Still wild to me that so many "savvy" folks on left and right have bought into the idea that online misinformation is overblown and doesn't really matter. From lies about migrants to transgender people to crime to election denial to climate denial, it's literally driving our country's politics.
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But the viral spread of lies tailored to each user's basest instincts and biases is real & corrosive.
Maybe developers should look at making programs that detect and attack the algorithms that spread the misinformation. If they can’t spread it, the damage will be less
I don't think it's social media driving misinformation, it's the oligarchical press that does the most to degrade discourse. As it always has been
Russian troll farms and right wing media grifters.
They needed going after, but in the current political environment I wouldn't expect the federal government to go after them at all
That said I’m glad it’s changing - some things fall foul of “fact checkers” and censorship when really the issue is some things are unevidenced.
Simple in theory, not in execution.
Media needs to accept its responsibility or it no longer deserves 1A protections.
The Truth doesn't work, as Disinformation isn't as much about the lie but how the lie is formed and delivered.
There are many disinformation tactics out there, but nobody ever said you couldn't use the same tactics with the truth.
Easier said than done, admittedly.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/
Since I (we) can't read it, can you provide a summary of this "excellent article?"
Russia sent propaganda immediately spoken by magats. They sent a false witness against Biden. They sent bomb threats to Black neighborhoods during Election Day
https://youtu.be/gAObqEu_tbg?si=0CVoKxNju2COhbGD
Social media is distorting our realities through algorithmic feedback loops. It also amplifies divisiveness and the separation of ‘us & them.’
His is the voice I have found the most relevant post-election, fwiw.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-153824797
https://www.worldhistory.org/video/1223/why-socrates-hated-democracy/
It's a positive minefield to truly tackle the issue but there are steps along the way. Steps we should have already taken.
IMHO
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DOQSMr-3GGvQ&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwjh1M-b0eyKAxXYJjQIHdkMLEAQo7QBegQIBhAF&usg=AOvVaw3_q-I4x59FAjzO-M32Bify
Cite to Jiore Craig 👇🏼
https://bsky.app/profile/torrleonard.bsky.social/post/3lfdbknf6as26
Recent discussion of Jimmy Carter's life & outlook has re-enforced this thought for me, so even more timely
Indeed it was the Harris campaign lying in that instance, and it was a pretty blatant and dumb lie ("it's just price gouging, we can fix it with this new law")
Lies, misinformation and disinformation won the 2024 election.
Probably the 2016 election too. I was stunned by the lies people believed even back then.
We need a huge ecosystem of both leaders and followers to change their basic orientation & become more interested in whether things are true.
https://bsky.app/profile/fishkin.bsky.social/post/3lfcwqggzdk2i
Only if the place of expression gains value from information instead of claims, would you have the necessary precursor for good curation of information.
The only way it goes away within the current structure of social media platforms is if people don’t engage. And engaging feels good to them.
Such an important problem. The clearest (but not nearly complete) answer I've come across is in 👇🏼
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5xs3TGZtQOUQAFPDAVJMxO?si=oa-Mz4iRTb6o-lDtYnVscA
The discussion of lifestyle influencers at the end of this interview is also super relevant to the *how*
Answer= you can't! Quit drinking alcohol!
Question: "How do we target change in society on this one issue"
Answer= You can't! Quit living in a society where people value ideological wins more than marginal benefits/progress.
#cdnpoli
1. Gaslighting
2. Projection
3. Illusion of truth, telling the
same lie over and over
until it's considered the
truth.
Highly effective when people aren't interested in the truth.
When one asks what can be done, everyone says "freedom of the press"
Millions love the lies & disinformation. It feeds into a narrative they want
Where, exactly, are you seeing people dismissing the online-misinfo menace? My impression is exactly the reverse. This is the current prevailing view / conventional wisdom.
I actually agree with it:
https://bsky.app/profile/torrleonard.bsky.social/post/3lfdbknf6as26
Twenty Lessons on Fighting Tyranny from the Twentieth Century https://scholars.org/contribution/twenty-lessons-fighting-tyranny-twentieth
An uneducated populace is easier to control.
Trump, Putin, Farage are doing it or trying to do it now
If the dems EVER want to win again, they HAVE to call out the lies and continue to call them out every day over and over and over again.
It's the only way to combat the lies being told over and over again and becoming the accepted truth
I enjoy be proven wrong on human stupidity.
The Internet is just another communication system. These systems always affect societies.
Twenty Lessons on Fighting Tyranny from the Twentieth Century https://scholars.org/contribution/twenty-lessons-fighting-tyranny-twentieth
it's widespread systematic lying for political advantage
ie
"disinformation" or "propaganda"
We have to understand that this is an intentional psycho-social campaign waged by state actors and oligarchies and meant to weaken and destroy democracies.
It always has
“Nah, it’s only virtual”
“We don’t do FB, it’s the capitalist’s play”, etc.
Sad.
Words pollute brains, change lives.
Let’s not forget.
We all have to stand together or the MAGAts will pick us off one small group at a time.
At least with my geology degree I still know that rocks exist.
It's like an army of PR firms have moved in and set up camp.
Brexit was fueled in part by a targeted campaign of online lies and disinformation (courtesy for example of Cambridge analytica).
As were the #FarageRiots in the UK in the Summer.
Without access to sources of trustworthy and reliable information, democracy dies.
Also, all of the private militias hot for donnie will be an american Hamas
Now I gotta argue about dumb shit like if there are litter boxes in classrooms for trans kids.
Don't expect people to research something that would prove them wrong.
People where I live see the issues with migrants every day. That's fuck all to do with social media.
There will be practically no reliable information in America for years to come.
I believe nothing we are told.
Zero. Zip.
Because they're terrible, but online anonymity lets them be terrible and pretend they're not.
I think we may have reached a tipping point.
By choice or otherwise, we all partake. We all just highlight different attributes depending on what we aim/work toward.
Who are these "savvy" lefties of whom you speak?
I'm not familiar with them.
Just sayin'.
2. They have to want the truth.
3. They have to be motivated to find that truth.
We've become a society where a lot of people want others to think for them and spoonfeed them information. I have no fucking idea how to fix it beyond education.
A few years ago "Google it" was parroted whenever someone didn't understand something. Now Google spits out nothing but shops, ads, and AI-generated summaries of the ad sites.
i think the population awaking to find their parents were actually serial killers, was a little soul crushing
We're in this crazy wrung of mourning, denial
Will we break from our cowardice & confront the predators?
I ponder that re/my sister-a fairly intelligent person. Has slowly gone maga. Last year proudly said that she was gathering information anywhere but fake media. She resists nuance, not oversimplification.