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Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

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Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#151

Post by pjc50 »

jordigh wrote: post #8

I'm rather bothered that I know nothing about Soros except a bunch of vague, negative feelings about him that have pop-culturally osmosed to me through constant usage of his name in 4channish/the_donaldish media. He's some kind of evil mastermind destroying civilisation with his vast wealth. I know this is almost certainly not true, but I'm so bothered that this is my immediate thought. I feel like the alt-right has…

The anti-semitic conspiracy theory memes have spread to the Telegraph: https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2018/02/nick-...

Brexit advocacy has caused the British press to abandon the last vestiges of impartiality or connection to facts. It's going to be all "crush the saboteurs / financiers / international cosmopolitans" from here on out.

Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#153

Post by mrguyorama »

cryptonector wrote: post #136
jordigh wrote: post #8

I'm rather bothered that I know nothing about Soros except a bunch of vague, negative feelings about him that have pop-culturally osmosed to me through constant usage of his name in 4channish/the_donaldish media. He's some kind of evil mastermind destroying civilisation with his vast wealth. I know this is almost certainly not true, but I'm so bothered that this is my immediate thought. I feel like the alt-right has…

There is absolutely nothing wrong (and, really, lots good) with Soros' currency market trades of the 90s and elsewhen. The problem with Soros (if you're not on the Left) is that he's become the principal funding source for a number of hard-left movements. If you are on the Left, then this is good, while if you're not then this is bad. I won't tell you how you should feel about Soros though -- you figure that out for…

I personally view small groups of people having such large amounts of power to be undemocratic, whether they be the Koch brothers, or Soros. I may support the same causes he funds and supports, but I'd like it if people like him funding government choices was not possible

Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#154

Post by jerf »

spinchange wrote: post #91
kbenson wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you press people (like in person, not on the internet) why they think he's the devil incarnate, you usually get some really wild ad hominem not rooted in reality or a realization that they don't really know why they hate him so much other than he's a benefactor of their political opposition and they were told to. Sure, but we could probably say the same of the Koch brothers. They both occupy similar positions…

I've never seen people claim the Koch's literally aided and abetted the Nazis (this is something that's actually claimed about Soros in spite of fleeing Europe with his parents as an adolescent). There's a hatred and fear of Soros that surpasses his political activities. He's pretty active with bonafide "do gooder" stuff and it's equated with Pizzagate-style conspiracies and worse that you don't see on the opposite s…

"stuff and it's equated with Pizzagate-style conspiracies and worse that you don't see on the opposite side of the fence."

"Koch brothers".

There is nothing one side's fever swamp does that the other can't match, which is why wise people attempting to discern truths ignore both, but most especially, ignore the one on the "other side".

Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#155

Post by nrhk »

vinceguidry wrote: post #120
samastur wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes.

How? You spend less time channel surfing trying to find what you're into?

You spend more time watching the TV because the extra information provided tells them exactly how to extract that extra attention.

I think the best example are little kids with no self control watching endless amount of dopamine hitting videos like kinder eggs. People realized little kids loved these simple toy opening videos and the algorithm was more than happy enough to increase engagement by feeding kids these videos.

Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#156

Post by cryptonector »

mrguyorama wrote: post #153
cryptonector wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is absolutely nothing wrong (and, really, lots good) with Soros' currency market trades of the 90s and elsewhen. The problem with Soros (if you're not on the Left) is that he's become the principal funding source for a number of hard-left movements. If you are on the Left, then this is good, while if you're not then this is bad. I won't tell you how you should feel about Soros though -- you figure that out for…

I personally view small groups of people having such large amounts of power to be undemocratic, whether they be the Koch brothers, or Soros. I may support the same causes he funds and supports, but I'd like it if people like him funding government choices was not possible

Why? Via freedom of association we all can (and do!) pool our money very well, and we have more money altogether than the Soroses and Koches of the world.

Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#157

Post by a_tractor »

bornonline1 wrote: post #30
toastking wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also been experimentally proven that people have issues discerning fake news online. Our news literacy is falling rapidly. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/23/503129818...

I was under the assumption that our news literacy was never high enough to begin with. So to say "fall rapidly" seems misleading.

