4 ms·

I wonder if this is mainly the enabling effect of the internet (a lot of people who, in real life, would never dream of abusing another person, feel able to do

by mrwh 5y ago

I wonder if this is mainly the enabling effect of the internet (a lot of people who, in real life, would never dream of abusing another person, feel able to do so on the internet); or its multiplying effect (a few people -- and there are always a few, who in the past would write poison pen letters and the like) are able to spread their bile _everywhere_. I imagine it's a combination.

throwaway9980 5y ago
The Internet also enables bad actors to participate anonymously. Obviously plenty of the people screaming on the Internet are “real” people. But how many are paid to manipulate and agitate? What percentage of inflammatory posts on both sides of the divide are the product of paid influence? It sounds like conspiracy theory lala land, but I knew people 10+ years ago who were writing reviews and engaging in product discussions professionally. It’s only gotten more sophisticated and widespread. It feels like today we’re living in a political landscape akin to fake review bullshit land on Amazon.
- stevenicr 5y ago
  just a few bad actors can and will conspire to create between 8 million and 18 million fake identity comments on a single page... https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/biggest-isps-paid-for-8-5-million-fake-fcc-comments-opposing-net-neutrality/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/biggest-isps-pai... or https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ny-ag-report-finds-18-million-fcc-net-neutrality-comments-were-fake/ar-BB1gqzc6 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ny-ag-report-finds... it's conspiracy - not theory at this point.
kthejoker2 5y ago
> A stone hit her on the side of the head. Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery" I always loved that the first one waa anonymous, disembodied, as if no one (or everyone all at once) threw it. I always wondered about the type of person who could start such a thing. Later, when I read Granovetter's theory on behavior thresholds, it suddenly made sense that there are thousands - millions - of people just itching for a reason to throw a stone. There is always someone with a riot threshold of zero.

by mrwh 5y ago

throwaway9980 5y ago

The Internet also enables bad actors to participate anonymously. Obviously plenty of the people screaming on the Internet are “real” people. But how many are paid to manipulate and agitate? What percentage of inflammatory posts on both sides of the divide are the product of paid influence? It sounds like conspiracy theory lala land, but I knew people 10+ years ago who were writing reviews and engaging in product discussions professionally. It’s only gotten more sophisticated and widespread. It feels like today we’re living in a political landscape akin to fake review bullshit land on Amazon.

stevenicr 5y ago
just a few bad actors can and will conspire to create between 8 million and 18 million fake identity comments on a single page... https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/biggest-isps-paid-for-8-5-million-fake-fcc-comments-opposing-net-neutrality/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/biggest-isps-pai... or https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ny-ag-report-finds-18-million-fcc-net-neutrality-comments-were-fake/ar-BB1gqzc6 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ny-ag-report-finds... it's conspiracy - not theory at this point.

kthejoker2 5y ago

> A stone hit her on the side of the head. Shirley Jackson, "The Lottery" I always loved that the first one waa anonymous, disembodied, as if no one (or everyone all at once) threw it. I always wondered about the type of person who could start such a thing. Later, when I read Granovetter's theory on behavior thresholds, it suddenly made sense that there are thousands - millions - of people just itching for a reason to throw a stone. There is always someone with a riot threshold of zero.