I've been thinking for a while now, as we've had social media for many years already. What good has it brought to society? Scams, addiction, FOMO, cancel culture, gossip, missinformation, bullying, and the most self-centered generation in history, to name a few. All of it instantly and on a global scale. It's truly one the worst things that ever happened to society IMO.
> the most self-centered generation in history Boomers? Also I'm not sure cancel culture is a bad thing. It's just negative branding for what is essentially the first time marginalized groups could have their voices heard. People who are used to writing op-eds and never hearing any criticism of their ideas are finally getting some negative feedback and they're super mad about it. You get absolutely unreal outrage abo…
Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
71–80 of 86 posts
Re: Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
#72I remember my trauma after watching grim and depressing movie "Requiem for a Dream" including the scene when mother of protagonist joins some cult or MLM and becomes addicted to some drugs. In the end I realized "it's just a movie, it's all good". Now I see my parents uncritically consuming mostly on mobile portals with "news", social media, obvious propaganda which agitates and addicts them. What's worse they ask me…
The Internet has just exasperated an already present issue of low empathy, reactionary politics, and get rich quick schemes
Re: Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
> You shouldn't conclude the world is overpopulated by looking at footage from a football cup match. You shouldn't deny India is overpopulated when riding a train there resembles a footclub cup match.
Is Japan over-populated? Tokyo's trains are extremely crowded. Is US over-populated? LA traffic jams are crazy. What is the definition of over-population? Over what area are you measuring it? Those train images are likely from just one city. There are other places where the trains just run like any other place.
We can split hairs about other places, and obviously lots of places have their population/crowding issues. The planet has a lot of people.
But India is just not useful as a data point for blaming social media for these phenomena because it's such an outlier. Practically anything informing the people of India of something somewhere of interest is going to generate a thundering herd of exceptional proportion. You don't need social media's help.
Re: Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
#74I got “scammed” three times on social media. 1. Purchased electric scooters by following an Instagram ad. It was around Christmas time. The scooters were really cool looking. Turned out, they used the promotional videos from another company’s real product. I did get the money back from the credit card company. 2. Purchased a pillow by following an Instagram ad. Never received it. It turned out to be a fake store to j…
Re: Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
No amount of euphemisms makes up for what cancel culture really is-- cyberbullying at scale. Scott Cawson, the creator of Five Nights at Freddy's, was doxxed, harassed, and had death threats issued against himself and his pregnant wife. His crime against society? Being outed as a Republican political donor. Not a crime, just exercising his right to participate in democracy. His ability to do so was subsequently attac…
> Death threats are an actual crime. They are not free speech. Nobody's been held accountable for that though. There are laws about this. If they're difficult to enforce then somebody needs to make a decision about how much anonymity to allow on the internet, and other such difficult subjects. That's kind of the world we live in. You realize that marginalized people get doxxed and have death threats made against them…
What exactly is your point here? I know what you're getting at but dare not invoke their name. Sure, "marginalized people" getting threatened is a problem. They're not exactly without a platform-- they're perfectly capable of coordinating on Twitter and elsewhere to attack and deplatform anybody that dares oppose them. One of the more contentious ones literally uses the exact term "signal boosting" to issue calls to arms. So they're not exactly powerless either. America's "marginalized people" are apparently more effective than the Ku Klux Klan, since they get to intimidate opposition while masquerading as victims who cannot be challenged, lest they stalk and attack everyone associated with you and cost you your livelihood. We won't kill you, we'll just isolate you from your entire support network to ensure you and your family starve to death. Such magnanimous treatment from the uwu innocent widdle victim peopurrs! Better think twice before you speak out!
This isn't equality, nor is it a matter of free speech or criticism-- advancing a political cause through intimidation, violence and fear is literally the textbook definition of Terrorism. I expect nothing less though; every red flag of fraud has been repurposed by a certain demographic as central to their "identity," so why not normalize terrorism as a means of discourse while we're at it? Biden insists it's inbred gun hoarders we need to be worried about-- because we meet so many of those on a daily basis. Meanwhile, I have to play wordsmith with every fucking character I post online or my wife and children face death/rape threats and I get bricks thrown through my windows. You know, all the fun stuff the KKK used to do to blacks in the 60s. Remember: the people throwing the bricks are the real victims, and don't you dare suggest otherwise or you're next. That's just criticism coming through the window, and nobody deserves protection from that.
Your idea of marginalized people is a lie-- misdirection at best. Anytime white men (always white men) start wearing dresses and seeking political power, they form a child-sex cult, a hate group, or both. I once bought into their bullshit, but there's no fooling me twice.
Re: Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Death threats are an actual crime. They are not free speech. Nobody's been held accountable for that though. There are laws about this. If they're difficult to enforce then somebody needs to make a decision about how much anonymity to allow on the internet, and other such difficult subjects. That's kind of the world we live in. You realize that marginalized people get doxxed and have death threats made against them…
> You realize that marginalized people get doxxed and have death threats made against them every single day, often multiple times per day, and nobody seems to hear about it? Because again, they're not famous or notable in any way, they have nobody to call up to write that op-ed or have their signal boosted. It doesn't make the threats to their lives less serious. What exactly is your point here? I know what you're ge…
It's anybody who criticizes anybody. Women journalists in particular, BLM activists, climate change scientists. You realize there's been a wave of scientists who have left Twitter recently?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/14/climate-...
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2021/08/09/lex-scott-steps-down/
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/ferguson-d...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/23/blm-activist-s...
I guess you're invoking something about trans people? I mean them too but honestly it's everybody.
Re: Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
#77I've been thinking for a while now, as we've had social media for many years already. What good has it brought to society? Scams, addiction, FOMO, cancel culture, gossip, missinformation, bullying, and the most self-centered generation in history, to name a few. All of it instantly and on a global scale. It's truly one the worst things that ever happened to society IMO.
What on earth? I keep up with my (physically) distant friends through Facebook, people who I would have completely lost touch with if it weren't for social media. This reads like you trying to stand between me and my friends. If you don't like social media that's fine for you, but the rest of us quite like it and that's no business of yours. Butt out.
Re: Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
#78I've been thinking for a while now, as we've had social media for many years already. What good has it brought to society? Scams, addiction, FOMO, cancel culture, gossip, missinformation, bullying, and the most self-centered generation in history, to name a few. All of it instantly and on a global scale. It's truly one the worst things that ever happened to society IMO.
It is on average beneficial for LGBT+ kids, especially if their family or local culture are unsupportive or hostile.
Re: Victims speak out over ‘tsunami’ of fraud on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp
#79I think a lot of this is because a large amount of our society grew up without the Internet. To them, everything that looks professional is professional. They are easy targets for scammers. Millennials and Gen-Z were raised on the Internet and therefore have an innate understanding of what is real and most importantly, what can be faked. Its a lot harder to scam. them. If I told my parents about a Nigerian oil execut…