Social Media and Current Events
- Thread starter YouSir
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Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
it can be any one of the three, and all points between, depending on who's using it and for what.
yes.
YouSir
Retired from Urban
YouSir
Retired from Urban
I think kind of the opposite tbh. It all seems a bit inevitable, new tech is generally pushed that way But at this point we have people who remember a time before the internet, it's early days, pre-social media, other social media platforms etc. we have a range of reference points to judge by. If Twitter/Facebook/Insta/YouTube linger on long enough, or get replaced by competitive clones then we'll soon have generations born and raised within a social media environment.
Fash organising shows that pretty well too I think. People can see the imbalances on Twitter, recognise the emergence of (very) false narratives and see where they come from. That stuff only becomes more organic/background noise when it gets a chance to fester and spread.
BigMoaner
We will all go together
I’ve said it before and I will say it again: everyone please give Byung Chul Han a try. A German philosopher that has blown my mind and is blowing minds. His focus is neoliberalism and its relationship with tech. He’s over view of social media and tech and the psyche itself is in my view almost breathtaking. A total recluse and a genius in my view and don’t say that lightly.
BigMoaner
We will all go together
Are you glad you grew up without smart phones?
mentalchik
"I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit."
yes
krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
Yes
Silas Loom
Advanced. Forthright. Signifficant.
Musk might well just be the idiot edgelord free speech ideologue he pretends to be, with the added handicap of spending all his free time on the platform that he enshittified.
Everything Goes
Active Member
Will AI be able to automatically regulate posts on social media? I know AI and bias is a can of worms in itself but it might take out some of the worst posts.
As for Musk, he wants to set the world on fire and watch it burn.
As for Musk, he wants to set the world on fire and watch it burn.
cyberfairy
http://unicycle-emptiness.co.uk/
I have reported the most hideous racist posts that urge violence and use vile language- never even had a reply from Twitter.
Silas Loom
Advanced. Forthright. Signifficant.
It’s very bad at context. AI is okay for removing pornography and CSAM but hopeless at distinguishing between truth and lies, or between fair comment and coded hate speech. Offshored human moderators reviewing dozens of pieces of content every minute aren’t much good at that, either.
tommers
Fuck it, it's fine.
That's because he sacked everybody.
It's not entirely unmoderated, he's kept the power to ban people who call him a twatty spacebaby, but there just aren't the people there any more to do anything but basic level housekeeping. See the proliferation of pornbots, attractive young women who are remarkably interested in my comments about Alastair Campbell, and knock off Chinese goods vendors.
Cloo
Approved by toads
Current events really are it at its worst, with its unparalled ability to spread lies, especially when literally backed by the people behind it. It's a poisonous combo.
Without social media, I don't think we'd have got Brexit and possibly not Trump, and definitely not these idiots rioting. Mind you, we wouldn't have got that if it was November rather than August either.
Without social media, I don't think we'd have got Brexit and possibly not Trump, and definitely not these idiots rioting. Mind you, we wouldn't have got that if it was November rather than August either.
cyberfairy
http://unicycle-emptiness.co.uk/
Yeah, I presumed it was something like that- but still hideous to see people laughing about boats sinking in the channel and people dying. I have learnt not to click on any video as not into surprise porn for breakfast.
Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
I think the thread a good idea but the op really poor. The questions shouldn't be about is sm good bad or indifferent, or Elon musk's death, but about a) who is using various sm platforms, b) why and how they promote mis- and disinformation, c) what if anything can be done about it, and d) what as people 'on the left' we should be using sm for in our responses to events and to promote mobilisation. Other questions will no doubt crop up too
cupid_stunt
Chief seagull hater & farmerbarleymow's nemesis.
I see the biggest problem is Musk's ownership of twitter, I refuse to call it 'X', the government can get the other SM platforms to take more responsibility for the content published on their sites, Musk is not interested in doing that.
Tommy Robinson is clearly the biggest gobshite out there, that's fueling these far-right mobs, Musk not only allowed him back on twitter, where his followers have been sky rocketing over recent days, currently at around 900k, but Musk is also liking, sharing and commenting his posts, and making standalone posts in support of Robinson, extending Robinson vile content to Musk's massive 192.9 million followers.
He is an incredibly dangerous man, because of his ownership of twitter and the power he has over it, and he not going to change, so Twitter needs to change, and the only way that is going to happen is by change of ownership.
As I said on the other thread, personally I would be happy to see twitter banned in the UK, until this whole situation is resolved.
It's not about banning SM in general, it's just this one man and one platform that is a very special case.
Tommy Robinson is clearly the biggest gobshite out there, that's fueling these far-right mobs, Musk not only allowed him back on twitter, where his followers have been sky rocketing over recent days, currently at around 900k, but Musk is also liking, sharing and commenting his posts, and making standalone posts in support of Robinson, extending Robinson vile content to Musk's massive 192.9 million followers.
He is an incredibly dangerous man, because of his ownership of twitter and the power he has over it, and he not going to change, so Twitter needs to change, and the only way that is going to happen is by change of ownership.
