4 ms·

Have you ever thought that you might be making the internet a worse place and negatively impacting the people interact with? Do you care?

by teg4n_ 5y ago

Mandatum 5y ago
Apart from the shitty first link which happened almost 10 years ago and I still regret/think about - I don't think I am making it a worse place. There's a lot of incorrect and biased narratives all over the internet where user-submitted content is allowed. Does it make it any worse than any other user-submitted content? I don't think so. Do I care? Kind of, that's why I posted this.
- brigandish 5y ago
  > There's a lot of incorrect and biased narratives all over the internet where user-submitted content is allowed. Does it make it any worse than any other user-submitted content? I don't think so. When did two wrongs start making an alright?
- hutzlibu 5y ago
  "other people do it too" Yes, they do. Other people also steal, rape, commit murder, war, genocide, so in general you can justify allmost anything with that excuse - but you could never hope to increase the standard, only lower it, by doing the same. In other words, wouldn't you prefer a world, where you could just trust people, even online? Spend less energy fact checking everything? Fact checking the fact checking? We live already in a fake, photoshoped world. Where the truth is burried in garbage, clickbait and make up. The consequence is, we spend so much energy debating about whether some crisis is real, like climate change or covid, instead of actually doing something about it. So it is up to you, if you want to raise the bar, or lower it. You realized yourself, that the experts replys to your posts often get burried, because you were better with the words (and said what the mob wanted to hear). This is what I am talking about. Because those experts have limited energy. At some point they just give up and leave the garbage be. At some point, there will be only garbage left.
- krageon 5y ago
  > There's a lot of incorrect and biased narratives all over the internet where user-submitted content is allowed. Imagine for a second it comes from people like you. Can you see why folks would feel you are the problem?
- zipperhead 5y ago
  There's a lot of misunderstanding of the word karma. This "I still regret/think about" you are referring to is actually one of the true natures of karma. Your actions have an affect, often or especially on yourself. Sorry if that all sounds preachy, but it's something to reflect on. Often it's just not worth it, and it turns out sometimes that you're only hurting yourself.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
magic_hamster 5y ago
I agree with this sentiment. Instead of spreading misinformation for sake of "being corrected" or "instigating a discussion", you can just ask for more info and pursue knowledge. You need to understand that some of your BS comments that exist only to fuel the discussion can be repeated by people who actually believe you know what you're talking about, or worse, they can make decisions based on your "informed" comment. It could be destructive.
- kepair 5y ago
  Making life choices based on Internet comments is already a potentially destructive choice. This person is commenting in forums, not writing papers and news pieces.
  - teg4n_ 5y ago
    Sure, it is unwise to make life choices based on internet comments because of people like the OP. Even so, it does not absolve OP and people like them of having contributed to the harm that can occur due to their contributions.

Have you ever thought that you might be making the internet a worse place and negatively impacting the people interact with? Do you care?

by teg4n_ 5y ago

Have you ever thought that you might be making the internet a worse place and negatively impacting the people interact with? Do you care?

Mandatum 5y ago

Apart from the shitty first link which happened almost 10 years ago and I still regret/think about - I don't think I am making it a worse place. There's a lot of incorrect and biased narratives all over the internet where user-submitted content is allowed. Does it make it any worse than any other user-submitted content? I don't think so. Do I care? Kind of, that's why I posted this.

brigandish 5y ago
> There's a lot of incorrect and biased narratives all over the internet where user-submitted content is allowed. Does it make it any worse than any other user-submitted content? I don't think so. When did two wrongs start making an alright?
hutzlibu 5y ago
"other people do it too" Yes, they do. Other people also steal, rape, commit murder, war, genocide, so in general you can justify allmost anything with that excuse - but you could never hope to increase the standard, only lower it, by doing the same. In other words, wouldn't you prefer a world, where you could just trust people, even online? Spend less energy fact checking everything? Fact checking the fact checking? We live already in a fake, photoshoped world. Where the truth is burried in garbage, clickbait and make up. The consequence is, we spend so much energy debating about whether some crisis is real, like climate change or covid, instead of actually doing something about it. So it is up to you, if you want to raise the bar, or lower it. You realized yourself, that the experts replys to your posts often get burried, because you were better with the words (and said what the mob wanted to hear). This is what I am talking about. Because those experts have limited energy. At some point they just give up and leave the garbage be. At some point, there will be only garbage left.
krageon 5y ago
> There's a lot of incorrect and biased narratives all over the internet where user-submitted content is allowed. Imagine for a second it comes from people like you. Can you see why folks would feel you are the problem?
zipperhead 5y ago
There's a lot of misunderstanding of the word karma. This "I still regret/think about" you are referring to is actually one of the true natures of karma. Your actions have an affect, often or especially on yourself. Sorry if that all sounds preachy, but it's something to reflect on. Often it's just not worth it, and it turns out sometimes that you're only hurting yourself.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

magic_hamster 5y ago

I agree with this sentiment. Instead of spreading misinformation for sake of "being corrected" or "instigating a discussion", you can just ask for more info and pursue knowledge. You need to understand that some of your BS comments that exist only to fuel the discussion can be repeated by people who actually believe you know what you're talking about, or worse, they can make decisions based on your "informed" comment. It could be destructive.

kepair 5y ago
Making life choices based on Internet comments is already a potentially destructive choice. This person is commenting in forums, not writing papers and news pieces.
- teg4n_ 5y ago
  Sure, it is unwise to make life choices based on internet comments because of people like the OP. Even so, it does not absolve OP and people like them of having contributed to the harm that can occur due to their contributions.