21–30 of 34 posts
I know HN is on a Facebook media train right now, but blaming them for the widespread discontent in France that's been simmering for years is disingenuous.
I know HN is on a Facebook media train right now, but blaming them for the widespread discontent in France that's been simmering for years is disingenuous.
Exactly. Although facebook has the power to change mainstream politics on long timescales, claiming that all those protests are products of AI brainwashing is just wrong. Even more so, instead of touching on why facebook should be a host of information but not a communications modulator, this article, like many others, insists that Facebook should brain-wash and manipulate people the way they like, not the way they d…
What bothers me about the coverage of the riots is so far I have seen no one offer an opinion on whether the rioters' complaints have merit.
I just read this from the Guardian's Paris chief, thought it was a pretty good sampling of some of the grievances: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/07/macrons-arroga... Seems a common complaint is that Macron looks great from abroad, but he's ignoring the people at home. Also worth checking this tweet from the French government account: https://twitter.com/gouvernementFR/status/107096383300978278... "Protes…
> “Macron’s first move in office was to slash the wealth tax for the mega-rich while cutting money from poor people’s housing benefits,”
Did that really happen?
There is something about the Facebook platform that encourages thoughtless distribution of incorrect and violent ideas. I don't say this lightly; a certain subset of users seem to get hooked on the propogation of "viral crazy," with no regard to the factual accuracy of their posts, or the real world consequences of their ideas. I believe what happens is that people become "gamified." They use the logic of video games…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just read this from the Guardian's Paris chief, thought it was a pretty good sampling of some of the grievances: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/07/macrons-arroga... Seems a common complaint is that Macron looks great from abroad, but he's ignoring the people at home. Also worth checking this tweet from the French government account: https://twitter.com/gouvernementFR/status/107096383300978278... "Protes…
Can someone from France comment on how much of the grievances are based on truth? > “Macron’s first move in office was to slash the wealth tax for the mega-rich while cutting money from poor people’s housing benefits,” Did that really happen?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_tax_on_wealth
Part of Macron's reforms. But not a good look, in hindsight.
And the benefit cuts didn't go down well, either.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/24/housing-benefi...
It really worries me about if we know the implications of the algorithms that are been used. I don't think that this is what FB intended, but more thought needs to be given to affects of algorithms.
I think the tie between the protests and the algorithm changes are tenuous at best. Who can say if the protests would have happened without Facebook? Paris and France have a long history of protests besides. “Normal stuff happens due to Facebook” should really be the onion take here. Suppose there’s a headline “50% of birthday parties are planned on Facebook” - does that mean Facebook is suddenly responsible for all…
What bothers me about the coverage of the riots is so far I have seen no one offer an opinion on whether the rioters' complaints have merit.
To hear the protesters tell it, they’re marching through
the streets to fight back against rising fuel prices and
the high cost of living in the country. Beyond that,
though, it’s an ideological free-for-all. Fights have
also been witnessed among demonstrators, and some have
sent death threats to other protesters.
Certainly, fuel taxes in Europe are much higher than in America; across the EU they vary from 51% to 68%, with France at 64% [1].
Other things in the article, like anti-vaxxers and a theory the french constitution has been invalidated, seem much less likely - but when the entire movement is just a leaderless movement of people posting in facebook groups, where do you draw the line between "the rioters' complaints" and a handful of fools among the many protesters?
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/03/are-the-french...
Over the past week I’ve seen maybe 3 or 4 articles about why social media or X are to blame for people protesting / acting irrational (inferred) yet not a single article with interviews from protesters asking them why it’s happening, or exploring the merits of their grievances. I saw the same thing here in the US in 2016. Lots of talk about Facebook, and nothing about the dramatically shifting economics of the middle…
(To be clear, I think FB’s role in brexit and trump was unforgivable, but at least for trump, it’s clear most of the blame lies at the feet of the democrats. Ignoring trump, the candidate they ran was by far the least popular in US history, according to polls during and after the primaries)