As I said on the other thread, personally I would be happy to see twitter banned in the UK, until this whole situation is resolved.
It's not about banning SM in general, it's just this one man and one platform that is a very special case.
Silas Loom
Advanced. Forthright. Signifficant.
I’ve said it before, but all HMG and public sector accounts should be moved to Mastodon ASAP, with a strong recommendation that any major UK commercial or news brand does likewise. No need to ban it if journalists and the commentariat no longer need to be there.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
The reigning economic system is founded on isolation; at the same time it is a circular process designed to produce isolation. Isolation underpins technology, and technology isolates in its turn; all goods proposed by the spectacular system, from cars to televisions, also serve as weapons for that system as it strives to reinforce the isolation of "the lonely crowd."
Amazing to me that anyone would take anything other than a Luddite approach to this stuff, it's not 2009 anymore.
Amazing to me that anyone would take anything other than a Luddite approach to this stuff, it's not 2009 anymore.
ska invita
back on the other side
Wookey posted this on the Southport thread
there is a new online saftey bill designed to deal with all this, I think it really kicks in next year
it reads well
www.gov.uk
however the arbiter is Ofcom so I wouldnt expect much. Laws will exist but wont be enforced
this is a press report about the government pissing straight into an oncoming hurricane...I appreciate having a meeting with someone from New Labour is a pretty severe punishment, but bad though it is its not going to be enoughIn the news, the Guardian reports today that No 10 said work was taking place to impress upon social media companies that they already had a duty to remove criminal content.
“The government is working with social media platforms to ensure that they are removing content quickly [and] that their processes are in place, but there is more that they can and should be doing,” the spokesperson said.
“They have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their users and online spaces, to ensure that criminal activity is not being hosted on their platforms. They shouldn’t be waiting for the Online Safety Act for that. They already have responsibilities in place under the law … They have responsibilities that we will hold them to account for.”
The technology secretary, Peter Kyle, is expected to meet social media bosses in the coming days, the spokesperson said.
No 10 criticises Elon Musk for ‘civil war is inevitable’ post on England riots
PM’s spokesperson says ‘no justification’ for X owner’s comment under video of far-right disorderwww.theguardian.com
there is a new online saftey bill designed to deal with all this, I think it really kicks in next year
it reads well
Online Safety Act: explainer
YouSir
Retired from Urban
It's a generic starting point, that's all.
YouSir
Retired from Urban
Not sure how it is with SM but I know there have been issues with the human labour behind AI and content identification work. People get set up to see and process some of the most horrific content on the internet for piss poor wages and under deeply exploitative conditions. I'd imagine moderation has the same issue, digging through the worst of output shouldn't be laid on the cheapest and most exploitable workers. Where that work should go/how it should be done I don't know, universalist SM platforms don't really have a way to copy Reddit style community moderation.
Flavour
hang the bankers
Very well said.
The lonely crowd.
Long before Twitter was a thing, I think the seeds of what is happening here began to be sown in the post 9/11 period where simultaneously Islamophobia skyrocketed at the same time as conspiracy theories, for the first time spread rapidly online, sought to remove agency from the islamist terrorists who were responsible for the attack.
This climate of distrust and fear between Muslim and non-muslim communities has worsened through the years of the war on terror, and the anti-immigrant rhetoric inherent to the push for Brexit... And following brexit, the further disillusionment of the most impoverished white communities whose problems were not magically solved by brexit, who clearly had not "taken their country back" - but the vendors of the anti-immigrant native like Farage doubled down and now Reform got 4 million votes.
Add to that the growing misogyny among young men generally that has certainly been exacerbated by social media and isolated, toxic ecosystems (certain YouTube channels, Twitter feeds, etc) and it's like a pressure cooker waiting to explode.
And I absolutely would not discount a feeling of rage and resentment and failure that has been brewing in particular in places like Rochdale after the grooming gang story came out, rage that didn't find an outlet at the time. This partly feels like a delayed reaction to that. And there are similar situations of animosity and tension between Muslim and non-Muslim communities where segregation has been the order of the day since the 1970s, often towns on the periphery of the metropolis like Blackburn, Bradford, Burnley
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
Social media companies have proven unable or unwilling to properly moderate their platforms. So burn them all to the ground, salt the ashes and chuck them into the sea. If reactionary shitlickers want to screech their hateful rhetoric, they can go back to doing so on tiny self-hosted blogs ignored by most decent people. Evil old retired people will need to find a new hobby that doesn't involve swallowing Kremlin crap and cooing over obviously AI-generated images.
Unfortunately it seems like things will get a whole lot worse, before something is actually done about this malgniant cancer eating away at the heart of public discourse, shabby and lurid as it was even before the advent of social media. Facebook has already been instrumental in facilitating genocide in Myanmar, who knows what shit will happen closer to home.
