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U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

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Re: U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

#301

Post by hansthehorse »

diogenescynic wrote: post #252
umvi wrote: post #72

How did we arrive to this point where a huge chunk of the population is in one reality and another huge chunk of the population is in another reality? Segregation of information sources? Politicization of media outlets? Self-reinforcing social bubbles? A combination of all of them and more?

All goes back to Reagan's repeal of the Fairness Doctrine which gave rise to biased political based news coverage a la Fox News. Since then, political polarization has increased each year until we got to the point we're at where both sides see the other as dangerous and lacking legitimacy. It's a lose-lose downward spiral.

The Fairness Doctrine only applied to broadcast media. I guess if it still existed it could be amended to include cable but that would be a tough thing to do since cable companies don't lease the public airwaves.

Re: U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

#302

Post by 1123581321 »

polka_haunts_us wrote: post #245

I can't vote to unflag things, but this really, really should not be flagged. It is just a little more important than most political garbage.

Why, seriously? Those of us who care what is happening have the news and political discussion sites open in other tabs. No one who cares is ignoring current events. I think it’s just as important to flag it as anything else that doesn’t meet the rules.

Re: U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

#305

Post by miedpo »

saul_goodman wrote: post #215
umvi wrote: post #72

How did we arrive to this point where a huge chunk of the population is in one reality and another huge chunk of the population is in another reality? Segregation of information sources? Politicization of media outlets? Self-reinforcing social bubbles? A combination of all of them and more?

Regardless of what view point you have, it's become painful to watch/consume news on either side if you don't subscribe to their same left/right view point as what is being presented. The MSM has overplayed its hand over the past several years to the point they've been written off by their opposing sides. So that forces a dividing line so you don't even bother looking at the opposing news sources, and when ever you d…

As much as I'd like to blame the news (they are partially responsible, especially for keeping contention going), I think we as a people are also to blame. How often do we point to people with different points of view from us and say 'How Dare You!'. We could all cool it a bit, or at least be a little more generous, and I think people wouldn't be quite as alarmed, and this situation might be less likely. We've stoked the fires of emnity and now we're reaping the rewards.

Just my two cents. Hope your having a good day.

Re: U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

#306

Post by dang »

tkzed49 wrote: post #273
polka_haunts_us wrote: post #245

I can't vote to unflag things, but this really, really should not be flagged. It is just a little more important than most political garbage.

On this website, we pretend that the entire world can be reduced to a good-faith discussion between two sides with equal merit. Anything that is incompatible with this is distasteful.

That's not true, and you'll notice also that the OP is now not flagged.

Re: U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

#307

Post by ocdtrekkie »

hertzrat wrote: post #225
umvi wrote: post #72

How did we arrive to this point where a huge chunk of the population is in one reality and another huge chunk of the population is in another reality? Segregation of information sources? Politicization of media outlets? Self-reinforcing social bubbles? A combination of all of them and more?

All the social media sites did the research and learned that filter bubbles and outrage drives engagement more than anything else. If you tune your systems to maximize engagement and ignore the side effects, the side effects still happen, whether it’s deliberate or not

Indeed, Facebook and YouTube for a conservative and for a liberal are each completely different experiences.

This is what blaming the algorithm gets us. It's well past time to start shutting down platforms with algorithmic content systems.

Re: U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

#308

Post by slg »

hertzrat wrote: post #225
umvi wrote: post #72

How did we arrive to this point where a huge chunk of the population is in one reality and another huge chunk of the population is in another reality? Segregation of information sources? Politicization of media outlets? Self-reinforcing social bubbles? A combination of all of them and more?

All the social media sites did the research and learned that filter bubbles and outrage drives engagement more than anything else. If you tune your systems to maximize engagement and ignore the side effects, the side effects still happen, whether it’s deliberate or not

Most media companies under capitalism end up acting like a paperclip maximizing AI[1]. They will eat the entire planet to get a few more eyeballs because no one taught them not to.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumental_convergence#Paper...

Re: U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

#309

Post by tomjen3 »

umvi wrote: post #72

How did we arrive to this point where a huge chunk of the population is in one reality and another huge chunk of the population is in another reality? Segregation of information sources? Politicization of media outlets? Self-reinforcing social bubbles? A combination of all of them and more?

All of the above, but also politicians who have promised change forever and not much seems to change when one side takes over.

Add to that a pandemic lockdown championed by one side who can mostly sit safely behind a screen while the other side loses their livelyhood in small businesses.

Something had to give. I hope this will be the limit.

Re: U.S. Capitol Locked Down Amid Escalating Protests

#310

Post by patagonia »

NietzscheanNull wrote: post #285
patagonia wrote: post #258

Politics maybe off topic, but this is partially our fault. It’s always frustrated me that politics are largely unaddressed on HN. Not talking about it doesn’t make it not so.

At this point, I don't believe this story can be categorized as simply "politics." This is momentous historical event that's absolutely unprecedented in modern U.S. history.

Agreed. This story has moved beyond “politics” narrowly speaking. I’m suggesting that, by not discussing actual politics the people building the technologies enabling the the causes of today, it’s irresponsible.
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