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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 crapp

by 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

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.