Unfortunately it seems like things will get a whole lot worse, before something is actually done about this malgniant cancer eating away at the heart of public discourse, shabby and lurid as it was even before the advent of social media. Facebook has already been instrumental in facilitating genocide in Myanmar, who knows what shit will happen closer to home.
cupid_stunt
Chief seagull hater & farmerbarleymow's nemesis.
I am a bit busy today, but I may quote a few posts from the other thread, onto this one, so I can reply without further derailing the other one.
That's not entirely true, it was Radio Northsea International that had issues with the Wilson government jamming them, we hadn't even jammed Lord Haw-Haw's Nazi propaganda during WW2, they persuaded Ronan O'Rahilly to use the Caroline name for about 2 weeks running up to the GE, it was a mistake, he should have left them to have their fight using their own name, O'Rahilly admitted that himself, and expressed regret in doing so.
I have never believed there should be no control of the airwaves, just limited to the basic laws of the land, as indeed it is now, and SM should be held to the same standards.
And, once again, despite what Epona was claiming, I didn't call for any ban on SM as such, I just personally expressed my feeling about the dangerous ownership of Twitter by Musk, who is fueling this whole situation, whilst being beyond UK law, and...
That's not entirely true, it was Radio Northsea International that had issues with the Wilson government jamming them, we hadn't even jammed Lord Haw-Haw's Nazi propaganda during WW2, they persuaded Ronan O'Rahilly to use the Caroline name for about 2 weeks running up to the GE, it was a mistake, he should have left them to have their fight using their own name, O'Rahilly admitted that himself, and expressed regret in doing so.
I have never believed there should be no control of the airwaves, just limited to the basic laws of the land, as indeed it is now, and SM should be held to the same standards.
And, once again, despite what Epona was claiming, I didn't call for any ban on SM as such, I just personally expressed my feeling about the dangerous ownership of Twitter by Musk, who is fueling this whole situation, whilst being beyond UK law, and...
stethoscope
Well-Known Member
I sat on a train journey yesterday, and chatting to a woman similar age to me, most of the train carriage was utterly lost in their phones - swiping away at tiktok, instagram, facebook and twitter. Now, most of the train I'm sure are decent people, but get out from behind your screens ffs and start to interact with the world around you again and with whats happening, especially after the last few days.
And for those young lads especially (and lets not kid ourselves about the oft regurgated 'these rioters come from outside', for the most they are part of and inside our communities and need challenging by the community) with fuck all hopes, interests, and opportunities in particularly post-industrial areas, living on a diet of conspiracy theories, mysogynist and racist right-wing social media, we have a major struggle ahead. I dont believe banning this stuff will change anything, you've got to create the alternative economic, political and societal future first that takes people away from this.
And for those young lads especially (and lets not kid ourselves about the oft regurgated 'these rioters come from outside', for the most they are part of and inside our communities and need challenging by the community) with fuck all hopes, interests, and opportunities in particularly post-industrial areas, living on a diet of conspiracy theories, mysogynist and racist right-wing social media, we have a major struggle ahead. I dont believe banning this stuff will change anything, you've got to create the alternative economic, political and societal future first that takes people away from this.
tommers
Fuck it, it's fine.
Its great strength is also its great weakness. It takes away the reliance on the BBC or the Sun - and gives "normal" people the ability to fill that role. The problem with that is that some of those people want you to go and chuck a brick at somebody from Afghanistan.
It is a confirmation bias engine. You pick who you follow and you then get those views fed to you. My racist aunt consistently sends me shit on WhatsApp, so I muted her. I saw somebody sharing some pro-Israel stuff on LinkedIn so I unmutualised (or whatever they call it on that shit site) him. I imagine there's a counterpart to me somewhere who listens to whatever Carl Benjamin is shitting out of his mouth. And it amplifies voices that were previously restricted to a pub table or speakers corner or between a sandwich board ranting outside Iceland.
Trouble is it's ALL like this to an extent. It's just ways of disseminating information. On most social media you can choose who you follow, so you mostly control what you see. These problems are inherent to all of it, whether it's WhatsApp or Twitter or Facebook. I actually think that pre Musk Twitter was doing about as good a job as you can of keeping it sane.
Banning it all just means other networks spring up. The technology exists to easily spread information across a wide number of people. That isn't going away
It is a confirmation bias engine. You pick who you follow and you then get those views fed to you. My racist aunt consistently sends me shit on WhatsApp, so I muted her. I saw somebody sharing some pro-Israel stuff on LinkedIn so I unmutualised (or whatever they call it on that shit site) him. I imagine there's a counterpart to me somewhere who listens to whatever Carl Benjamin is shitting out of his mouth. And it amplifies voices that were previously restricted to a pub table or speakers corner or between a sandwich board ranting outside Iceland.
Trouble is it's ALL like this to an extent. It's just ways of disseminating information. On most social media you can choose who you follow, so you mostly control what you see. These problems are inherent to all of it, whether it's WhatsApp or Twitter or Facebook. I actually think that pre Musk Twitter was doing about as good a job as you can of keeping it sane.
Banning it all just means other networks spring up. The technology exists to easily spread information across a wide number of people. That isn't going away
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