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Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

reuters.com

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Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#141

Post by ciarannolan »

MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #11
hirundo wrote: post #9

I don't trust Facebook or Twitter to distinguish disinformation from information. Why would anyone?

They can’t and they shouldn’t. The potential good that could come from this does not outweigh the catastrophic failure modes of this approach. Some enlightened people understood this, hundreds of years ago. Its time for another amendment. EDIT since this is related, another horrendous idea that recently disgraced my timeline https://twitter.com/yelp/status/1314197509623947265?s=21

> Today, we’re announcing a new consumer alert to stand against racism.

I read this, laughed, and closed the tab. The world has gone mad.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#142

Post by orthecreedence »

gpmcadam wrote: post #65

Honestly, I find Twitter's editorially driven hash-tag auto-complete and "trends" to be one of the biggest sources of misinformation out there. It's laughable and frankly patronising that they even pretend to not have an opinion or a political leaning. The more they try to wiggle out of the Web of "disinformation", the more firmly they become lodged in it.

Right, this is my main problem with the big social media networks. They claim objectivity, but then show you things you don't follow. Pick one.

Facebook/Twitter cannot truthfully claim "Whoa, we can't remove holocaust deniers! We're a neutral platform!" and then turn around and show me trending topics, news, and people.

If you're so fucking neutral, then only show me things I follow, and don't insert ad content into the feed like it's real. Put if off to the side like a regular advertisement.

They want to have their cake and eat it too.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#143

Post by redisman »

bmarquez wrote: post #126
ardy42 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd also argue that what's left of the corporate media is rapidly losing credibility, highly partisan and rarely objective. How so, exactly? This is kind of an odd moment, where the US president is deeply incompetent and a shameless liar, and some seem to think it's biased for the mainstream media to even point those facts out. There are definitely some aspects of the traditional media that fit your description (al…

> where the US president is deeply incompetent and a shameless liar, and some seem to think it's biased for the mainstream media to even point those facts out. Deeply incompetent is an opinion, not a fact. So yes, it is a form of bias. Actual fact-based reporting would be articles like "President did XXXX on YYYY" and leave the opinions and talking heads out. It would also be fairly dry and not generate outrage click…

It's the same issue as social media. People love to read opinion pages so the news orgs end up providing more and more of it. The eyeballs Fox News gets is like 99% for their opinion programming.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#144

Post by SkyMarshal »

drawkbox wrote: post #33

Repeat after me, social media is not reality. Social media is the new tabloid salacious media. Yes it can be fun, entertaining, informative and educational, it can also be propaganda, misinformation, astroturfing, and a big high school like popularity contest where people are fake and narcissistic but probably insecure. The truth is the internet is teaching the biggest lesson ever in critical thinking and getting you…

>The truth is the internet is teaching the biggest lesson ever in critical thinking and getting your information from many sources across spectrums, countries, divides and more.

I'm afraid it's more like Snowcrash, where the Internet is akin to the "snow", the static pattern that crashes most people's brains, and only a few are naturally immune, naturally critically minded.

>Let's hope that people see it as a lesson and not somewhere they can bask in their confirmation bias all day, or make decisions based on fear, in those cases the populace is easy to manipulate.

I think this is unfortunately the case, most people are basking in their confirmation bias and social media dopamine hits. Reason is hard, finding reliable trustworthy data is hard, etc. Path of least resistance is to give in.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#145

Post by redisman »

vorpalhex wrote: post #77
bilbo0s wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Let's hope that people see it as a lesson and not somewhere they can bask in their confirmation bias" I'm not sanguine. Be honest, which would you bet on happening in the majority of cases? I wonder sometimes if it's almost part of some fundamental psychology?

Do you believe the general public is better at filtering out misinformation than they were 100 years ago? What about 500 years ago? It takes time but people do seem to get better at filtering out mis-information. I believe (and we have some evidence) that we can speed this up by helping teach critical dissection of articles and content and build the skill set to weigh sources. The problem will never go away entirely.…

We've never had yellow journalism powered by trillion dollar companies that are extremely good at manipulating your average Joe to keep consuming more based on their addiction algorithms.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#146

Post by sb057 »

obviouslynotme wrote: post #76
hirundo wrote: post #9

I don't trust Facebook or Twitter to distinguish disinformation from information. Why would anyone?

Or anyone really. After 2016, I stopped watching and reading the current news completely. Everyone is lying to you now. I just wait 6 months before having an opinion on anything. That gives more than enough time for most of the rumors and mistakes to iron themselves out. As an unexpected side effect, I am happier than I have ever been. The world isn't going to end and I need to stop worrying that it will.

>The world isn't going to end and I need to stop worrying that it will.

Debatable, but even if it is, you still shouldn't waste your time worrying about it.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#147

Post by influx »

bjelkeman-again wrote: post #136
bmarquez wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> where the US president is deeply incompetent and a shameless liar, and some seem to think it's biased for the mainstream media to even point those facts out. Deeply incompetent is an opinion, not a fact. So yes, it is a form of bias. Actual fact-based reporting would be articles like "President did XXXX on YYYY" and leave the opinions and talking heads out. It would also be fairly dry and not generate outrage click…

I would find it hard to argue that any of the current POTUS work has been competent.

We just had a thread on hacker news where most folks agreed the administrations changes to the H1B program were welcome.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#149

Post by kchr »

bentcorner wrote: post #125
andy_ppp wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need a broadsheet social media that is (relatively) healthy for you.

IMO removing clickable links and link previews would go a long way to make social media better.

This! Also remove re-posting functionality.

Re: Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks

#150

Post by SippinLean »

bmarquez wrote: post #126
ardy42 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'd also argue that what's left of the corporate media is rapidly losing credibility, highly partisan and rarely objective. How so, exactly? This is kind of an odd moment, where the US president is deeply incompetent and a shameless liar, and some seem to think it's biased for the mainstream media to even point those facts out. There are definitely some aspects of the traditional media that fit your description (al…

> where the US president is deeply incompetent and a shameless liar, and some seem to think it's biased for the mainstream media to even point those facts out. Deeply incompetent is an opinion, not a fact. So yes, it is a form of bias. Actual fact-based reporting would be articles like "President did XXXX on YYYY" and leave the opinions and talking heads out. It would also be fairly dry and not generate outrage click…

Trump does not have the competence to responsibly constrain a pandemic to the same deaths rates as all the other first-world countries.

He has demonstrated his incompetence in wrt to this, it is not objective.

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