5 ms·

Community Interaction and Conflict on the Web

66 points by bshanks 5y ago

wffurr 5y ago
(2018)
hairofadog 5y ago
> A small number of communities initiate most conflicts, with 1% of communities initiating 74% of all conflicts. This reminds me of an old episode of Radiolab (I think?) in which a New York cop started doing data analysis on petty crimes and discovered that some particular crime waves (for example, “purse snatching is up 120%!”) it would turn out to be just one guy who had turned it into a sort of career. I think about that all the time. Sometimes what appears to be a widespread problem is really just a single bad actor (or software bug, or leaky pipe, etc.) Unfortunately that cop’s data analysis turned into a computer system which was then abused as a quota system for arrests, but I still appreciate the original idea. [Edit] I think it was this episode of Reply All: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2hx34 https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2hx34
- swiley 5y ago
  A lot of the world seems like that; things that look like mass changes often have just a handful of people behind them. FOSS especially feels that way sometimes.
  - hairofadog 5y ago
    Interesting! It may be an indictment of my sour personality that I’ve only ever thought of this metaphor in terms of problems and not solutions.
- swader999 5y ago
  And what if those one percent communities were infiltrated and the leadership comprised of government agents and paid informants? 1/6 is looking more and more like an inside operation. Before you shoot the messenger and discredit the sources below know that their claims are all based off of government charging documents where it's spelled out clearly. https://www.revolver.news/2021/06/federal-foreknowledge-jan-6-unindicted-co-conspirators-raise-disturbing-questions/ https://www.revolver.news/2021/06/federal-foreknowledge-jan-... https://youtu.be/qWkOo1cFcms https://youtu.be/qWkOo1cFcms
  - CryptoPunk 5y ago
    I suspect you get this with concentrated interests. When someone stands to benefit disproportionately from a particular social outcome, they acquire a significant economic interest in specializing in social manipulation toward that end, and specialization has returns to scale, allowing a small number of specialists to outmanouver large collections of less-interested individuals in shaping public opinion. Some examples of areas where we may see concentrated interests: * cryptocurrency - large holders have a financial interest in popularizing cryptocurrency as a technology and investment * corporations - large shareholders have a financial interest in promoting companies and their interests * labor unions - unionized employees have a financial interest in promoting left-wing narratives that rationalize laws that privilege unions. This includes journalists and government employees, who are almost all unionized * government employees - have an interest in promoting government spending and discrediting free market capitalists * private government contractors/consultants - this includes AML consultants and black hat technology companies that work with law enforcement agencies and governments. The same dynamic that's seen with government employees, but magnified
wackget 5y ago
I just want to know which communities the red dots are. I wish they'd made a zoomable version of the map with labels.
nickthemagicman 5y ago
Dang and Moot could lecture on this I'm sure.
wsinks 5y ago
Not real medical advice, but I guess if you must have a smart speaker in your bedroom, you could also smoke cannabis to have fewer dreams, therefore fewer dream advertisements.. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/200906/marijuana-sleep-and-dreams https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/200... (I'm mostly being sarcastic here, but... there is something to this)
- Nzen 5y ago
  I also opened both tabs for this story about community dynamics and the story about subliminal ads via smart speakers.
motohagiography 5y ago
Super interesting that it seems to confirm the adage people fight because they are similar and not because they are different. E.g. they're interested in the same things and it's the struggle over the minutae that creates the conflict. Small differences create the largest conflict, and large differences mean people ignore each other in that model. Should give some people pause.
austincheney 5y ago
> Conflicts are marked by the formation of "echo-chambers", where users in the discussion thread primarily interact with other members of their own community (i.e., "attackers" interact with "attackers" and "defenders" with "defenders"). Try posting anything not extremely supportive of the named individual in this thread and see what happens. Consider it an experiment of social behavior. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27528876 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27528876
shuntress 5y ago
Democracy depends on open discussion and community between individuals. In that context, you can consider this type of interaction a vulnerability or attack surface. What do you think might be an effective way to mitigate this vulnerability? The only thing I can think of is "Don't be a jerk".

