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Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

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Re: Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

#101

Post by notus »

gatherhunterer wrote: post #47

Of course the trolls are wrong for trolling, but trolling is a fact of life on the web. When I was a kid I was told to never link any online account with my real identity and to always regard every person encountered on the web as a potential bad actor. The article begins with the story of an 11-year-old whose identity is linked to a public Twitter account. There is a distinct lack of recognition for the failures in…

We should be asking how we can make these better environments for children, because saying children can't use a public twitter account is not going to fly. Also attributing it to bad parenting is also a cop-out in my opinion. Not all of these concerns are immediately visible to parents. If they don't use twitter themselves they might not be aware of how it can be used.

Re: Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

#102

Post by sifar »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #11

>mom of 8-year-old climate activist Havana Chapman-Edwards Is it just me, or is there something disturbing about an 8 year old activist for anything? I cannot see anything good coming from turning young children into activists. Kids that age need love and stability, not the fear that the world is going to end unless they do something.

I feel the same too. What on earth would prompt a parent to expose their kids to doing this at this age and everything that comes with it.

I find this phenomenon of pushing these kids to the forefront of climate change protests really alarming. Any call to action seeks to bypass your critical thinking especially when it comes to children. Emotions start to short circuit the rational thought.

Yes, this is a global problem in that it affects us all and needs some global cooperation, but this is not the way.

This will cause more harm to these kids and I fear the hasty decisions taken based on this activism would be myopic and may lull us into complacency or worst do more harm than good.

Re: Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

#103

Post by sifar »

notus wrote: post #101
gatherhunterer wrote: post #47

Of course the trolls are wrong for trolling, but trolling is a fact of life on the web. When I was a kid I was told to never link any online account with my real identity and to always regard every person encountered on the web as a potential bad actor. The article begins with the story of an 11-year-old whose identity is linked to a public Twitter account. There is a distinct lack of recognition for the failures in…

We should be asking how we can make these better environments for children, because saying children can't use a public twitter account is not going to fly. Also attributing it to bad parenting is also a cop-out in my opinion. Not all of these concerns are immediately visible to parents. If they don't use twitter themselves they might not be aware of how it can be used.

Children shouldn't use twitter.

Re: Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

#105

Post by 52-6F-62 »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #95
52-6F-62 wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not right, either. The thread had barely started and there seemed to be some interesting, civil comments among the blatant bait. I hope the mods can catch it. You can 'vouch' for flagged comments, but not posts, which usually helps poorly-flagged items.

Aye, it's becoming habitual on some topics. Hopefully the mods will second-chance it, as despite the oh-so-predictable trash comments there's an important issue.

Agreed. And it seems as relevant as anything to this forum, though on more philosophical/ethical grounds than technical.

Re: Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

#106

Post by faissaloo »

Porthos9K wrote: post #93
dyeje wrote: post #21

Has anyone tried to do an analysis on these trolls? Who are they and why are they trolling? I'm concerned that these aren't normal people and instead people interested in maintaining the status quo are coordinating these activities.

My default assumption is that trolls attacking any sort of "leftist" activist are either alt-reich channers or corporate astroturfers. I don't assume good faith on the part of trolls, but instead always suspect an ulterior motive.

I don't believe they're channers, they're far to numerous and their commenting style tends towards boomerisms.

Re: Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

#107

Post by crazynick4 »

iron0013 wrote: post #84
crazynick4 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess what I'm trying to say that is that kids, whether they're right or wrong, aren't really qualified to promote a public opinion on any issue. You also have to remember that they're being allowed to skip school to do this. When I was a kid, I would have gone to practically any rally if it meant skipping class..

Anyone who's going to be affected is qualified to express their opinion, it seems to me, and children are going to be affected by climate change long after the rest of us are gone.

Let me put it a different way - the kids campaigning for climate action are not convincing anyone who wasn't already on board. It's literally just a show that's riling up the people who are already supporters. It's harmful to the kids and not accomplishing much else.

Re: Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

#108

Post by faissaloo »

jakobegger wrote: post #68
AlexB138 wrote: post #14

Using children as political tools is disgusting. It's blatantly manipulative. Throwing them into the cess-pool of public politics and then acting as if you're shocked they're in a cess-pool, and using that shock to try to score political points, is one of the more reprehensible tactics in the modern play book.

Yeah, kids have no place in politics. They should stay quiet, play minecraft, impress their parents with fun science projects, but under no circumstances should they speak out, and anybody amplifying their voice is disgusting and reprehensible.

Just keep playing Minecraft until you stop thinking about how to deal with reality.

Re: Trolls Are Swarming Young Climate Activists Online

#110

Post by 4ec0755f5522 »

daenz wrote: post #79
yogthos wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So they should just sit there and wait to die is what you're saying?

Imagine telling that to your young child every day and then wondering why your child has anxiety disorders and social problems. Part of being a responsible parent is shielding your children from the horrors of the world, so that they can develop in a stable and sane environment.

I do my best on this, but if she knew about the climate strike I would have let her join it.

It's no good denying the reality of the situation we are in just to spare sad/anxious feelings. This generation has a choice:

1) Survive but feel anxious

2) Die, but be happy as a child, then angry it was hidden from you after it's too late to do anything

It's an unfortunate dilemma but we must choose the better of these, yeah? It's probably 'try to survive' rather than 'bread and circuses'. It's fair that the people most likely to be affected by this are the ones most concerned/active about doing something about it.

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