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We Study Mass Shooters. Something Terrifying Is Happening Online

nytimes.com

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Re: We Study Mass Shooters. Something Terrifying Is Happening Online

#5

Post by shagie »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #4

I don't understand the authors "true crime" reference. I'd always associated true crime with middle aged white suburban moms podcast habits, not teens and young adults glorifying mass shootings. Did I miss something or did the author?

That was referencing the killer in the Abundant Life Christian School shooting.

This isn't the true crime of classic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_crime but rather people commenting on crimes.

https://www.wisn.com/article/madison-school-shooting-reveals...

    True Crime Community

    Researchers say these posts and her online actions fit the mold of the internet group "True Crime Community," or TCC.

    The online group often focuses on mass shootings and other crimes, researching and in some cases idolizing previous attacks.

    "TCC and other similar online forums are one location online where individuals who are seeking justification for their desire to engage in violence, to express their anger at society, to express their feeling of being a victim, and they consume content found on those forums," Cohen explained.
---

"The "true crime community" of tumblr is really fucked up" - https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/7e7v0b/the_true_cri...

Re: We Study Mass Shooters. Something Terrifying Is Happening Online

#6

Post by thomassmith65 »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #4

I don't understand the authors "true crime" reference. I'd always associated true crime with middle aged white suburban moms podcast habits, not teens and young adults glorifying mass shootings. Did I miss something or did the author?

I was similarly puzzled, but Wikipedia has a "True Crime Community" entry that matches the usage in the article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Crime_Community

Re: We Study Mass Shooters. Something Terrifying Is Happening Online

#7

Post by goatlover »

kelseyfrog wrote: post #4

I don't understand the authors "true crime" reference. I'd always associated true crime with middle aged white suburban moms podcast habits, not teens and young adults glorifying mass shootings. Did I miss something or did the author?

Why would true crime be limited to that demographic? Lots of different people have an interest in certain crimes, particularly unsolved or controversial ones.

Re: We Study Mass Shooters. Something Terrifying Is Happening Online

#8

Post by burnt-resistor »

Not very much substance or evidence in this op-ed article, there should be at least some support. Yes, online glorification of such needs to be shutdown and that means creative MMO platforms must be held accountable to provide effective moderation.

More broadly, I'm concerned that the civilization glue of community continues to be in retreat, lack of uniform mental healthcare and healthcare, and lack of reasonable bounds on who can/'t have firearms with similar respect as vehicular operation.

While that means I'm concerned about the same loser types Columbine that continue to be a problem (as mentioned), but I'm also concerned about organized domestic and international terrorists (including accelerationist, race-oriented, and religious groups) out to do much greater harm in ways that aren't just mass shootings.

Also, AI chatbots opens up the potential of automating sentiment manipulation through astroturfing leading towards radicalization goals.

Final qualitative observation: Functional, healthy civilizations seem to produce far fewer revenge-suicide events per capita per time interval.

Re: We Study Mass Shooters. Something Terrifying Is Happening Online

#9

Post by Mountain_Skies »

burnt-resistor wrote: post #8

Not very much substance or evidence in this op-ed article, there should be at least some support. Yes, online glorification of such needs to be shutdown and that means creative MMO platforms must be held accountable to provide effective moderation. More broadly, I'm concerned that the civilization glue of community continues to be in retreat, lack of uniform mental healthcare and healthcare, and lack of reasonable bo…

Robert Putnam has plenty of research on the subject of the disappearance of community, but he was called a Nazi for doing actual research and publishing the results because the data didn't show what many people, including the vast majority of Hacker News, wishes to be true. As long as we continue to insist that our wishes trump reality, things will continue to fall apart, and everyone will continue to act confused about why it is happening. Lots of unsupported theories that conform to wishes will be bandied about while actual research continues to be ignored.
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