I love that you have that optimism but I’ve been alive long enough to know that republicans are enablers to this. They built the cauldron for that toxic soup and lit the fire under it. Them being appalled is right up there with thought and prayers. They should have fixed themselves in the 90s. - ThreadSky

gulfcoastgrit.bsky.social • 98 days ago

I love that you have that optimism but I’ve been alive long enough to know that republicans are enablers to this. They built the cauldron for that toxic soup and lit the fire under it. Them being appalled is right up there with thought and prayers. They should have fixed themselves in the 90s.

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totoroandscience.bsky.social•98 days ago

Yes and no. I worked in a hospital during early Covid and often taught patients how to find good medical information for after discharge. Sitting next to each other, using the same phone, operating system, and search words, our algorithms fed us different information. It was eye opening.

pikacha.bsky.social•97 days ago

I want to share your optimism but algorithms are formed by input, they don’t magically assign you one.

totoroandscience.bsky.social•97 days ago

Watching how quickly my teen’s first 2-3 posts on social media formed a scary algorithm suggests to me a majority of the blame belongs squarely on the shoulders of companies like Meta and Google. It’s systemic and too powerful.

pikacha.bsky.social•97 days ago

Makes you wish Zuckerberg, Musk and Mohan had an Uncle Ben in their lives, doesn't it? "With great power comes great responsibility."

totoroandscience.bsky.social•97 days ago

Yes, although I’ll admit I know significantly less about Mohan. He had a hand in media literacy education and violent content moderation, which is FAR more than I can say about the other two.

arceus.gay•97 days ago

Nah, they kinda do. Age, location, and gender are huge factors, but you can bet your ass that they're using any other bit of data they can get as well. Shit, Google probably takes screen time as a consideration.

People are still responsible for themselves though.

gulfcoastgrit.bsky.social•97 days ago

That last bit is important. I’ve had people I know share some reactionary bs with me and I’m like, “where did you hear that?” Inevitably it’s some right wing junksphere content and I’m able to help course correct them and let them know how that algorithm works and how to avoid the rabbit hole.

mikkimonroe.bsky.social•97 days ago

I’ve little doubt Google can identify me as trans.

john-m-w.bsky.social•97 days ago

I'll argue that It can. You watch one video from fox news or Ben Shapiro on youtube and then that's all you get - alt-right content. I blame social media for forming a bubble around people, especially young people.

totoroandscience.bsky.social•97 days ago

THIS. I asked my kid if he’d seen news about Andrew Tate and he bluntly informed me he he had not; he wouldn’t click on a news article about Tate because as a young man it would immediately skew his algorithm in a scary direction.

john-m-w.bsky.social•97 days ago

It's sad because I used to be that naive kid that used to indulge in alt right content - from "Triggered SNOWFLAKE GETS OWNED BY Ben Shapiro" to "ANTIFA ATTACKS MAGA." But after meeting new people in college, I realized the crap I was consuming was hateful content. I can't associate myself with that

john-m-w.bsky.social•97 days ago

Yeah it's a big problem. I'm honestly not sure how media platforms can address that. But from my understanding - they don't care. The goal is to feed you things you find interesting to keep you engaged and on their platform as long as possible.

mysticvermin.bsky.social•97 days ago

There's a Max Boot interview with Mother Jones from a few years back that lays it all out: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/10/destroy-the-republican-party-max-boot-calls-for-a-clean-start/

eubanksengineeringresearch.com•97 days ago

To be fair, the Democratic Party (mostly at the national level) has done more than their fair share of enabling.
The Dems have some legit warriors for good among them, but an awful lot of them seem to be happy to use the MAGA crazy as cover, so they can be “reasonable” w/o challenging status quo.

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