doesn't mean they support him.
- alsetmusic 6y ago
  > This is the same type of conspiracies that the right is accused of having. Was there anyway that he could have announced he was boycotting the inauguration and it wouldn't be taken this way by some? Yes. He could have accepted the results of the election and not promoted conspiracies.
- tedunangst 6y ago
  He could specifically say there will be a transition to a Biden administration, not just a "new" one, which Capitol storming types have decided means a Trump-Flynn administration, after ousting the traitor Pence. They are continuing to have these fever dreams.
umvi 6y ago
Trump's critics are always over-analyzing what he says trying to look for secret incitements of violence and nazi dog whistles and conspiracies when reality is much simpler - he's just a sore loser who isn't attending out of spite.
- Aeolun 6y ago
  That is entirely possible. But his supporters will not read it that way. The most powerful person on the planet should be held to a higher standard than just blating out whatever is on his mind.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

1propionyl 6y ago

Same. If anything I was a bit surprised to see Twitter go there and read between the lines. But that was my immediate first thought, and likely that of a large number of folks.

danijelb 6y ago

I've been browsing thedonald.win today to see how his supporters are reacting to recent events, and that is one of the ways some users interpreted his tweet. Other than that, a ton of crazy theories. They literally take any two-three words from his tweets and make it mean whatever they want it to mean. To give you an example, in one of the recent tweets he put words "GIANT VOICE" in caps and they interpreted it as a reference to a military communication system with the same name. From that other people started theorizing how Trump will use the military system to circumvent the "big tech censorship" and deliver some dirty secrets about his "enemies" So, looking from that perspective any tweet of any person could be taken down because some conspiracy theorist interpreted it in a particular way. And in their heads, this ban only gives them more "proof" that they are right.

mzs 6y ago
Incidentally* about half an hour ago: >from discord: "While there is no evidence of the server being used to organize the Jan 6 riots, Discord decided to ban the entire server today due to its overt connection to an online forum used to incite violence and plan an armed insurrection in the United States" Cloudfare is still serving thedonald.win though. * https://twitter.com/alibreland/status/1347694525930680320 https://twitter.com/alibreland/status/1347694525930680320
KraftKacke 6y ago
> "So, looking from that perspective any tweet of any person could be taken down because some conspiracy theorist interpreted it in a particular way." And yet only Trump attracts this sort of lunatic following. Let's be honest, he does speak in a particular way and avoids statements with clear interpretations. And arguably he actively plays with the occult crowd's obsession with hidden meanings and symbolism. Fact is, his communications do have severe, real consequences and he fails to recognize that. It is therefore completely irrelevant how something could possibly interpreted otherwise. Human communication doesn't work like that. There is context, state and prediction, which cannot be ignored.

blendergeek 6y ago

I saw the tweet as acknowledgement that Biden will be president. I have never once thought the Trump would attend Biden's inauguration as that doesn't seem in character for him. I think that Twitter does themself a disfavor by using such weak evidence of Trump's violations of the terms of service.

dragontamer 6y ago
There's worry that Trump's supporters are seeing it as "Trump's not at the inauguration, time to riot again since he won't be there".

dillondoyle 6y ago

I think that's important to contextualize: these people are insane and are acting on these tweets. The Q people dissect these tweets twisting them to confirm their conspiracy beliefs. They thought that Trump's tweet about transition meant that he would fire Pence and that's the transition, applying numerology. At this point no matter what he says it's dangerous because of the thousands (millions?) of deranged psychopathic terrorists he has created who read them and act violently no matter what he says.

dragontamer 6y ago
> these people are insane While I agree with your emotions, the use of the word "insane" might be counterproductive. As a group, we're mostly optimistic, trying to find the best interpretation of actions. "Insane" implies that these people are not in control of themselves or their actions. That's not what is going on: they are fully in control and are CHOOSING to feed themselves with conspiracy theories... hoping to undo the 2020 election. I don't know what word to use to describe them. Conspirators might be more accurate and helpful. Ex: > I think that's important to contextualize: these people are conspirators and are acting on these tweets. The Q people dissect these tweets twisting them to confirm their conspiracy beliefs. By and large, these people are NOT suffering from any mental illness. They'll be going to work on Monday, and will probably take off this weekend, maybe go to Church on Sunday. They are choosing to participate in the conspiracy.
- dillondoyle 6y ago
  maybe. what's a better word though? Are they really in control? That word is too coarse I think for the situation. HN talks all the time about the power of social media, the studies showing quick radicalization, etc. That implies some level of manipulation e.g. not 100% free will.
  - dragontamer 6y ago
    None of us are subject to 100% free will. I'm influencing your opinion of the situation right now. My words have some degree of power over you. That doesn't mean I'm responsible for your actions or your words. We draw the line at individual responsibility for a reason. Its not perfect, but the buck stops at your own actions. ------ I'm sure you trust in a fair number of leaders. I don't know who your role models are, but if they started calling for violent insurrection, it would be your choice whether to follow them down that path of degeneracy.

azangru 6y ago

> the first thing that came to mind was that he was telling his supporters indirectly that they could do whatever they wanted since he wouldn't be in harms way Wow, it would have never occurred to me to read it like this, but then I am hopeless at teasing out hidden meanings from what people say. To me, this is just so consistent with the overall picture of him that's been consistently painted in the media, and which he only verifies by his own behavior — that of a stubborn, spoilt, petulant child — that I can't but take his words at face value, i.e. that he's informing the world that he won't show up because of spite. I am also amused that there seems to be a non-negligible amount of people who apparently care whether he will or will not attend the ceremony. To a foreigner like me, it just sounds so insignificant and puny.

jaycroft 6y ago
A symbolic gesture signaling approval of the peaceful transition of power for arguably the most powerful political apparatus on earth is quite significant to a lot of Americans. It is probably considerably less interesting to people watching from the outside.
- Aeolun 6y ago
  The symbolism of him attending is much more important to me than the symbolism of him staying away. Few people will start a riot if he is there transferring power to the new president. A legion of people will show up to disrupt the proceedings if he isn’t.
weaksauce 6y ago
> that of a stubborn, spoilt, petulant child could be that and also him accidentally stoking the flames of stochastic terror.

hchz 6y ago

Read the Turner Diaries.

Miner49er 6y ago

This is the same type of conspiracies that the right is accused of having. Was there anyway that he could have announced he was boycotting the inauguration and it wouldn't be taken this way by some?

tt433 6y ago
His supporters were literally talking about that exact scenario in the replies
- rcstank 6y ago
  > His supporters All 70 million?
  - whymauri 6y ago
    You don't need 70 million people for organizers on Parler to be dangerous.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - Miner49er 6y ago
    Just because someone voted from Trump doesn't mean they support him.
alsetmusic 6y ago
> This is the same type of conspiracies that the right is accused of having. Was there anyway that he could have announced he was boycotting the inauguration and it wouldn't be taken this way by some? Yes. He could have accepted the results of the election and not promoted conspiracies.
tedunangst 6y ago
He could specifically say there will be a transition to a Biden administration, not just a "new" one, which Capitol storming types have decided means a Trump-Flynn administration, after ousting the traitor Pence. They are continuing to have these fever dreams.

umvi 6y ago

Trump's critics are always over-analyzing what he says trying to look for secret incitements of violence and nazi dog whistles and conspiracies when reality is much simpler - he's just a sore loser who isn't attending out of spite.

Aeolun 6y ago
That is entirely possible. But his supporters will not read it that way. The most powerful person on the planet should be held to a higher standard than just blating out whatever is on his mind.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]