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You're responding to an article about Russian intelligence successfully exploiting divides between groups of Americans by... blaming distinct groups of American

You're responding to an article about Russian intelligence successfully exploiting divides between groups of Americans by... blaming distinct groups of Americans. I'll take your post in good faith, it's easy to get sucked into this stuff, that's why it's working for the Kremlin. But, I think the best approach is to try to write online with empathy and not vilification.

colechristensen 2y ago
I’m not very empathetic with the people who make money off of divisiveness being bad at moderating it.
afavour 2y ago
I agreed with you before now but I'm losing my patience. Yes, social media networks should be doing a better job of moderating. Yes, the media should report more honestly. But there comes a point where individuals have to be given responsibility for being suckered into, frankly, stupid shit. If you read "Democrats are controlling the weather and generating hurricanes to suppress voter turnout" and your response is "yeah, sounds plausible" then you're just simply not thinking. You're seeing something that appeals to your biases and you're accepting it uncritically. And you deserve blame for doing so.
IAmGraydon 2y ago
I have no idea what you're even talking about. The guy you replied to is 100% correct. Social media companies have built the launch platform for a foreign attack, and nothing has been done to make sure it's not being turned against the American public. You know the saying - with great power comes great responsibility. It they want to create such a powerful, world altering tool, they need to be able to make sure it isn't being used in an attempt to fell an entire country.
- jauntywundrkind 2y ago
  Lots had been done, but those teams were all fired, access to the API made unbelievably expensive, and researchers threatened and prosecuted for observing bad guys & disinformation. It's wild what Free Speech has suddenly become under new management. Free Speech used to also be free to consume, observe, look at, understand. But now speech is free & unbelimished from anyone understanding whose actually saying it or what networks they are part of. Free & unaccountable speech.
  - bobthepanda 2y ago
    It also isn’t really free. See: the accounts tracking private jet usage
- akdor1154 2y ago
  > The guy you replied to is 100% correct. I don't disagree, my issue is with things like > We also need to stop giving these so-called unsuspecting and unwitting Americans the benefit of the doubt. At some point they need to educate themselves and stop falling for this crap. This is divisive and unhelpful, even if the underlying phenomenon ("some people are gullible") is true.
ryandrake 2y ago
The time for empathy was the first and second time people were fooled by this stuff. At some point, you need to start asking the fooled to share accountability with the fooler. These people aren't innocent victims being bamboozled by a clever manipulator. They see the bombardment of misinformation, they know it's misinformation, they know where it's coming from, and are willingly stepping into the path of it and inviting it in to their brains. The people falling for this stuff are not helpless deer in a forest full of predators--they are actively participating in the deception targeted at them.

colechristensen 2y ago

I’m not very empathetic with the people who make money off of divisiveness being bad at moderating it.

afavour 2y ago

I agreed with you before now but I'm losing my patience. Yes, social media networks should be doing a better job of moderating. Yes, the media should report more honestly. But there comes a point where individuals have to be given responsibility for being suckered into, frankly, stupid shit. If you read "Democrats are controlling the weather and generating hurricanes to suppress voter turnout" and your response is "yeah, sounds plausible" then you're just simply not thinking. You're seeing something that appeals to your biases and you're accepting it uncritically. And you deserve blame for doing so.

IAmGraydon 2y ago

I have no idea what you're even talking about. The guy you replied to is 100% correct. Social media companies have built the launch platform for a foreign attack, and nothing has been done to make sure it's not being turned against the American public. You know the saying - with great power comes great responsibility. It they want to create such a powerful, world altering tool, they need to be able to make sure it isn't being used in an attempt to fell an entire country.

jauntywundrkind 2y ago
Lots had been done, but those teams were all fired, access to the API made unbelievably expensive, and researchers threatened and prosecuted for observing bad guys & disinformation. It's wild what Free Speech has suddenly become under new management. Free Speech used to also be free to consume, observe, look at, understand. But now speech is free & unbelimished from anyone understanding whose actually saying it or what networks they are part of. Free & unaccountable speech.
- bobthepanda 2y ago
  It also isn’t really free. See: the accounts tracking private jet usage
akdor1154 2y ago
> The guy you replied to is 100% correct. I don't disagree, my issue is with things like > We also need to stop giving these so-called unsuspecting and unwitting Americans the benefit of the doubt. At some point they need to educate themselves and stop falling for this crap. This is divisive and unhelpful, even if the underlying phenomenon ("some people are gullible") is true.

ryandrake 2y ago

The time for empathy was the first and second time people were fooled by this stuff. At some point, you need to start asking the fooled to share accountability with the fooler. These people aren't innocent victims being bamboozled by a clever manipulator. They see the bombardment of misinformation, they know it's misinformation, they know where it's coming from, and are willingly stepping into the path of it and inviting it in to their brains. The people falling for this stuff are not helpless deer in a forest full of predators--they are actively participating in the deception targeted at them.