3 ms·

You're assuming that /r/findnavyyardshooters/ has a greater chance of "catching the bad guy" than "wrongly accusing" someone. The Boston-bombing sub-reddit demo

by rodw 13y ago

You're assuming that /r/findnavyyardshooters/ has a greater chance of "catching the bad guy" than "wrongly accusing" someone. The Boston-bombing sub-reddit demonstrated precisely the opposite--several people were wrongly accused (or at least, wrong identified as serious suspects) and the actual bad guys weren't even mentioned. Photos of some of those wrongly accused were even printed on the front page of the NY Post, IIRC. As well intentioned as the contributors might be, there's every reason to believe that this subreddit will cause more harm than good. Reddit made the right call. (It's also probably the right call from a damage control standpoint, but there's reason enough to ban this sub-reddit anyway.)

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
>Photos of some of those wrongly accused were even printed on the front page of the NY Post, IIRC. Redditors didn't hack and deface the NY Post. What you're citing is an example that the NY Post is no better than any random person in an internet forum.
- rodw 13y ago
  No, what I'm citing is evidence of real world harm done to innocent people as a result of a (well-intentioned) witch hunt on a very popular website. It's crappy journalism on the Post's part, sure. But it wasn't NY Post reporters that fingered these suspects or that made them newsworthy.
  - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
    It's not necessarily a harm for redditors to collate photos or other information. The harm comes when some fool acts on that information (especially when the info turns out to be false).
    - spangled 13y ago
      Repeating misinformation is acting on it, and harms attempts to get at the truth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_proof http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_proof http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_cascade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_cascade You may also want to reconsider your statement, substituting "intelligence agents" for redditors. If they collate photos or other information is it harmless?
      - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
        >Repeating misinformation is acting on it, and harms attempts to get at the truth. Well sure it is when you deliberately spread disinformation, as opposed to being mistaken. >You may also want to reconsider your statement, substituting "intelligence agents" for redditors. If they collate photos or other information is it harmless? Nope, I don't see much reason to think that the average law enforcement agent is much better or worse than the average redditor. The incentives for the law enforcement agency are often worse from the perspective of potential for abuse.
        spangled 13y ago
        Well sure it is when you deliberately spread disinformation, as opposed to being mistaken. There is no difference. Sunil Trapathi was mis-identified because somebody said they heard his name on the police scanner, and then Reddit (and Twitter) repeated it as if it were true (see "social proof"), with no confirmation at all. They weren't just mistaken: they didn't even bother to verify it. I don't see much reason to think that the average law enforcement agent is much better or worse than the average redditor. Aside from the fact that they actually located the right people whereas reddit identified several wrong people? You don't think that training in proper investigative and analysis techniques plays a role in that? How bizarre.

by rodw 13y ago

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

>Photos of some of those wrongly accused were even printed on the front page of the NY Post, IIRC. Redditors didn't hack and deface the NY Post. What you're citing is an example that the NY Post is no better than any random person in an internet forum.

rodw 13y ago
No, what I'm citing is evidence of real world harm done to innocent people as a result of a (well-intentioned) witch hunt on a very popular website. It's crappy journalism on the Post's part, sure. But it wasn't NY Post reporters that fingered these suspects or that made them newsworthy.
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  It's not necessarily a harm for redditors to collate photos or other information. The harm comes when some fool acts on that information (especially when the info turns out to be false).
  - spangled 13y ago
    Repeating misinformation is acting on it, and harms attempts to get at the truth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_proof http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_proof http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_cascade http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_cascade You may also want to reconsider your statement, substituting "intelligence agents" for redditors. If they collate photos or other information is it harmless?
    - fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
      >Repeating misinformation is acting on it, and harms attempts to get at the truth. Well sure it is when you deliberately spread disinformation, as opposed to being mistaken. >You may also want to reconsider your statement, substituting "intelligence agents" for redditors. If they collate photos or other information is it harmless? Nope, I don't see much reason to think that the average law enforcement agent is much better or worse than the average redditor. The incentives for the law enforcement agency are often worse from the perspective of potential for abuse.
      - spangled 13y ago
        Well sure it is when you deliberately spread disinformation, as opposed to being mistaken. There is no difference. Sunil Trapathi was mis-identified because somebody said they heard his name on the police scanner, and then Reddit (and Twitter) repeated it as if it were true (see "social proof"), with no confirmation at all. They weren't just mistaken: they didn't even bother to verify it. I don't see much reason to think that the average law enforcement agent is much better or worse than the average redditor. Aside from the fact that they actually located the right people whereas reddit identified several wrong people? You don't think that training in proper investigative and analysis techniques plays a role in that? How bizarre.