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Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

arstechnica.com

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Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#221

Post by sooheon »

shuntress wrote: post #175
sooheon wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody who does not even know you exist, puts up a drawing which they have no idea whether you will see or not, for their own purposes which you have no way of knowing, and you happen to come across it and feel bad. I think it's not fair to the word "bullying" to use it in this context. There's a point where the word is no longer appropriate--I think "passive" bullying is an oxymoron. A bully is someone who targets…

The symbols, especially in this particular context, are put up as representations of the communities (and their ideals) that put them there. What community does the swastika represent and what are their ideals? The 'passive' bullying is done by displaying the symbol in a public space to 'bully' those who recognize it as a message that they are not welcome and not wanted in that space.

> The 'passive' bullying is done by displaying the symbol in a public space to 'bully' those who recognize it as a message that they are not welcome and not wanted in that space.

I just don't buy this part. How do you know this is the intention? I'm assuming that it's just a picture of a swastika, not a targeted message of hate. How can you be so sure that they are out to send you this message? Are we in the realm of thought crime?

The very idea of bullying to me is a protracted, targeted, abusive thing. It does the kids who go through true bullying every day injustice to say that one off, untargeted, pixel art is in any way, shape, or form, bullying. It can be highly offensive, disgusting, and discomforting, or it can be artistic, clever, funny, and thought provoking--you'll never know if you sensor the speech by calling it "bullying".

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#222

Post by lifeformed »

sooheon wrote: post #118
spike021 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want to assume you lack a connection to swastikas used as they were during the Holocaust. For me personally, my grandfather and his family were persecuted along with other family members and friends. My grandfather was even beaten by Hitler Youth, among experiencing other horrible events (Kristallnacht in particular). I wish it weren't the case but the symbol is strongly associated with the feelings from this…

That is not bullying, it is you taking offense to pixels. Which you are perfectly free to do, but nobody is bullying you by putting their art online.

Why is it so important to accommodate trolls and nazis? If a stranger in my house at a party drew a swastika on my wall, I'm kicking him out. If someone on my website did the same, I would also remove him. It's not me getting offended, it's just curation of the community.

If someone doesn't want to follow the social norms of the community they're in, fine, but they'll pay the consequences. They can form their own community if they want.

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#223

Post by shalmanese »

icc97 wrote: post #158

I find this interesting in what it lacked: * No Google / Twitter / Facebook / Amazon * No news networks (except NPR) * Hardly any corporations except for Tesla, Space X, AMD, Lego and IKEA * No GTA, FIFA, large corporate games * Only 6 actual people (1/3 of which was the Dutch dutchy) * No films * No iconic logos - e.g. Olympics rings, Nike, McDonalds

Don't forget Bunnings Warehouse!

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#224

Post by pbhjpbhj »

spike021 wrote: post #88
cyphar wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While some users might feel that way, I'm not sure how an image (which is a collection of pixels on a screen that has many different historical interpretations) would threaten, harass or bully someone. Or incite it. Of course, these days ad networks are hyper-sensitive about this topic, so from an advertising perspective it does make sense.

I don't want to assume you lack a connection to swastikas used as they were during the Holocaust. For me personally, my grandfather and his family were persecuted along with other family members and friends. My grandfather was even beaten by Hitler Youth, among experiencing other horrible events (Kristallnacht in particular). I wish it weren't the case but the symbol is strongly associated with the feelings from this…

The same argument could be made against almost any national flag. It represents a force who committed acts against my ancestors that I find deplorable. [Fake example:] Like, USA revolutionaries murdered my ancestors. Or, USA soldiers tortured my family members during the Gulf War.

Obviously the degree is different, so perhaps a Chinese flag for Tibetans, or a Turkish Flag for Armenians [estimates suggest 1.5Million murdered 100years ago], or ...

USA, where I assume the controlling decisions for Reddit are made, is known for "freedom of speech" which makes this sort of control of speech stand out more starkly.

How do you differentiate the supposed support for one set of actions with the apparent support for another equally vile set of actions in such cases. Clearly you can go personal in the analysis, but what about when your personal analysis conflicts with millions of others?

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#225

Post by Angostura »

beefhash wrote: post #5

It's worth nothing that the admins did actively ban users trying to make swastikas. /b/ tried and found that out the hard way. Reddit's content policy[1] was still applicable and was very much enforced. [1] https://www.reddit.com/help/contentpolicy/

> It's worth nothing that the admins did actively ban users trying to make swastikas.

I've heard it hypothesised, but I haven't seen any evidence. Swastikas did appear and disappear again, but what makes you think this was admin action?

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#226

Post by pbhjpbhj »

lifeformed wrote: post #222
sooheon wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not bullying, it is you taking offense to pixels. Which you are perfectly free to do, but nobody is bullying you by putting their art online.

Why is it so important to accommodate trolls and nazis? If a stranger in my house at a party drew a swastika on my wall, I'm kicking him out. If someone on my website did the same, I would also remove him. It's not me getting offended, it's just curation of the community. If someone doesn't want to follow the social norms of the community they're in, fine, but they'll pay the consequences. They can form their own com…

>If a stranger in my house at a party drew a swastika on my wall, I'm kicking him out. //

So you say "draw what you like on the walls" and then punish a follow of Vishnu because you associate the symbol differently to them. Don't invite strangers to draw stuff on your walls then?

>If someone doesn't want to follow the social norms of the community they're in //

Such as free speech. Don't give people freedom of speech and then chastise them for speaking freely. If they act immorally, or unethically, or illegally, sure ... but don't punish people for art alone.

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#227

Post by therealdrag0 »

Coincoin wrote: post #210
stouset wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If so, even better IMO.

Yes! Let's prevent them from expressing themselves so they will never debate their ideas and never realize they might be wrong. Let's ostracize them until they have no choice but fester their frustration, hidden from the rest of world. Let's make those ideas illegal so that any of our parents, sibling and children, if they ever entertain them, will keep it their most sacred secret, protected from scrutiny. All that,…

Sure worked well with Trump supporters right?

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#228

Post by pbhjpbhj »

monksy wrote: post #77
grkvlt wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder, are these subs blocked for users from e.g. Germany and Austria, where the swastika is still banned?

I would hope not. Bans on speech and expression don't work. Besides Reddit isn't based in Germany or France.

Reddit is provided by the owners to people in Germany, say. You can't ship goods/services to Germany bearing swastikas, AIUI, under their law. If Reddit sell to Germany (eg Reddit Gold) then they likely broke the law. /IANAL

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#229

Post by andrewflnr »

Ajedi32 wrote: post #65
gallerdude wrote: post #3

I can't think of many examples, but I do like these sort of projects - Twitch Plays Pokémon comes to mind. Interesting how an entire subculture can develop: inside jokes, wars, and more. It's amazing because it's a microculture, but it develops far faster than any "regular" culture would.

Other examples include the Bob Ross reruns and SeeBotsChat on Twitch.

You're thinking of this w.r.t. Bob Ross? https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurenorsini/2015/11/02/how-dea...

Re: Reddit’s April Fools’ experiment

#230

Post by pbhjpbhj »

joenot443 wrote: post #214
xanderstrike wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sad thing is none of those logos and links have any meaning any more, almost all of them go to 404s, domain parked pages, or completely unrelated sites, and even when they were new they went to scummy ecommerce or porn sites. In 12 years, the imagery on /r/place will still hold meaning and the timelapses will still tell a pretty cool story.

Pretty wild to see a (relatively) huge company like 2checkout ( https://www.2checkout.com/ ) on there.

It was an international news story and clearly still gets some attention (last time I was reminded of it was within the last year).
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