5 ms·

An older person I know created twitter just to follow pandemic news and is now in the antivax and homeopathy echo chamber through replies and suggested tweets u

An older person I know created twitter just to follow pandemic news and is now in the antivax and homeopathy echo chamber through replies and suggested tweets under the 2 people he follows

isthisthingon99 4y ago
I'm sorry I found this hilarious
poszlem 4y ago
One interesting aspect of these arguments is that people often attribute the spread of anti-vaccine views to social media platforms like Twitter, rather than acknowledging the role of government and media in promoting false narratives that have contributed to widespread mistrust in mainstream institutions. While I personally believe that homeopathy is completely baseless, I can understand why someone who has witnessed the mishandling of the pandemic might lose faith in the objectivity of science and medicine. I used to work at major scientific publisher and was as "pro science" as could be, and I am also extremely disillusioned by the last 2 years.
- Rastonbury 4y ago
  Do you think the authorities actions are a result of intentional malice/dishonesty or incompetence? Be careful because this the playbook of how these influencers draw people into the echo chamber. Slowly breed mistrust in anything and everything mainstream, encouraging you to think critically. Once there is a level of mistrust in everything, they feed you sources they want you to believe, "don't believe these guys, I've shown you the light, now believe me" It also serves to alienate the person from friends/family/casual discussion, driving them further towards the chat groups and sites
  - poszlem 4y ago
    The actions of "the authorities" (or rather - many people working in "the authorities") were both malicious/dishonest and incompetent at different times (and for different people). I can try and attribute the "masks don't work" narrative to incompetence (they were trying to save the masks, and that backfired), but it isn't hard to argue that that was also dishonest. The same applies to the "you MUSTstay indoors" messages followed a few days later by "you should go and take part in a protest with hundreds of other people" because, suddenly, racism is a health emergency bigger than covid (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/12/racism-public-health-black-brown-coronavirus https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/12/racism-publi...). I am not in the "ivermectin cures Covid" camp. I don't think it does based on the available research. But the campaign to paint it as a "horse dewormer" was as far from honest as possible and I very much doubt that it was organic (Ivermectin is a drug that is prescribed to 150 000 people in the US every year, it's also commonly used to deworm dogs, and cats, and yet somehow each news outlet focused on horses). I could go on, but the fact of the matter is that I simply don't trust the mainstream media anymore and totally understand why many people do not either. I don't care what you think about that, from my perspective "don't believe these guys, I've shown you the light, now believe me" has been employed time and time again to smear people who had heterodox opinions during the pandemic (and way before it) too.
    - Rastonbury 4y ago
      I get what you mean, thanks for the explanation. Just out of curiosity, do you avoid news/media now, or get it from other sources?
      - poszlem 4y ago
        I use the website Ground News (https://ground.news/ https://ground.news/) to try to get information from as many sources as possible. In the past, I may have dismissed some people as being "crazy" or believing in conspiracy theories, but the past few years have shown me that it is important to keep an open mind and not be too sure of my own beliefs. As a result of this realization, I have been more open to talking to people, including friends and family, whom I may have previously avoided or dismissed (think - Trump loving uncles, or anti-vax brothers-in-law) I am also much more sceptical of"experts" ("experts say that") and phrases like "there is no evidence for X" (https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/the-phrase-no-evidence-is-a-red-flag https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/the-phrase-no-evidence...).
        Rastonbury 4y ago
        Thanks that site's pretty cool
    - thedrbrian 4y ago
      The same people taking the piss about “rednecks” and ivermectin were telling people how to make DIY abortion pills https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1521511916912488448 https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1521511916912488448 https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1433174812801765384 https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1433174812801765384

An older person I know created twitter just to follow pandemic news and is now in the antivax and homeopathy echo chamber through replies and suggested tweets under the 2 people he follows

isthisthingon99 4y ago

I'm sorry I found this hilarious

poszlem 4y ago

One interesting aspect of these arguments is that people often attribute the spread of anti-vaccine views to social media platforms like Twitter, rather than acknowledging the role of government and media in promoting false narratives that have contributed to widespread mistrust in mainstream institutions. While I personally believe that homeopathy is completely baseless, I can understand why someone who has witnessed the mishandling of the pandemic might lose faith in the objectivity of science and medicine. I used to work at major scientific publisher and was as "pro science" as could be, and I am also extremely disillusioned by the last 2 years.

Rastonbury 4y ago
Do you think the authorities actions are a result of intentional malice/dishonesty or incompetence? Be careful because this the playbook of how these influencers draw people into the echo chamber. Slowly breed mistrust in anything and everything mainstream, encouraging you to think critically. Once there is a level of mistrust in everything, they feed you sources they want you to believe, "don't believe these guys, I've shown you the light, now believe me" It also serves to alienate the person from friends/family/casual discussion, driving them further towards the chat groups and sites
- poszlem 4y ago
  The actions of "the authorities" (or rather - many people working in "the authorities") were both malicious/dishonest and incompetent at different times (and for different people). I can try and attribute the "masks don't work" narrative to incompetence (they were trying to save the masks, and that backfired), but it isn't hard to argue that that was also dishonest. The same applies to the "you MUSTstay indoors" messages followed a few days later by "you should go and take part in a protest with hundreds of other people" because, suddenly, racism is a health emergency bigger than covid (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/12/racism-public-health-black-brown-coronavirus https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/12/racism-publi...). I am not in the "ivermectin cures Covid" camp. I don't think it does based on the available research. But the campaign to paint it as a "horse dewormer" was as far from honest as possible and I very much doubt that it was organic (Ivermectin is a drug that is prescribed to 150 000 people in the US every year, it's also commonly used to deworm dogs, and cats, and yet somehow each news outlet focused on horses). I could go on, but the fact of the matter is that I simply don't trust the mainstream media anymore and totally understand why many people do not either. I don't care what you think about that, from my perspective "don't believe these guys, I've shown you the light, now believe me" has been employed time and time again to smear people who had heterodox opinions during the pandemic (and way before it) too.
  - Rastonbury 4y ago
    I get what you mean, thanks for the explanation. Just out of curiosity, do you avoid news/media now, or get it from other sources?
    - poszlem 4y ago
      I use the website Ground News (https://ground.news/ https://ground.news/) to try to get information from as many sources as possible. In the past, I may have dismissed some people as being "crazy" or believing in conspiracy theories, but the past few years have shown me that it is important to keep an open mind and not be too sure of my own beliefs. As a result of this realization, I have been more open to talking to people, including friends and family, whom I may have previously avoided or dismissed (think - Trump loving uncles, or anti-vax brothers-in-law) I am also much more sceptical of"experts" ("experts say that") and phrases like "there is no evidence for X" (https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/the-phrase-no-evidence-is-a-red-flag https://astralcodexten.substack.com/p/the-phrase-no-evidence...).
      - Rastonbury 4y ago
        Thanks that site's pretty cool
  - thedrbrian 4y ago
    The same people taking the piss about “rednecks” and ivermectin were telling people how to make DIY abortion pills https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1521511916912488448 https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1521511916912488448 https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1433174812801765384 https://twitter.com/motherboard/status/1433174812801765384