8 ms·

Reddit, by far, is one of the worst echo chambers on the internet. I've seen hundreds of death threats at one political group on there, but if any veiled threat

by urda 2y ago

Reddit, by far, is one of the worst echo chambers on the internet. I've seen hundreds of death threats at one political group on there, but if any veiled threat is made against the "reddit approved party" it is instantly removed or accounts suspended. This really peaked during 2020, when open calls for violence stayed up, some with reddit admin approvals. It used to be a good site, but that was many years ago.

intended 2y ago
Did people forget the_donald? What do people think others will do, when they see that the_donald behavior gets rewarded by electoral and political support? If its not clear, everyone is going to radicalize, because its getting success.
- medellin 2y ago
  Likely take a break from social media and talk with some real people. Lots of people voted for trump aren’t radical actually none that i know are. I come from a small town in a red state and yes they completely disagree with democrats on pretty much everything but the stuff you read on reddit is so far fetched and extreme I don’t know how anyone would take it seriously. They believe people hate Americans and everyone should be ashamed traveling overseas. As someone who travels all the time to multiple continents not just Europe i have never encountered anyone who asked or even cared. Most people don’t live in a political bubble where they need to stop being friends with people over politics. Anyway a lot people are choosing to live in an angry little bubble. It is really sad to see.
  - marxisttemp 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - Terr_ 2y ago
    > Lots of people voted for trump aren’t radical actually none that i know are. The same can be said for the supporters of many radical and terrible historical regimes. I'm not radical, I'm simply pushing this radical boulder along, and I can stop it whenever I wan tooo-oops."
    - caminante 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - Terr_ 2y ago
        > stereotype [...] innuendo [...] slippery slope No need for histrionics, it's simple: Someone doesn't need to actively desire a terrible outcome to be morally culpable of making bad choices, ones they should-have-known would enable or encourage it to happen. Multiple such people can and do form groups. It's not limited to politics either, which is how we get idioms like "playing with fire."
        lazide 2y ago
        Notably, people will also be nearly universally angry at anyone who points out the inevitable consequences of their actions in cases like this. Especially if they know you’re right. Near as I can tell, the biggest failure of the left (and one that keeps getting repeated) is thinking words/knowledge matter in situations like this.
        caminante 2y ago
        [flagged]
        Terr_ 2y ago
        > you want to stereotype [...] innuendo [...] slippery slope [...] you're pre-convincing [...] thought crimes You're the one who's been making all the personal condemnations of evil intent, stop with the psychological projection.
        caminante 2y ago
        OK. Why did you dismiss the claim above that "some but not all" aren't radical?
        adolph 2y ago
  - WickyNilliams 2y ago
    You realise this works both ways? The average left leaning person doesn't have 700 pronouns and isn't calling for a communist revolution. They're not paid by Soros. They don't have blue hair and have a meltdown at the slightest upset. The online charicatures are just that. In both directions. Real talk though: the US, via the current administration, is trashing its international reputation. With tariffs and lashing out at (former?) allies. Or with Musk demanding regime change in the UK, for instance. On a personal level people will still be chill no doubt, but you should be prepared for some negative attitudes towards the US if things continue unabated.
  - intended 2y ago
    Hey, this is a PSA: this was going to happen. I’ve seen this sequence of events play out before. In many was ‘go outside’ is dismissive of what many people feel is happening, that to within 15 days of this new presidency. This is a low key way of saying you don’t like people protesting. While at the same time others are saying people aren’t protesting enough. If you aren’t ok with all of this, I strongly suggest deleting all social media, including hacker news. Take your advice and go outside. Be good to your neighbors and your mental health. There is zero space for passive consumption when one of the biggest cultural and economic forces in English speaking Internet land is dismantling itself. There is going to be very little space for any tolerance of nuance - because Trump is going to continue to escalate. He is going to follow a plan which was known, and it aims at gutting the US, and justifying it with DEI or whatever the cassus belli of the month is. This is eventually going to result in ‘riots.’ Which will feed the righteousness of the conservatives, which will result in a new round of “well you were so happy when the year started, where are you now.” It will escalate into attacks on democrats as the devil. And HN will swing from left outrage to right outrage. At that time the roles will be reversed, and the positions will switch. Again - If you or anyone reading these comments is tired on Feb 6th - leave the internet right now. This is your tornado / natural disaster warning. This isn’t meant to be hurtful to you, or to be any defense of anything. I always assume I am wrong, and I hope I can look back at these comments with embarrassment over what looks like histrionics. The problem I have is that i deal with social media and online safety as work and as research. Papers on this topic are my fun reading when my brain isn’t fogged up. This is going to be worse than brexit. And that’s if we are all lucky. I was asking bankers if there’s any slack in the financial system in November - and I asked this in multiple countries. The answer was no. So when the trade shocks start hitting the system, expect a downturn. This is aside from the walking dead syndrome which america will face after gutting multiple systems in-flight. I wish you luck and the very best. Sorry.
  - wat10000 2y ago
    I was in Europe for a while starting right after 9/11 and there was a lot of shame and no lack of pointed questions. The locals didn’t hate us, but there was a decent amount of “what the hell is wrong with you guys?” It was not uncommon for American travelers to put Canadian flag pins on their backpacks to try to deflect attention or curry favor. It’s surely ten times worse now. Trump makes W look like a statesman, and we could at least plead that W didn’t win a majority and only became president because the system is stupid.
    - rightbyte 2y ago
      I remember the anti-US sentiment among people at the time of the invasion of Iraq as way harsher than now during Trump. Like not even close. It seems to be mainly European neoliberals that are more upset about Trump.
      - brewdad 2y ago
        I think it's more that there is nothing to be gained about asking an American in Europe about Trump. Most likely, they think he's a douchenozzle too so why bring him up and ruin a vacationer's day. On the off chance they are a Trump supporter, now the European has to listen to an idiot spout Newsmax nonsense until they can get away.
- xvector 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - marxisttemp 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - deathanatos 2y ago
    > Subreddits like r/pics are packed full of thinly veiled death threats towards the sitting president or Elon Musk. This is just blatant misinformation. Since r/pics is the only example you've chosen to give us, let's evaluate it: I've scrolled through the current first 50 posts in Hot, and 0 of them are death threats, thinly veiled or otherwise. "Packed full", indeed. And here, so it isn't simply my word vs. his; these are the current posts: Protest, "Musk Stole Your Tax Data" Picture of Nazi being punched after making a Nazi salute Protest, "The Whole World is Watching" Painting over values at the FBI McConnell in a wheelchair Flag upside down outside State Dept. Kid covering ears with politician in foreground "Buy Canadian Instead" sign in CA store Protest, no visible message, flag with corp logos instead of stars German anti-fascism protest UFC fight match post KO [KO'd opponent is a neo-Nazi] US Marine holding flag in distress position Protestor, "No kings in America", dressed as Cap. America, mouth taped over Protest "Nobody voted for Elon" Protest "Stop Musk's Takeover" Picture of Trudeau Protest "Smells like Fascism" … none of which are death threats. I could scroll all night and not see any examples.
    - throwawaythekey 2y ago
      Yeah "packed full" is probably a bit too heavy here. To pick a few examples though: - The nazi punching thread had several moderated comments ranked near the top which were presumably calls to violence. - The Mitch McConnal thread has many people looking forward to his death, hoping he goes to hell, and a few deleted comments. - A musk thread has "eat the rich" and storm the capitol. Not super highly ranked. I didn't go through all of them but it certainly is a bit odious. Also note though how there's only 1 non political thread and the remainder are anti trump. This is on a general interest sub and what is likely to be an unremarkable day in the administration!
- rightbyte 2y ago
  'thedonald' was not violent are even hateful by Reddit standards. Banning it was a big mistake and gave fringe supporters headroom. Reddit has in general got way worse since 2016. The amount of bloodthirst and hate is very unsettling.
  - 9283409232 2y ago
    the_donald was very hateful but I wouldn't call them violent. They were a cultish meme sub like /r/Conservative is. They got banned was for brigading not for being violent and hateful.
    - rightbyte 2y ago
      I would go as far as to say it was a childish meme sub (edit: and cultish, ye). I wonder if it was like that Flat Earth Society started. Once the "Qanon" type of guys turn up the memes become dogma. I might have a different threshold for hateful on the internets or I didn't look closely enough.
nonethewiser 2y ago
It optimizes for echo chambers. You see what gets upvoted the most.

