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Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#421

Post by leotaku »

6510 wrote: post #414

You know what we need. A data driven approach to election programs. The primary goal should be to inform the voter how completely clueless they are about the options. One should know how shameful this is. An insult to democracy. There are lots of candidates to chose from and they all have their own program. Howabout you take some time out of your day to vaguely familiarize yourself with the menu before ordering? The…

> Look at the un-notable candidates. Don't be afraid! I started by looking into Christine Weston Chandler and was not disappointed.

Are you sure "Christine Weston Chandler" is a genuine Candidate? A well known and somewhat controversial Internet figure shares the same name. Also, I am barely able to find any other information relating to someone with this name running for president. Might this be a troll candidate?

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#422

Post by lliamander »

dragonwriter wrote: post #396
lliamander wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying you are making things up, but that makes no sense to me. I don't think any Republicans I know are aware of that tactic, use that tactic, or would even think it's effective.

There's an well-sourced Wikipedia article covering the of “Democrat” as an adjective in place of “Democratic”, including its history and Republicans citing their justification for it: https://en.m . wikipedia.org/wiki/Democrat_Party_(epithet)

That is just so...weak. I acknowledge the historical origins, but is anyone really bothered by this? "Democrat" is obviously a demonym for those in the Democratic Party, so shortening it to the "Democrat Party" (i.e. the party of the "Democrats") seems perfectly reasonable. I mean, it does lend itself to silly orthographic puns like "DemocRAT" etc., but by itself doesn't really seem particularly offensive.

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#423

Post by Spivak »

boomlinde wrote: post #339
Spivak wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right but I think it's a mistake to assume that politics should be everyone's "thing." Everyone should vote but not everyone needs to be in the weeds of the political process unless it's something they're passionate about. And when it comes to the "civic duty" level of participation there's honestly not much that to do. You'll know pretty quick whether you're part of the red, blue, or grey tribe so you can jus…

Personally I think that if you are wholly ignorant about the potential outcomes, you should refrain from voting. You have to be "in the weeds" at least to the extent that you can make an informed decision for a vote to be constructive. The will to vote should follow naturally from an understanding of the democratic process and its fundamental implications on society, and the availability of information that can serve…

Sure, but there's really no harm voting if you really are completely ignorant -- you and the people like you will just be noise in the final tally. But most people aren't completely ignorant, and the return on going deeper in the political process isn't that great if all you're trying to do is decide how to fill out your ballot.

Largely speaking pretty much everyone sponsored by a major party is plenty qualified on paper, and candidates tow the party line so close that you don't really need to know all that much to make a decision. Don't get me wrong, it sucks that parties have such a stranglehold on people that people who I'm sure have plenty of complex nuanced opinions are reduced to a color but my distaste for that doesn't change the reality of how they will vote.

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#424

Post by bobthepanda »

6510 wrote: post #414

You know what we need. A data driven approach to election programs. The primary goal should be to inform the voter how completely clueless they are about the options. One should know how shameful this is. An insult to democracy. There are lots of candidates to chose from and they all have their own program. Howabout you take some time out of your day to vaguely familiarize yourself with the menu before ordering? The…

It's worth noting that upstart successful parties like the Green Party in other countries start from the bottom up (local councils -> state representatives -> national office), because being familiar and having a track record is a great way to earn trust that you deserve the next highest position.

The US Green Party strategy seems to be to go for the jugular in the Presidential election, inevitably lose, and then fizzle out because there's no baseline party to fall back onto.

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#425

Post by three_seagrass »

ogre_codes wrote: post #412
mmanfrin wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is political content? Is news about the protests political? Is a statement by the president? Is a new law going in to effect political? Is someone commenting about wearing masks political? > Text classification is a thing, and there are many other techniques, so it seems possible to recognize political content with some reasonable level of accuracy and show me a lot less of that. I think you severely underestima…

> I think you severely underestimate what constitutes classifying something as political. You are over-thinking this. Just filtering obvious political stuff would be a massive help: - Mentions of politicians - Key words: Liberal, Conservative, Right-wing, etc etc - Material re-shared from political parties/ candidates/ movements. Just that would be a giant help. Allowing users to set their own filters would be a mass…

This has ethical reprecussions on the news ecosystem because whichever keywords/mentions that Facebook dictates as political will be targeted by news organizations to avoid.

These organizations will strip normal news of any political connotations which is frightening because the news, although mostly a pile of noise today, is supposed to have signals to keep democracies in line by design.

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#426

Post by lisper »

thrwawy0601858 wrote: post #417
lisper wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's "Democratic" not "Democrat". Democratic ads. Democratic voters. Democratic party. "Democrat" is a noun. It is used by Republicans as an adjective with the intent to be belittling and pejorative. It's like calling a black man "boy". Don't do it.

