3 ms·
Have you ever waded into the comments section of posts on the front page of /r/all? Not only will you find plenty of bullying, you'll also find plenty of misin
by mistermann 6y ago
Have you ever waded into the comments section of posts on the front page of /r/all? Not only will you find plenty of bullying, you'll also find plenty of misinformation, but not the kind that's had the conspiracy theory label attached so it evades our awareness. This is one thing that I never see mentioned in articles like this: the degree to which social media shapes non-conspiracy-theorist's perception of reality. It is right there in front of our noses, but so hard to see.
- bryan_w 6y agoExactly. There are so many people who have an extremely cynical view of the world based on what they learned online. The idea of an honest politician or company seems impossible to them. I just hope that it doesn't lead to self-fulfilling prophecies.
- lmm 6y agoIs that noticeably different from any other information source? Traditional newspapers/TV present a very misleading picture of reality too.
- mistermann 6y agoThey do, but newspapers don't allow readers to distribute misinformation among themselves, or vote threads full of self-reinforcing misinformation to the front page of /r/all. The thought shaping at scale capability of Reddit is massive, and seems to go mostly unnoticed as everyone is laser focused on QAnon and conspiracy theorists (which quite conveniently are very common topics of discussion in these threads).