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They didn’t ask to go viral

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Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#11

Post by iJohnDoe »

blueflow wrote: post #8

The online shaming culture at tumblr, twitter and reddit was what convinced me that you need to stay pseudonymous on the internet at all cost. There are so many people that participate in this and haven't realized yet that they are being an asshole to random strangers.

100% this.

Learned in the 90s early internet about the emotional harm that I’ve seen happen to people.

Slightly different topic. I think state and federal laws need to be passed regarding medical, police, evidence, and other types of private videos and photos from being leaked online. Too much of it magically leaks out and it’s just the people that are trusted with the data that are posting it online.

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#12

Post by laputan_machine »

nullindividual wrote: post #4

Social media truly is the opioid of today's society. While browsing /r/all, I ran across a post from a very popular sub which had an airport worker stripping in the airport, flailing on the floor, etc. No one knows why, could have been drugs, could have been a mental defect. Yet many of the thousands of responses were laughing because they could see the man's flaccid penis. While we don't know what caused the man to…

I often think this about Ring / permanent surveillance that exists now. Nobody can even be free in front of their own house without the threat of something ludicrous happening to you and then it being on public record until the end of the internet. It's absolutely wild to me.

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#13

Post by Aurornis »

roenxi wrote: post #3

The "everyone:1" ratio of internet criticism also has had an interesting effect on politics. Given the sheer amount of vitriol directed at politicians no sane person would run for election. A plausible base-case scenario is a group of socially disabled internet dwellers dedicate their life to hounding you for imagined wrongs. Let alone the pressure of making any decision in a situation where large groups of people ar…

> A plausible base-case scenario is a group of socially disabled internet dwellers dedicate their life to hounding you for imagined wrongs.

The intersection between the set of chronically online people who see this content and the set of people who actually vote is much smaller than you might think. Voter turnout is consistently very low among young people, despite how actively interested they may appear on sites like Reddit.

Most of this content also turns into preaching to the choir. They congregate in online communities where people already decided who they were going to vote for, so the online anger has little to no effect on the people who might actually vote for the candidate.

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#14

Post by marginalia_nu »

roenxi wrote: post #3

The "everyone:1" ratio of internet criticism also has had an interesting effect on politics. Given the sheer amount of vitriol directed at politicians no sane person would run for election. A plausible base-case scenario is a group of socially disabled internet dwellers dedicate their life to hounding you for imagined wrongs. Let alone the pressure of making any decision in a situation where large groups of people ar…

Interestingly, the most successful politicians in recent years have adopted the techniques of old-school internet trolls.

It goes like this:

  1. Do or say something that's a bit edgy and controversial.  
  2. Pull out a lawn chair as the opposition attempts to stir up a shit storm.
  3. Under no circumstances engage with the criticism directed at you, just be somewhere else when anything is coming your way.  Never defend or explain anything you've said or done.  
  4. When the shitstorm is fading, GOTO 1 to ensure all focus remains on you, depriving the opposition of any opportunity to talk about what they want to do.
  5. Win the election because your opposition looks completely unhinged and you look unfairly persecuted.
It's basically like watching Muhammad Ali in a boxing match. Always has the initiative somehow even when he's ducking punches left and right.

If you think this describes anyone in particular, you're probably right; but the point is this playbook has been used basically all over the world with an insane degree of success.

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#15

Post by BurningFrog »

laputan_machine wrote: post #12
nullindividual wrote: post #4

Social media truly is the opioid of today's society. While browsing /r/all, I ran across a post from a very popular sub which had an airport worker stripping in the airport, flailing on the floor, etc. No one knows why, could have been drugs, could have been a mental defect. Yet many of the thousands of responses were laughing because they could see the man's flaccid penis. While we don't know what caused the man to…

I often think this about Ring / permanent surveillance that exists now. Nobody can even be free in front of their own house without the threat of something ludicrous happening to you and then it being on public record until the end of the internet. It's absolutely wild to me.

Like it or not, this is just the beginning.

Fairly soon, all human life will be recorded.

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#16

Post by brightball »

anon84873628 wrote: post #6

It seems like existing laws could already cover some of these scenarios if judged correctly. E.g. if a TikTok'er uploads a video lying about you, isn't that slander? The size of their audience and known effect of internet mobs makes it very clear to a reasonable observer that harm to the victim is expected/intended. And gaslighting children or abusing the elderly is already illegal, right?

This is actually what I’ve been waiting for for years. Should only take a couple of successful ones to stop it.

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#17

Post by [deleted] »

laputan_machine wrote: post #12
nullindividual wrote: post #4

Social media truly is the opioid of today's society. While browsing /r/all, I ran across a post from a very popular sub which had an airport worker stripping in the airport, flailing on the floor, etc. No one knows why, could have been drugs, could have been a mental defect. Yet many of the thousands of responses were laughing because they could see the man's flaccid penis. While we don't know what caused the man to…

I often think this about Ring / permanent surveillance that exists now. Nobody can even be free in front of their own house without the threat of something ludicrous happening to you and then it being on public record until the end of the internet. It's absolutely wild to me.

[deleted]

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#18

Post by yosito »

There is no reasonable expectation of privacy when in public. While it's certainly polite not to take photos of strangers and post them without asking if it's ok, you shouldn't morally or legally need permission. They're in public. Their actions can be seen by anyone else in public who crosses paths with them, whether online or off. There are cameras everywhere, and a random person with their smartphone should not be held to a higher standard than a surveillance company or security camera. I recently had someone give me a hard time because I had posted a selfie where someone else was in the background smoking a cigarette. The person was recognizable but far from being the focus of the photo. It was a complete coincidence that they were in the background, but a friend of theirs recognized them was angry that I had posted a photo of them without consent doing something that they didn't want shared on social media. Well, I'm sorry, but if you don't want people to see you doing something, don't do it in public. I chose to immediately remove the photo out of politeness and to avoid drama, but in my opinion, people have no right to be upset if a photo of them doing something in public goes viral.

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#19

Post by jsemrau »

BurningFrog wrote: post #15
laputan_machine wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often think this about Ring / permanent surveillance that exists now. Nobody can even be free in front of their own house without the threat of something ludicrous happening to you and then it being on public record until the end of the internet. It's absolutely wild to me.

Like it or not, this is just the beginning. Fairly soon, all human life will be recorded.

There should be a right to be forgotten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_be_forgotten

Re: They didn’t ask to go viral

#20

Post by iambateman »

iJohnDoe wrote: post #11
blueflow wrote: post #8

The online shaming culture at tumblr, twitter and reddit was what convinced me that you need to stay pseudonymous on the internet at all cost. There are so many people that participate in this and haven't realized yet that they are being an asshole to random strangers.

100% this. Learned in the 90s early internet about the emotional harm that I’ve seen happen to people. Slightly different topic. I think state and federal laws need to be passed regarding medical, police, evidence, and other types of private videos and photos from being leaked online. Too much of it magically leaks out and it’s just the people that are trusted with the data that are posting it online.

For sure. There was a show called “LivePD” that took live video as someone was arrested by the police.

I watched for years.

Now it feels so gross…if someone is having the potentially-worst moment of their life, society should offer them the decency of not putting it on live TV.

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