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The Zeitgeist has gotten especially stupid ever since Trump got elected. A very unpopular opinion. Rather than accept that people are horrible they look to tech

The Zeitgeist has gotten especially stupid ever since Trump got elected. A very unpopular opinion. Rather than accept that people are horrible they look to technology for scapegoats. That and pretending the media conglomerates were the good ole days of accuracy instead of tremendously fucked up. You wouldn't see an entire coasts deliberately kept ignorant of a warcrimes confessional (Winter Soldier Hearings).

pennaMan 4y ago
This resonates with me a lot. I find it quite odd that people are happy to blame facebook, twitter, instagram and etc. for the things people do on those platforms. It's like blaming the public square or the coffee shop or whatever place "problematic" people gather and discuss "problematic" ideas. No. The platform is just a place just like a sidewalk is a place. The problem is society itself. But I guess that's a hard pill to swallow for people and making up imaginary enemies then laying down the regulations on those imaginary enemies is preferred to addressing issues with society itself.
- ryandrake 4y ago
  Using your metaphor, the sidewalk is your ISP. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not the sidewalk, but instead a megaphone given to these people. The problem is society, but these platforms are not just places, they are giant amplifiers of this problematic society, and they are absolutely choosing (algorithmically) who to amplify.
- kthejoker2 4y ago
  Your error is declaring these platforms are "just a place." There is a ton of evidence YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. deliberately push inflammatory / extremist material to people to increase engagement. My 8 year old daughter exclusively watches Let's Play and "how to draw" / DIY crafting videos on YouTube, and still gets recommended content on why vaccinations are dangerous and junk health pseudoscience, flat earth and New World Order conspiracy theories, and a ton of comparatively vanilla highly biased political "commentary." Their algorithm tells them if they can get her interest on these videos (instead of others) she will spend more time on their site. They do not care why she is spending more time on their site, or if there is any societal harm from the content she is consuming - it's a "free country, after all." If every time you went to your coffee shop, they introduced you to another customer peddling snake oil or handed you a newspaper full of extreme left or right wing talking points, you wouldn't say "it's just a coffee shop."
- lm28469 4y ago
  The sidewalk and the coffee shop weren't designed to create and unlimited feed of engaging content and compete for your attention by triggering your brain's most basic responses. A quick Google search will show you dozens of studies on the topic. Don't forget these "public squares" are companies who's sole purpose is to show you ads to generate revenues, they're not here to provide a fair and calm public forum, they're not public utilities
  - pennaMan 4y ago
    I'll just say that 4chan is using sort by most recent post as its only algorithm.
lm28469 4y ago
> Rather than accept that people are horrible they look to technology for scapegoat It obviously is a two way street, technology shapes society as much as we shape technology. Do you think humanity evolves independently of its tools ? People are horrible, what we made with tech equally is, media were biased before and we just have more sources and channels now. If anything you're making my point
- Nasrudith 4y ago
  And what pray tell would technology which isn't made by horrible look like? Like the guns which only hurt bad guys and encryption for good people? What made Von Braun's rocket designs more evil than those by others? The transitive morality is a deeply dubious assumption.

pennaMan 4y ago

This resonates with me a lot. I find it quite odd that people are happy to blame facebook, twitter, instagram and etc. for the things people do on those platforms. It's like blaming the public square or the coffee shop or whatever place "problematic" people gather and discuss "problematic" ideas. No. The platform is just a place just like a sidewalk is a place. The problem is society itself. But I guess that's a hard pill to swallow for people and making up imaginary enemies then laying down the regulations on those imaginary enemies is preferred to addressing issues with society itself.

ryandrake 4y ago
Using your metaphor, the sidewalk is your ISP. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not the sidewalk, but instead a megaphone given to these people. The problem is society, but these platforms are not just places, they are giant amplifiers of this problematic society, and they are absolutely choosing (algorithmically) who to amplify.
kthejoker2 4y ago
Your error is declaring these platforms are "just a place." There is a ton of evidence YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. deliberately push inflammatory / extremist material to people to increase engagement. My 8 year old daughter exclusively watches Let's Play and "how to draw" / DIY crafting videos on YouTube, and still gets recommended content on why vaccinations are dangerous and junk health pseudoscience, flat earth and New World Order conspiracy theories, and a ton of comparatively vanilla highly biased political "commentary." Their algorithm tells them if they can get her interest on these videos (instead of others) she will spend more time on their site. They do not care why she is spending more time on their site, or if there is any societal harm from the content she is consuming - it's a "free country, after all." If every time you went to your coffee shop, they introduced you to another customer peddling snake oil or handed you a newspaper full of extreme left or right wing talking points, you wouldn't say "it's just a coffee shop."
lm28469 4y ago
The sidewalk and the coffee shop weren't designed to create and unlimited feed of engaging content and compete for your attention by triggering your brain's most basic responses. A quick Google search will show you dozens of studies on the topic. Don't forget these "public squares" are companies who's sole purpose is to show you ads to generate revenues, they're not here to provide a fair and calm public forum, they're not public utilities
- pennaMan 4y ago
  I'll just say that 4chan is using sort by most recent post as its only algorithm.

lm28469 4y ago

> Rather than accept that people are horrible they look to technology for scapegoat It obviously is a two way street, technology shapes society as much as we shape technology. Do you think humanity evolves independently of its tools ? People are horrible, what we made with tech equally is, media were biased before and we just have more sources and channels now. If anything you're making my point

Nasrudith 4y ago
And what pray tell would technology which isn't made by horrible look like? Like the guns which only hurt bad guys and encryption for good people? What made Von Braun's rocket designs more evil than those by others? The transitive morality is a deeply dubious assumption.