So did most of the people I knew. Believing lies has always been alienating. But alienated people find new communities, and now the barriers to sharing outrageous stuff are so low and the ability to find new communities is on steroids.
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it makes significantly more sense to just add fact checking. banning people from being able to create content or exchange ideas freely is a terrible idea if you DON'T want to push people farther into extremism or violence.
That’s the thing. It was naturally difficult to spread fringe thought in regular social dynamics. People would ignore you and the crazier the opinion, the harder it was to find audience for it. Today algorithm will broadcast whatever nonsense to mind-bogglingly large audience.
It follows an addiction pathology.
They’re getting some form of serotonin/dopamine/other boost by spouting the most
Harmful lies and hate.
Until they hit the equivalent of a “blue Monday “ , it will be difficult to reason with them
I had a work colleague who was constantly dropping conspiracy theories. I tried to be professionally respectful and couldn't just avoid him, and it was exhausting.
Everyone wants to be listened to. But every one of his conspiracies basically boiled down to, "Notice how I'm smarter than you."
Yes yes yes. Rejected people don’t change their thinking- they find people who agree. We have to lead with empathy and have the HARD conversations. Don’t be afraid of conflict- when you can actually use conflict resolution.
"Believing lies has always been alienating." Has it? It seems more about believing differently than the majority of people around you that's alienating, whether your belief is the true one or theirs.
Hell yeah, I was one briefly in the aftermath and self-saved. If I hadn't, current-me would have appreciated someone tossing me a rope and pulling me back out of the pit.
Oh if I'd gone all flat-earth infowars I'm sure nothing would have worked on me. But me from this timeline where I didn't likes to think my friends from that timeline would have found something that did work.
I tried to apply that to social media. "If I don't stay friends with this guy, how will he ever have contact with truth about the efficacy of vaccines?"
However, the ongoing disruption to civil discourse just wasn't worth it, as some people seem to thrive on disruption. My "unfriend" pile has grown.
I don't know if we can, really. For the average human, the truth can be boring, while lies are easily embellished and molded to seem more scandalous and to serve a specific agenda. This makes the lies more exciting and easier to get behind, especially when they align with one's preconceived notions.
Yep, lies can be spread SO much faster than truth. With truth, one has to check that is IS true and be able to support it with facts. With lies, one can make up anything on the fly and then make up more lies to support it, and adjust the lies to create any appealing narrative, regardless of sense.
It’s an eternal social issue, it’s always been very difficult to combat it.
Especially because people are instinctively drawn to stories, and WANT to believe the simplest and most appealing stories, even if they’re completely fabricated.
“Complex and nuanced series of events? Nah, IT’S ALIENS!”
Humans are really bad at being proactive, as a whole. We always have to learn the hard way.
We’ll need to have some analogous “hey, the river is on fire…again” moments first. Just hate to imagine what the river and the fire will be, in this iteration
The brilliant documentary about the rise of QAnon and its relationship with the "flat Earth" movement by @foldablehuman.bsky.social explains the problem. Since this documentary was made the QAnon brand has become less visible, mostly because it's overtaken the GOP from within.
People will sing the (deserved) praises of Line Goes Up all day long, but THIS is the video where Dan began doing Excellent Cultural Work.
His newest piece, "ManTracks" has a similar vibe and may be even more important.
The Qanon "brand" was doomed since it made broad predictions about Strump that have all failed to come true. There will always be some that never give up, but most people will slowly lose interest if you are wrong enough times, even if they really really want you to be right. They move on.
Oh, it survived all that, for years. It was in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection that the adherents who had been promoting it in their Twitter bios and posts immediately rebranded as "ULTRA MAGA!!!" which eventually just became MAGA the Republican Party became OK with standing by QAnon.
Orrrrrr...somebody who knows how social media works could create a social media platform that fosters healthy communities and rewards the sharing of truthful things? If only there was such a hero out there 🤞
I hate to say it but I believe we have to start building bridges. You don't have to think of it like being friends with people. If it helps, consider it forming allies/ diplomatic ties with other countries. You know they do distasteful things, but you have a goal in common. Maybe? 🤷♀️
I’ve been thinking a lot about your video that talked about when TV and radio were novel forms of entertainment and news sources. In a country where both sides seem to think regulation is the enemy, what could the future of an app like TT be except a tool of the oppression? 😔
I work as a substitute teacher and I liken this to when too many of the kids in the class were bad, so the whole class has to stay in at recess and listen to a lecture from the vice principal.
Ask question genuinely and with empathy. One question can be ask them when they started believing the thing & about when they didn’t believe it. Sometimes getting people to remember before they believed something can help.
