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So, the question is: are you more afraid of random nobodies online, or are you more afraid of already organized, already powerful people who had similar capabil

So, the question is: are you more afraid of random nobodies online, or are you more afraid of already organized, already powerful people who had similar capability already?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
concordDance 4y ago
The answer is often the first because the latter don't have it out for you.
EdwardDiego 4y ago
I'm a nobody, and fiercely proud of it. And I pity the NSA employee who has to monitor my Internet usage, they're going to see an awful lot of Javadoc, programming blogs, websites about plane crashes (and I hope they read some AdmiralCloudberg on Medium for themselves), and websites about rocks and faultlines. In reality, as mentioned by other commenters, I'm not anything they're interested in, at best I'm a datapoint that advertisers try to categorise into a demographic (male, 30 - 50, doesn't give a shit about cars, into tech). And anyway, they're already doing it, but impersonally. It's the person who is very personal that I'm not enthused about.
- vintermann 4y ago
  This, and all the sibling comments, is just sad. Not only are you happy to never challenge current power in any meaningful way, but you are sure you never will be. If there is a revolution tomorrow and the Trumpists are in charge, or the Marxists, or the Russians or whatever, you're still sure you will be fine with that order too and will never rock the boat. You're also confident that if you do nothing wrong by them you have nothing to worry about. Instead, you've been taught to fear the weak, the nobodies. The nameless savage in the night. As if they have any more reason to hate you than the powerful have.
fritztastic 4y ago
Definitely nobodies online. I don't think anything I've ever done or will do would put me in the interest radius of big agencies, government or private (outside of perhaps advertising and a few exceptions). I have however, encountered death threats or obsessive/hostile behavior from people online who decided they have a beef with me for one reason or another. I'm much more inclined to be wary of some unstable individual having the means to find my identity (and therefore my location)- potentially using this to act on their emotions IRL.
hnbad 4y ago
Unless you're actively plotting to overthrow the government, commit violence against politicians or public property, or participate in major civil rights movements, you should be more worried about a random nobody funnelling all their built up hate and frustration into making your life miserable than a three letter agency, yes. The difference is that the three letter agency has a budget, process and middle management so at the end of the day someone needs to justify why they're expending resources on making your life miserable whereas the random obsessive weirdo just needs to convince a bunch of other obsessive weirdos that you're a garbage person they can turn into their "lolcow" of the day/week/month/year. The three letter agency is more likely to inconvenience you out of apathy than to actually try to destroy you intentionally. The random nobody is more likely to try to drive you into suicide for a thrill.
codingdave 4y ago
Absolutely more worried about the "nobodies". I'm boring to big scary organizations. But individuals have a wide potential for varying levels of instability and vengeance. Especially online.

So, the question is: are you more afraid of random nobodies online, or are you more afraid of already organized, already powerful people who had similar capability already?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

concordDance 4y ago

The answer is often the first because the latter don't have it out for you.

EdwardDiego 4y ago

I'm a nobody, and fiercely proud of it. And I pity the NSA employee who has to monitor my Internet usage, they're going to see an awful lot of Javadoc, programming blogs, websites about plane crashes (and I hope they read some AdmiralCloudberg on Medium for themselves), and websites about rocks and faultlines. In reality, as mentioned by other commenters, I'm not anything they're interested in, at best I'm a datapoint that advertisers try to categorise into a demographic (male, 30 - 50, doesn't give a shit about cars, into tech). And anyway, they're already doing it, but impersonally. It's the person who is very personal that I'm not enthused about.

vintermann 4y ago
This, and all the sibling comments, is just sad. Not only are you happy to never challenge current power in any meaningful way, but you are sure you never will be. If there is a revolution tomorrow and the Trumpists are in charge, or the Marxists, or the Russians or whatever, you're still sure you will be fine with that order too and will never rock the boat. You're also confident that if you do nothing wrong by them you have nothing to worry about. Instead, you've been taught to fear the weak, the nobodies. The nameless savage in the night. As if they have any more reason to hate you than the powerful have.

fritztastic 4y ago

Definitely nobodies online. I don't think anything I've ever done or will do would put me in the interest radius of big agencies, government or private (outside of perhaps advertising and a few exceptions). I have however, encountered death threats or obsessive/hostile behavior from people online who decided they have a beef with me for one reason or another. I'm much more inclined to be wary of some unstable individual having the means to find my identity (and therefore my location)- potentially using this to act on their emotions IRL.

hnbad 4y ago

Unless you're actively plotting to overthrow the government, commit violence against politicians or public property, or participate in major civil rights movements, you should be more worried about a random nobody funnelling all their built up hate and frustration into making your life miserable than a three letter agency, yes. The difference is that the three letter agency has a budget, process and middle management so at the end of the day someone needs to justify why they're expending resources on making your life miserable whereas the random obsessive weirdo just needs to convince a bunch of other obsessive weirdos that you're a garbage person they can turn into their "lolcow" of the day/week/month/year. The three letter agency is more likely to inconvenience you out of apathy than to actually try to destroy you intentionally. The random nobody is more likely to try to drive you into suicide for a thrill.

codingdave 4y ago

Absolutely more worried about the "nobodies". I'm boring to big scary organizations. But individuals have a wide potential for varying levels of instability and vengeance. Especially online.