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The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

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Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#51

Post by crowdglass »

askafriend wrote: post #32
grawprog wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a small community outside America. On Saturday I left the mall where I'd been subject to the 'new normal' covid distancing laws shit. Stepped out into the sunshine to see over 1000 people marching down the street in one huddled mass protesting because...riots in America. I watched a car's window get smashed because they wanted to drive through an intersection and had the audacity to ask if they could drive…

I think you fail to understand just how prevalent these issues are for people of color every single day . Yes, these issues might be just a speck for you. But they're a stain on daily life for millions of people around the world (which is why you see people empathizing not just domestically, but internationally). Justifying one's existence and identity every single day is exhausting on a level that all other problems…

> I think you fail to understand just how prevalent these issues are for people of color every single day.

Beaten in public for not "taking a knee"? White supremacist. Fucking nazi scum.

Latino killed by police? White person? Asian? Black cop killing a black person?

CNN's silence is deafening. Only Black Lives Matter.

> Justifying one's existence and identity every single day is exhausting on a level that all other problems are simply irrelevant when existence is in question.

All those straight white men with their white privilege and white fragility that the media paints as evil, horrible, racist monsters never have to deal with that.

Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#52

Post by FriendlyNormie »

askafriend wrote: post #50
mistermann wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think you fail to understand just how prevalent these issues are for people of color every single day . > Justifying one's existence and identity every single day is exhausting on a level that all other problems are simply irrelevant when existence is in question. I struggle trying to figure out what this means in 2020, and I would think it would depend a fair amount on the individual and region where they live.…

> Is this observable mistreatment that people are receiving every day Yes. There is a daily burden that comes with being Black in America that is very distinct and systemic. You can educate yourself on this topic, there's great material out there; I'm still learning too. It has very much to do with the default attitudes in a society where interracial marriage wasn't even legal until 1967. That's not that long ago.

No post body was provided.

Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#53

Post by lelanthran »

baddox wrote: post #25
systemvoltage wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life 20 years ago was kinda nice. Computers were cool. Sunday news is what you need to read to get global coverage. No social media or friends showing off their best and hiding the worse, neighbors and LAN parties, 9/11 happened and the country got together, I don't know... we didn't have insane Javascript frameworks. Things were much better. Ecommerce wasn't that big, so I actually went to the stores to buy stuff. M…

Perhaps you weren’t a member of any groups affected by the issues that have been protested recently and throughout recent history.

> Perhaps you weren’t a member of any groups affected by the issues that have been protested recently and throughout recent history.

I am, and I still think that the protesters are making a mountain out of a molehill.

Their response to police brutality is disproportionate. They are destroying innocent bystanders lives and livelihoods; the celebrities who are egging them on are doing so because their neighbourhoods, livelihoods and lives are not getting burned down (see https://www.rt.com/sport/490393-burn-that-shit-down-tweet-nb...).

Th only way to stop the protests is to bus protesters into those areas inhabited by these celebrity morons.

The people who are arguing against the police using teargas on rioters will sing a different tune when the mob is coming down their street, burning everything in their path. I guarantee that they will call for an armed response to someone attempting to burn their house down.

Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#54

Post by jaekash »

askafriend wrote: post #32
grawprog wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a small community outside America. On Saturday I left the mall where I'd been subject to the 'new normal' covid distancing laws shit. Stepped out into the sunshine to see over 1000 people marching down the street in one huddled mass protesting because...riots in America. I watched a car's window get smashed because they wanted to drive through an intersection and had the audacity to ask if they could drive…

I think you fail to understand just how prevalent these issues are for people of color every single day . Yes, these issues might be just a speck for you. But they're a stain on daily life for millions of people around the world (which is why you see people empathizing not just domestically, but internationally). Justifying one's existence and identity every single day is exhausting on a level that all other problems…

> Justifying one's existence and identity every single day is exhausting on a level that all other problems are simply irrelevant when existence is in question.

Justifying to who? What does Justifying entail? Why do you have to do it?

I grew up in a place where I was told everything I own was stolen because of my skin colour on a regular basis - and even then I did not feel like I have to justify my existence and identity. When has anyone ever done anything close to this to you?

Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#55

Post by luckylion »

keenmaster wrote: post #12
ve55 wrote: post #8

I view this as the primary reason that protests and rioting have been significantly more widespread recently. In order for someone to feel good about protesting and rioting, it helps if people around them are doing it, so that it seems socially acceptable, and so that negative consequences are less likely to occur. Normally you would need to see this physically near you, but now with viral algorithms, all it takes is…

People don't usually protest in person unless they really believe in the underlying cause. There are developers on HN who worry about a 500 millisecond delay in their app because users are so fickle that half a second puts them off. If people don't have half a second of patience, how much does it take to motivate them to go to a protest, shout, march, and sometimes even risk their lives? Sure, if we're not careful, i…

> People don't usually protest in person unless they really believe in the underlying cause.

Citation needed. For riots, it's obviously wrong: football hooligans have been doing it for ages, and they have no underlying cause but "let's fuck shit up".

For demonstrations: it's mostly a social thing. If your friends go, you go, because otherwise you're signalling to your friends that you are not like them, and you don't want to do that, because being isolated hurts.

Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#56

Post by luckylion »

systemvoltage wrote: post #23
ve55 wrote: post #8

I view this as the primary reason that protests and rioting have been significantly more widespread recently. In order for someone to feel good about protesting and rioting, it helps if people around them are doing it, so that it seems socially acceptable, and so that negative consequences are less likely to occur. Normally you would need to see this physically near you, but now with viral algorithms, all it takes is…

Life 20 years ago was kinda nice. Computers were cool. Sunday news is what you need to read to get global coverage. No social media or friends showing off their best and hiding the worse, neighbors and LAN parties, 9/11 happened and the country got together, I don't know... we didn't have insane Javascript frameworks. Things were much better. Ecommerce wasn't that big, so I actually went to the stores to buy stuff. M…

> 9/11 happened and the country got together, I don't know... we didn't have insane Javascript frameworks.

You really just need a common enemy, some far away country that you can focus your energy on, that you can bomb etc. It will bring the country together ... and give you more advanced javascript frameworks.

Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#57

Post by mellow2020 »

snowwrestler wrote: post #44
nostromo wrote: post #6

This is a timely article. If I only viewed the world through my Facebook feed right now, I'd believe that everyone in the US wants to defund every police department. In reality it's an incredibly unpopular view among everyone, left, right, and center. https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/20... I think making this worse is that even a mild concern about this policy would be received very poorly on…

A poll from a week ago might be pretty out of date now. Americans' perceptions of the police fell about 10% during that time: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/06/06/amer... An important factor to watch is how that phrase "defund the police" gets defined--see peer replies here for examples of how people can interpret it positively. I predict some of the ideas behind it will indeed become mainstream an…

> An important factor to watch is how that phrase "defund the police" gets defined--see peer replies here for examples of how people can interpret it positively.

Also see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23447259 and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23420016

Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#59

Post by vkou »

luckylion wrote: post #55
keenmaster wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't usually protest in person unless they really believe in the underlying cause. There are developers on HN who worry about a 500 millisecond delay in their app because users are so fickle that half a second puts them off. If people don't have half a second of patience, how much does it take to motivate them to go to a protest, shout, march, and sometimes even risk their lives? Sure, if we're not careful, i…

> People don't usually protest in person unless they really believe in the underlying cause. Citation needed. For riots, it's obviously wrong: football hooligans have been doing it for ages, and they have no underlying cause but "let's fuck shit up". For demonstrations: it's mostly a social thing. If your friends go, you go, because otherwise you're signalling to your friends that you are not like them, and you don't…

> For demonstrations: it's mostly a social thing.

Only if you aren't invested in the cause. Not everyone takes a nihilistic nothing-matters approach to this sort of thing.

Re: The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

#60

Post by raxxorrax »

grawprog wrote: post #9
ve55 wrote: post #8

I view this as the primary reason that protests and rioting have been significantly more widespread recently. In order for someone to feel good about protesting and rioting, it helps if people around them are doing it, so that it seems socially acceptable, and so that negative consequences are less likely to occur. Normally you would need to see this physically near you, but now with viral algorithms, all it takes is…

I live in a small community outside America. On Saturday I left the mall where I'd been subject to the 'new normal' covid distancing laws shit. Stepped out into the sunshine to see over 1000 people marching down the street in one huddled mass protesting because...riots in America. I watched a car's window get smashed because they wanted to drive through an intersection and had the audacity to ask if they could drive…

> it's not even a speck on the radar compared to America

I do believe that there are problems with racism in state police in any country but I was surprised how restrained the police in America is by numbers. I would have expected much more death by the hands of the police. Outside of America there is certainly a stereotype of their police being cowboys.

Still, I think the numbers alone clearly show police isn't going on rampages killing random people. State abuse today looks completely different.

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