I think there is probably truth in this, but I find the few people I personally know that fall into this category know my opinions and shit the convo down
There is some research in this field, but there needs to be much more. I think this (conspiracy & misinformation) is one of the greatest threats of our time. What we do seem to know so far is it’s a long process that takes patience and there’s no guarantee. Techniques below
Easy, we just continue to make the truth as easily accessible as possible, by supporting all the brilliant minds that make educational content and post it for free.
Propaganda can't really be beaten, but we can stop it from fully drowning out the truth
I do think that second part is, on balance, a good thing. While it isn't good when it is conspiracy theorists doing it, it is absolutely a positive when it is, say, trans youth finding communities.
Here is an idea I have been workshopping. Americans need to be more educated and less informed. Education leads to developing critical thinking skills. Whioe people absorbing constant political information all day leads users to find more extreme opinions and theories. Similar to porn addiction.
That's because it is. Check out the "Alt-Right Playbook" series on YouTube if you haven't already. Basically, because the alt-right doesn't care about following rules and has no problem with just blatantly lying, it's very difficult to counter it. It's possible, but most people are ill-equipped
I’m getting whiplash from the consternation over people no longer being able to find communities of like-minded out-groups on TT, compared with this noting of how people who would otherwise be alienated and influence-blunted just find like-minded outgroups and continue their conspiracy-thinking.
How does one protect or encourage good community-making like a repressed minority connecting through TT algorithms, from the bad community-making of dangerous political extremists and conspiracists who otherwise would stay stunted strays?
The song's title is attributed to the 19th-century quote "Go West, young man" commonly attributed to the American newspaper editor Horace Greeley, a rallying cry for the settlement and colonization 😮of the American West…..
Yeah but that was the point. To weed you out of their friend group along with anyone like you. That's what narcissism is/does. A narcissist believes. No matter how much leg work they haven't put into what they say and do. That they are instantly correct in it. Instantly logical and moral.
And with that? They need to isolate how they think. Other people's ability to tell them they are wrong. Away from them. It/they are self isolating. And it's on purpose. Like a chemical reaction. Narcissism is inherently illogical. So to sustain itself. For them to sustain themselves. They....
..have to protect their illogical natures. Meaning logic and anyone even slightly logical. Has to go. In short. They were always headed in that direction. Anyone who begins to subscribe to narcissism? Are too. The effect is pretty much the same as crack.
We abandoned error correction to protect insecure rich white men's peace. Gently massaging the narrative for 400 years, while book burning and banning and revising and standards and restrictions.. we protect rich white men's peace #1. At least that's my interpretation of CRT
Assassinating MLK and X and the Panthers and JFK and and and didn't need to be conspiracy if it was just insecure white men willing to make it everyone else's problem while the left turned to only peaceful means
Okay, but my dad has always been one of those idiots, and he absolutely will not listen to reason. So if it makes you feel better, sure a few can be saved, but a LARGER percentage of them only learn from pain. They need to actually suffer to care.
Plus, there are now countless grifters who make a living fueling ppls "theories", and because the social media algorithms run on the formula:
Enragement=Engagement=Enrichment...
It's a race to the bottom of the dumpster.
Comments
They’re getting some form of serotonin/dopamine/other boost by spouting the most
Harmful lies and hate.
Until they hit the equivalent of a “blue Monday “ , it will be difficult to reason with them
Everyone wants to be listened to. But every one of his conspiracies basically boiled down to, "Notice how I'm smarter than you."
The internet's greatest curse was the ability for disparate people all across the globe to create their own niche communities, no matter how weird.
I totally respect the cut off method, but a lot of those conspiracy folks can be saved.
However, the ongoing disruption to civil discourse just wasn't worth it, as some people seem to thrive on disruption. My "unfriend" pile has grown.
Especially because people are instinctively drawn to stories, and WANT to believe the simplest and most appealing stories, even if they’re completely fabricated.
“Complex and nuanced series of events? Nah, IT’S ALIENS!”
We’ll need to have some analogous “hey, the river is on fire…again” moments first. Just hate to imagine what the river and the fire will be, in this iteration
https://youtu.be/JTfhYyTuT44
His newest piece, "ManTracks" has a similar vibe and may be even more important.
https://youtu.be/2UDXdqqJQPE
It's not my lesson but I still don't get recess.
Propaganda can't really be beaten, but we can stop it from fully drowning out the truth
And they are armed.
The song's title is attributed to the 19th-century quote "Go West, young man" commonly attributed to the American newspaper editor Horace Greeley, a rallying cry for the settlement and colonization 😮of the American West…..
Canada 😮Panama canal 😮 Greenland 😮Gaza 🫣 Ukraine
https://youtu.be/NquwR0N96jA
Enragement=Engagement=Enrichment...
It's a race to the bottom of the dumpster.