Yeah seems more like people are used to passively consuming knowledge and information from consolidated media, all pushing a rather narrow, barely even two-sided narrative of world events, and so are still adjusting to, and indeed inadequately prepared for, an information landscape that for the first time in a long time isn't so tightly controlled and delivered.

There is also the assumption that literacy in general was ever this high...

Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#158

Post by mrguyorama »

cryptonector wrote: post #156
mrguyorama wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally view small groups of people having such large amounts of power to be undemocratic, whether they be the Koch brothers, or Soros. I may support the same causes he funds and supports, but I'd like it if people like him funding government choices was not possible

Why? Via freedom of association we all can (and do!) pool our money very well, and we have more money altogether than the Soroses and Koches of the world.

In a (simplified and ideal) democracy, 1 person, 1 vote. Allowing someone to contribute more than one "vote" (dollar) each is allowing them to out "speak" other contributors. Why do Soros or the Koch brothers deserve to be able to speak louder than me, just because they can?

Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#159

Post by otterpro »

I agree that social media may be doing more harm than good, but vilifying Facebook is not going to help. The greater issue is the nature of addiction and what should be done to deal with this in our society. Is regulation necessary? (I hope not) If so, how far are we going to go in order to address problem with social media and addiction in general? Where do we draw the line between what is considered harmful and what is not? Which is worse - Facebook or Netflix or CNN or PUBG or HackerNews or internet in general? (I'm HN addict, I think). We need to address these problems...

I've heard some suggested solutions from others, some of which are just impractical or are just crazy:

* Ban sale of all mobile device to anyone under 18 years of age, like we did with cigarettes.

* Illegalize usage of Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Weebo etc to all minors. Force manufacturer to limit kids to only basic phone calling and text messaging. Children using these apps can be cited for violation by the police, similar to curfew laws for minors in some states/countries.

* Force Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, Youtube, etc to prevent binge watching by allowing maximum of 2 hours of streamed videos per person per day. Limit consumption, similar to New York City's Soda Ban, banning large sugary drinks from stores.

* Force all ISP to disconnect their residential internet access between 10pm -6am.

* Add special tax on addictive products, including phone, video game consoles and game software, and social media apps (in similar manner to tobacco and alcohol)

* Run a government-funded national campaign and create grass-root movements similar to anti-smoking, anti-drinking/driving, and anti-drug campaigns. "Just say no to Snapchat".

* Create a law to force all companies with free products to charge fee to its users. No more free Facebook or League of Legends. Facebook will now cost $5/month, and LOL costs $20/month.

* Limit distribution hardware (iPhone, XBox, PC etc) and software (PUBG, Candy Crush, Facebook apps, etc) through increased special-tax. That $300 XBox one will now cost $900. Pixel XL will cost $1500 and iPhone will cost $2000 after tax.

NOTE: These sound like crazy idea, but laws like these had been implemented in real-life. For example, France is making phones illegal at school for students. Greece banned all video game consoles, citing addiction problems. In Korea, it is illegal to play online games between 12am-6am for anyone under 16.

Also there is this article from 2015 about the addiction and the idea of regulating the internet: https://aeon.co/essays/if-the-internet-is-addictive-why-don-...

Re: Facebook's Desperate Smoke Screen

#160

Post by rndmize »

quadrangle wrote: post #125
kbenson wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you press people (like in person, not on the internet) why they think he's the devil incarnate, you usually get some really wild ad hominem not rooted in reality or a realization that they don't really know why they hate him so much other than he's a benefactor of their political opposition and they were told to. Sure, but we could probably say the same of the Koch brothers. They both occupy similar positions…

The Kochs are widely misunderstood. They are typically seen as effectively a free-money-pit for generic Republican views that promote Capitalist exploitation, laying waste to the environment, and destroying any real grassroots movement to bring democratic power to the people. From my understanding, the reality is more like: The Kochs are typical dogmatic Libertarians who aren't anti-environment but have this simplist…

Good intentions? Any time I read something like this: https://www.thenation.com/article/big-brothers-thought-contr... my doubts about them increase.
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