No; it's used by Republicans to deprive Democrats of their unearned rhetorical monopoly on 'Democracy' and their consciously manipulative party branding.

If you really believe that, why did you feel the need to hide your identity behind the anonymity of a throwaway account before you were comfortable expressing that opinion? Could it be that you know that it's not actually true, that in your heart of hearts you know that "Democrat party" is a Republican dog whistle? That it is offensive? Because it is.

If you really want to dispute this, step out from behind the shadows and let us see your face. (And the same goes for all of you anonymous down-voters too. FYAIOTLB.)

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#427

Post by mehrdadn »

thrwawy0601858 wrote: post #419
dragonwriter wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Republicans will block Democrat ads - will that lead to a better world when Republicans can't reach Democrat voters or vice versa? The piece indicates that there will be an option off political ads entirely, not to block political ads by partisan affiliation. (The latter is both more complex to even superficially inplement and would be rather ineffective because SuperPAC ads are formally unaffiliated with either pa…

> The ones who persist after correction are doing it intentionally and tactically, though. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with depriving Democrats of their consciously manipulative branding and their unearned rhetorical monopoly on 'Democracy'. To suggest otherwise speaks volumes about one's desire to control language, and a rather anti-Democratic disposition.

Did you make a throwaway just to post these?

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#428

Post by learc83 »

thrwawy0601858 wrote: post #419
dragonwriter wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Republicans will block Democrat ads - will that lead to a better world when Republicans can't reach Democrat voters or vice versa? The piece indicates that there will be an option off political ads entirely, not to block political ads by partisan affiliation. (The latter is both more complex to even superficially inplement and would be rather ineffective because SuperPAC ads are formally unaffiliated with either pa…

> The ones who persist after correction are doing it intentionally and tactically, though. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with depriving Democrats of their consciously manipulative branding and their unearned rhetorical monopoly on 'Democracy'. To suggest otherwise speaks volumes about one's desire to control language, and a rather anti-Democratic disposition.

If the title "The Democratic Party" is consciously manipulative branding what is "The Republican Party" or "The Grand Old Party".

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#429

Post by ogre_codes »

8ytecoder wrote: post #418
ogre_codes wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think you severely underestimate what constitutes classifying something as political. You are over-thinking this. Just filtering obvious political stuff would be a massive help: - Mentions of politicians - Key words: Liberal, Conservative, Right-wing, etc etc - Material re-shared from political parties/ candidates/ movements. Just that would be a giant help. Allowing users to set their own filters would be a mass…

Pretty much everything is politics these days. That's the unfortunate truth. We can't even distinguish personal and non-personal that easily any more. Even filtering by status updates and photos won't help. Status updates can be political speech (may or may not call out someone by name or ideology), photos could be your friend holding a placard or a meme. Things as simple as wearing/not-wearing a mask is political no…

> Pretty much everything is politics these days. That's the unfortunate truth.

- Me riding bikes with my friends - Not politics.

- My friend turning 50 - Not politics.

- Organizing a game night - Not politics.

- My buddy getting a new car - Not politics.

- A friend getting engaged - Not politics.

etc etc etc...

There are million things in the world which are not politics. The whole reason I used to go to Facebook was to hang out virtually with my friends and keep up with what they are doing. Unless they are actually going to a political rally, that's not politics. And if they are, I care about that too because they are doing it.

The big problem with Facebook is at some point everyone collectively decided it is their own personal soapbox so now it's filled with everyone standing on their little podiums shouting their opinions about everything from facemasks to whether it's ok to shoot people in the back.

> I have come to peace that I'll text my friends directly and that's it. Once a month or so I log on to facebook and comment on personal updates.

This is exactly what I do, because when you text people directly they are thinking of you as you, not as their own personal soapbox.

Re: Facebook to let users turn off political adverts

#430

Post by 6510 »

leotaku wrote: post #421
6510 wrote: post #414

You know what we need. A data driven approach to election programs. The primary goal should be to inform the voter how completely clueless they are about the options. One should know how shameful this is. An insult to democracy. There are lots of candidates to chose from and they all have their own program. Howabout you take some time out of your day to vaguely familiarize yourself with the menu before ordering? The…

> Look at the un-notable candidates. Don't be afraid! I started by looking into Christine Weston Chandler and was not disappointed. Are you sure "Christine Weston Chandler" is a genuine Candidate? A well known and somewhat controversial Internet figure shares the same name. Also, I am barely able to find any other information relating to someone with this name running for president. Might this be a troll candidate?

Yes, yes, yes and yes I suppose. Now lets look at Phil Collins https://www.prohibitionparty.org I'm buying a mug, looks like a great gift https://www.cafepress.com/prohibitionparty.513117792
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