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Or that using the ok finger gesture briefly was career ending because 4chan openly declared a psyop to see if they could bait social media into declaring it a w
by Mountain_Skies 4y ago
Or that using the ok finger gesture briefly was career ending because 4chan openly declared a psyop to see if they could bait social media into declaring it a white supremacist symbol. Worked like a charm and hysteria abounded for a couple of months before the next hysteria was birthed and that one quickly forgotten. Unfortunately, some people who don't keep up with the day-to-day changes in what's considered unacceptable communication, got labeled as racist for making the ok sign even though there was no ill intent or even knowledge that anyone now considered it a taboo gesture.
- Semaphor 4y agoWow, that probably was contained within the US? Never heard of it. edit: Background https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK_gesture#White_power_symbol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK_gesture#White_power_symbol Seems like they managed to have white power fans actually adopt it.
- ModernMech 4y agoI don’t know, I still have questions. I was told exactly this in 2002 by my Southern good ol boy social studies teacher. According to him, it was a sign that KKK members in his town used to signal group membership to one another. In his telling the three extended fingers meant KKK, and they would tuck the thumb and index finger in their belt or waistband. Either he was making it up then and it’s a complete coincidence his story matches the 4chan story 15 years later, which is also made up; or there’s a kernel of truth to it, and this guy was letting us in on some weird aspect of racist subculture that made its way to the mainstream in 2017. These people had so many other weird customs (like calling themselves wizards and dragons), I don’t see why secret hand signals are out of the question.
- Semaphor 4y agoAmazing anecdote either way :D
- smcl 4y agoSo this is where I don't know what to think - I'm overseas and don't exactly have my finger on the pulse of alt-right culture. I only knew it after it was co-opted by Nick Fuentes and his circle so I don't know if it was: 1. 4chan tries to say it means "White Power" 2. the news pick this up and runs with it 3. actual white nationalists started using it or 1. 4chan tries to say it means "White Power" 2. actual white nationalists started using it 3. the news reports that white nationalists are using it News orgs can be easily fooled into reporting ridiculous fake shit and backfiring - like the whole "teens eating tide pods" thing causing a few teens and boomers to actually try eating them - so both are possible, I'd suspect that the latter is more likely though.
- Semaphor 4y agoI’d say both are likely ;) But it’s telling that the ADL at first refused to add it to their list of hate-signs, and then (according to wikipedia, after all I only heard of all this today) reversed their stance 2 years later. And almost all usage of the sign getting someone into trouble have also been 2019+ (again, from the wiki list).
- smcl 4y agoYeah I think the important thing is regardless of the origin, or the order of events ... it is now sometimes used by white nationalists. However I don't think that on its use on its own would cause a mob to mass report your account or anything. It's not so self-evidently a sign of hate as a hakenkreuz or the nazi salute would be, it's just worth remembering that in some rare situations it could be poorly received.
- rendall 4y agoAlways use the OK sign (to mean OK), even if someone else uses it to mean something else. Use it aggressively, always, relentlessly, as protest against bigotry and against language policing.
- smcl 4y agoIf you're going to use it "aggressively, always, relentlessly" then you may have to brace yourself for the occasions when you use it to someone from Brazil (where it's said to be a gesture along the lines of the middle finger) or with black-bloc counter-protestors near a nazi rally, or any other context where it's considered hateful or just generally rude. The Brazilian may just think you're an asshole. The black bloc guys will assume you are with the nazis who just hospitalised their friend... This is what's important - it's not banned, it's not going to get you jailed. It's just going to land you in a tricky situation if you use it where it's going to be interpreted as a hate symbol. What you do with this information is up to you.
- AlexandrB 4y agoQAnon was a 4chan psyop and look where that ended up. These things tend to take on a life of their own once removed from their original context.