66 points by bshanks 5y ago

(2018)

> A small number of communities initiate most conflicts, with 1% of communities initiating 74% of all conflicts. This reminds me of an old episode of Radiolab (I think?) in which a New York cop started doing data analysis on petty crimes and discovered that some particular crime waves (for example, “purse snatching is up 120%!”) it would turn out to be just one guy who had turned it into a sort of career. I think about that all the time. Sometimes what appears to be a widespread problem is really just a single bad actor (or software bug, or leaky pipe, etc.) Unfortunately that cop’s data analysis turned into a computer system which was then abused as a quota system for arrests, but I still appreciate the original idea. [Edit] I think it was this episode of Reply All: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2hx34 https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/o2hx34

swiley 5y ago
A lot of the world seems like that; things that look like mass changes often have just a handful of people behind them. FOSS especially feels that way sometimes.
- hairofadog 5y ago
  Interesting! It may be an indictment of my sour personality that I’ve only ever thought of this metaphor in terms of problems and not solutions.
swader999 5y ago
And what if those one percent communities were infiltrated and the leadership comprised of government agents and paid informants? 1/6 is looking more and more like an inside operation. Before you shoot the messenger and discredit the sources below know that their claims are all based off of government charging documents where it's spelled out clearly. https://www.revolver.news/2021/06/federal-foreknowledge-jan-6-unindicted-co-conspirators-raise-disturbing-questions/ https://www.revolver.news/2021/06/federal-foreknowledge-jan-... https://youtu.be/qWkOo1cFcms https://youtu.be/qWkOo1cFcms
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  I suspect you get this with concentrated interests. When someone stands to benefit disproportionately from a particular social outcome, they acquire a significant economic interest in specializing in social manipulation toward that end, and specialization has returns to scale, allowing a small number of specialists to outmanouver large collections of less-interested individuals in shaping public opinion. Some examples of areas where we may see concentrated interests: * cryptocurrency - large holders have a financial interest in popularizing cryptocurrency as a technology and investment * corporations - large shareholders have a financial interest in promoting companies and their interests * labor unions - unionized employees have a financial interest in promoting left-wing narratives that rationalize laws that privilege unions. This includes journalists and government employees, who are almost all unionized * government employees - have an interest in promoting government spending and discrediting free market capitalists * private government contractors/consultants - this includes AML consultants and black hat technology companies that work with law enforcement agencies and governments. The same dynamic that's seen with government employees, but magnified

wackget 5y ago

I just want to know which communities the red dots are. I wish they'd made a zoomable version of the map with labels.

nickthemagicman 5y ago

Dang and Moot could lecture on this I'm sure.

wsinks 5y ago

Not real medical advice, but I guess if you must have a smart speaker in your bedroom, you could also smoke cannabis to have fewer dreams, therefore fewer dream advertisements.. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/200906/marijuana-sleep-and-dreams https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-teenage-mind/200... (I'm mostly being sarcastic here, but... there is something to this)

Nzen 5y ago
I also opened both tabs for this story about community dynamics and the story about subliminal ads via smart speakers.

motohagiography 5y ago

Super interesting that it seems to confirm the adage people fight because they are similar and not because they are different. E.g. they're interested in the same things and it's the struggle over the minutae that creates the conflict. Small differences create the largest conflict, and large differences mean people ignore each other in that model. Should give some people pause.

austincheney 5y ago

> Conflicts are marked by the formation of "echo-chambers", where users in the discussion thread primarily interact with other members of their own community (i.e., "attackers" interact with "attackers" and "defenders" with "defenders"). Try posting anything not extremely supportive of the named individual in this thread and see what happens. Consider it an experiment of social behavior. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27528876 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27528876

shuntress 5y ago

Democracy depends on open discussion and community between individuals. In that context, you can consider this type of interaction a vulnerability or attack surface. What do you think might be an effective way to mitigate this vulnerability? The only thing I can think of is "Don't be a jerk".