by urda 2y ago

intended 2y ago

Did people forget the_donald? What do people think others will do, when they see that the_donald behavior gets rewarded by electoral and political support? If its not clear, everyone is going to radicalize, because its getting success.

medellin 2y ago
Likely take a break from social media and talk with some real people. Lots of people voted for trump aren’t radical actually none that i know are. I come from a small town in a red state and yes they completely disagree with democrats on pretty much everything but the stuff you read on reddit is so far fetched and extreme I don’t know how anyone would take it seriously. They believe people hate Americans and everyone should be ashamed traveling overseas. As someone who travels all the time to multiple continents not just Europe i have never encountered anyone who asked or even cared. Most people don’t live in a political bubble where they need to stop being friends with people over politics. Anyway a lot people are choosing to live in an angry little bubble. It is really sad to see.
- marxisttemp 2y ago
  [flagged]
- Terr_ 2y ago
  > Lots of people voted for trump aren’t radical actually none that i know are. The same can be said for the supporters of many radical and terrible historical regimes. I'm not radical, I'm simply pushing this radical boulder along, and I can stop it whenever I wan tooo-oops."
  - caminante 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - Terr_ 2y ago
      > stereotype [...] innuendo [...] slippery slope No need for histrionics, it's simple: Someone doesn't need to actively desire a terrible outcome to be morally culpable of making bad choices, ones they should-have-known would enable or encourage it to happen. Multiple such people can and do form groups. It's not limited to politics either, which is how we get idioms like "playing with fire."
      - lazide 2y ago
        Notably, people will also be nearly universally angry at anyone who points out the inevitable consequences of their actions in cases like this. Especially if they know you’re right. Near as I can tell, the biggest failure of the left (and one that keeps getting repeated) is thinking words/knowledge matter in situations like this.
      - caminante 2y ago
        [flagged]
        Terr_ 2y ago
        > you want to stereotype [...] innuendo [...] slippery slope [...] you're pre-convincing [...] thought crimes You're the one who's been making all the personal condemnations of evil intent, stop with the psychological projection.
        caminante 2y ago
        OK. Why did you dismiss the claim above that "some but not all" aren't radical?
      - adolph 2y ago
- WickyNilliams 2y ago
  You realise this works both ways? The average left leaning person doesn't have 700 pronouns and isn't calling for a communist revolution. They're not paid by Soros. They don't have blue hair and have a meltdown at the slightest upset. The online charicatures are just that. In both directions. Real talk though: the US, via the current administration, is trashing its international reputation. With tariffs and lashing out at (former?) allies. Or with Musk demanding regime change in the UK, for instance. On a personal level people will still be chill no doubt, but you should be prepared for some negative attitudes towards the US if things continue unabated.
- intended 2y ago
  Hey, this is a PSA: this was going to happen. I’ve seen this sequence of events play out before. In many was ‘go outside’ is dismissive of what many people feel is happening, that to within 15 days of this new presidency. This is a low key way of saying you don’t like people protesting. While at the same time others are saying people aren’t protesting enough. If you aren’t ok with all of this, I strongly suggest deleting all social media, including hacker news. Take your advice and go outside. Be good to your neighbors and your mental health. There is zero space for passive consumption when one of the biggest cultural and economic forces in English speaking Internet land is dismantling itself. There is going to be very little space for any tolerance of nuance - because Trump is going to continue to escalate. He is going to follow a plan which was known, and it aims at gutting the US, and justifying it with DEI or whatever the cassus belli of the month is. This is eventually going to result in ‘riots.’ Which will feed the righteousness of the conservatives, which will result in a new round of “well you were so happy when the year started, where are you now.” It will escalate into attacks on democrats as the devil. And HN will swing from left outrage to right outrage. At that time the roles will be reversed, and the positions will switch. Again - If you or anyone reading these comments is tired on Feb 6th - leave the internet right now. This is your tornado / natural disaster warning. This isn’t meant to be hurtful to you, or to be any defense of anything. I always assume I am wrong, and I hope I can look back at these comments with embarrassment over what looks like histrionics. The problem I have is that i deal with social media and online safety as work and as research. Papers on this topic are my fun reading when my brain isn’t fogged up. This is going to be worse than brexit. And that’s if we are all lucky. I was asking bankers if there’s any slack in the financial system in November - and I asked this in multiple countries. The answer was no. So when the trade shocks start hitting the system, expect a downturn. This is aside from the walking dead syndrome which america will face after gutting multiple systems in-flight. I wish you luck and the very best. Sorry.
- wat10000 2y ago
  I was in Europe for a while starting right after 9/11 and there was a lot of shame and no lack of pointed questions. The locals didn’t hate us, but there was a decent amount of “what the hell is wrong with you guys?” It was not uncommon for American travelers to put Canadian flag pins on their backpacks to try to deflect attention or curry favor. It’s surely ten times worse now. Trump makes W look like a statesman, and we could at least plead that W didn’t win a majority and only became president because the system is stupid.
  - rightbyte 2y ago
    I remember the anti-US sentiment among people at the time of the invasion of Iraq as way harsher than now during Trump. Like not even close. It seems to be mainly European neoliberals that are more upset about Trump.
    - brewdad 2y ago
      I think it's more that there is nothing to be gained about asking an American in Europe about Trump. Most likely, they think he's a douchenozzle too so why bring him up and ruin a vacationer's day. On the off chance they are a Trump supporter, now the European has to listen to an idiot spout Newsmax nonsense until they can get away.
xvector 2y ago
[flagged]
- marxisttemp 2y ago
  [flagged]
- deathanatos 2y ago
  > Subreddits like r/pics are packed full of thinly veiled death threats towards the sitting president or Elon Musk. This is just blatant misinformation. Since r/pics is the only example you've chosen to give us, let's evaluate it: I've scrolled through the current first 50 posts in Hot, and 0 of them are death threats, thinly veiled or otherwise. "Packed full", indeed. And here, so it isn't simply my word vs. his; these are the current posts: Protest, "Musk Stole Your Tax Data" Picture of Nazi being punched after making a Nazi salute Protest, "The Whole World is Watching" Painting over values at the FBI McConnell in a wheelchair Flag upside down outside State Dept. Kid covering ears with politician in foreground "Buy Canadian Instead" sign in CA store Protest, no visible message, flag with corp logos instead of stars German anti-fascism protest UFC fight match post KO [KO'd opponent is a neo-Nazi] US Marine holding flag in distress position Protestor, "No kings in America", dressed as Cap. America, mouth taped over Protest "Nobody voted for Elon" Protest "Stop Musk's Takeover" Picture of Trudeau Protest "Smells like Fascism" … none of which are death threats. I could scroll all night and not see any examples.
  - throwawaythekey 2y ago
    Yeah "packed full" is probably a bit too heavy here. To pick a few examples though: - The nazi punching thread had several moderated comments ranked near the top which were presumably calls to violence. - The Mitch McConnal thread has many people looking forward to his death, hoping he goes to hell, and a few deleted comments. - A musk thread has "eat the rich" and storm the capitol. Not super highly ranked. I didn't go through all of them but it certainly is a bit odious. Also note though how there's only 1 non political thread and the remainder are anti trump. This is on a general interest sub and what is likely to be an unremarkable day in the administration!
rightbyte 2y ago
'thedonald' was not violent are even hateful by Reddit standards. Banning it was a big mistake and gave fringe supporters headroom. Reddit has in general got way worse since 2016. The amount of bloodthirst and hate is very unsettling.
- 9283409232 2y ago
  the_donald was very hateful but I wouldn't call them violent. They were a cultish meme sub like /r/Conservative is. They got banned was for brigading not for being violent and hateful.
  - rightbyte 2y ago
    I would go as far as to say it was a childish meme sub (edit: and cultish, ye). I wonder if it was like that Flat Earth Society started. Once the "Qanon" type of guys turn up the memes become dogma. I might have a different threshold for hateful on the internets or I didn't look closely enough.

nonethewiser 2y ago

It optimizes for echo chambers. You see what gets upvoted the most.