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Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

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Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#11

Post by innguest »

dba7dba wrote: post #4

I don't want say to I am ahead of the curve or anything but yes I already have started not saying nothing on my social network that's related to politics/religion/social-issues/etc. I don't say yes or no on any of those on social network. I have decided silence is the best option. I do have a real world example too. I used to work with a manager over me who was really cool and worked with me well. Felt he was looking…

The reason politics and religion are discussion taboos is the same reason things are so slow to change in both of those realms.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#12

Post by drhayes9 »

LordKano wrote: post #6

I'm concerned that it's only going to get worse. Look at Brendan Eich, no matter what we think of Proposition 8, I think it's crazy that his support of a political position that was also supported by a very narrow majority of his fellow Californians could cause him to have to leave his job six years later. It's entirely possible that Eich could become a verb, like Bork. Any one of us could support one side of a conte…

Nobody silenced Brendan Eich. He is free to say whatever he wants about his political affiliations and his personal ideals.

With that freedom comes the concomitant responsibility for the consequences of that speech.

In fact, I think it's admirable that he didn't back down from his position or try and weasel-word his way out of a difficult situation. He stuck to his guns in the face of a firestorm of controversy.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#13

Post by dba7dba »

drhayes9 wrote: post #12
LordKano wrote: post #6

I'm concerned that it's only going to get worse. Look at Brendan Eich, no matter what we think of Proposition 8, I think it's crazy that his support of a political position that was also supported by a very narrow majority of his fellow Californians could cause him to have to leave his job six years later. It's entirely possible that Eich could become a verb, like Bork. Any one of us could support one side of a conte…

Nobody silenced Brendan Eich. He is free to say whatever he wants about his political affiliations and his personal ideals. With that freedom comes the concomitant responsibility for the consequences of that speech. In fact, I think it's admirable that he didn't back down from his position or try and weasel-word his way out of a difficult situation. He stuck to his guns in the face of a firestorm of controversy.

Eich was silenced.

And not only that, OTHERS were taught a lesson to be silent on that issue and other issues as well.

Nothing is more effective to silence someone or groups of people than threatening someone's livelihood.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#14

Post by gagege »

dba7dba wrote: post #8
LordKano wrote: post #6

I'm concerned that it's only going to get worse. Look at Brendan Eich, no matter what we think of Proposition 8, I think it's crazy that his support of a political position that was also supported by a very narrow majority of his fellow Californians could cause him to have to leave his job six years later. It's entirely possible that Eich could become a verb, like Bork. Any one of us could support one side of a conte…

I see stickers on cars 'Coexist'. And I look at what's going on. And I have to say it was bait-and-switch. Will I get down votes for this?

I think I agree with you, but still, very low quality comment.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#15

Post by vezzy-fnord »

LordKano wrote: post #6

I'm concerned that it's only going to get worse. Look at Brendan Eich, no matter what we think of Proposition 8, I think it's crazy that his support of a political position that was also supported by a very narrow majority of his fellow Californians could cause him to have to leave his job six years later. It's entirely possible that Eich could become a verb, like Bork. Any one of us could support one side of a conte…

My main beef with the Eich case wasn't the fact that people protested his decision, it was how they did it.

The main method of protest was to boycott Firefox. Yet this was a stupid thing to do, because Firefox is the result of over a decade of wide-scale community effort, all done on a non-profit basis, and has been instrumental in advancing web standards. Firefox was also the initial spark that got us out of the stagnation caused by IE6.

By boycotting Firefox, people were punishing pretty much everyone except Eich. A much more blunt statement would have been to boycott JavaScript, something Eich was directly responsible for. Of course, that would actually require some effort in a major overhaul of one's browsing habits.

Then it was OKCupid just blatantly jumping on the bandwagon, encouraging Firefox users to leave their browser, all in an absolutely farcical attempt to assert their moral superiority.

Finally, most people don't seem to be aware that gay marriage is often a red herring in general, and the topic of marriage privatization is rarely discussed in public. But that's heading towards my personal views.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#16

Post by maxxxxx »

innguest wrote: post #11
dba7dba wrote: post #4

I don't want say to I am ahead of the curve or anything but yes I already have started not saying nothing on my social network that's related to politics/religion/social-issues/etc. I don't say yes or no on any of those on social network. I have decided silence is the best option. I do have a real world example too. I used to work with a manager over me who was really cool and worked with me well. Felt he was looking…

The reason politics and religion are discussion taboos is the same reason things are so slow to change in both of those realms.

This is just crazy. To have a healthy society these issues should be discussed a lot but without the fear of being punished for your views.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#17

Post by dba7dba »

dba7dba wrote: post #4

I don't want say to I am ahead of the curve or anything but yes I already have started not saying nothing on my social network that's related to politics/religion/social-issues/etc. I don't say yes or no on any of those on social network. I have decided silence is the best option. I do have a real world example too. I used to work with a manager over me who was really cool and worked with me well. Felt he was looking…

@maxxxxx I believe religion/politics are not discussed on US navy ship officer dining rooms because they are stuck with each other for months at a time.

I am sure they let their views known in other arenas.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#18

Post by dba7dba »

gagege wrote: post #14
dba7dba wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see stickers on cars 'Coexist'. And I look at what's going on. And I have to say it was bait-and-switch. Will I get down votes for this?

I think I agree with you, but still, very low quality comment.

Haha, sorry. Is it because it was short or talking about up/down votes?

Just curious.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#19

Post by drhayes9 »

dba7dba wrote: post #13
drhayes9 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody silenced Brendan Eich. He is free to say whatever he wants about his political affiliations and his personal ideals. With that freedom comes the concomitant responsibility for the consequences of that speech. In fact, I think it's admirable that he didn't back down from his position or try and weasel-word his way out of a difficult situation. He stuck to his guns in the face of a firestorm of controversy.

Eich was silenced. And not only that, OTHERS were taught a lesson to be silent on that issue and other issues as well. Nothing is more effective to silence someone or groups of people than threatening someone's livelihood.

Except for threatening someone's life?

Let's not get too hyperbolic here. A rich, white guy was forced out of a CEO position and he was "silenced"? He could have given interviews about his position at any tech magazine he could reach by phone. He could publish a blog post on his site. None of this suggests that he was silenced.

Let's save the powerful terms for bigger travesties is all I'm saying.

Re: Social Media and the ‘Spiral of Silence’

#20

Post by DanAndersen »

ianstallings wrote: post #9

I was going to sternly object, and then I remembered how a friend deleted me on facebook because I liked a certain politician. Then my work friended me so I went back and pruned every semi-controversial topic from my feed and "unliked" a ton of subjects. And now I keep it all to myself. I probably reveal more here in my writing than I do on those outlets. And to say I edit my thoughts here on HN would be an understat…

The common realization that things on the Internet are forever causes a terrible amount of sanitization of our opinions and beliefs.

It seems like the great lie of social media was that it would open up and democratize communication, encouraging people to speak up and speak out on issues important to them. Instead what we ended up with is big companies getting even more of a megaphone than before, giving people the illusion of having a voice (only to find that when everyone has a megaphone, only the loudest and most attacking voices or the most hive-minded comments get perpetuated). And everyone has to constantly preen and groom their "social media presence" because it's all about cultivating a personal brand.

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