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The “Majority Illusion” in Social Networks (2016)

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

#61

Post by raxxorrax »

lelanthran wrote: post #53
baddox wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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, l…

I think there is a difference if the police kills someone because it is state violence everyone in society is responsible for. That is a huge difference in these events. I also think there was a powder keg that got released.

That said, I fully agree on the proclamations of many celebrities and I don't think anyone sees discrimination through an objective lens. I would certainly not kneel to any demands of protesters. Honestly, I think a majority of them would benefit from a stern talk by their parents. But that doesn't apply to everyone.

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

#62

Post by luckylion »

vkou wrote: post #59
luckylion wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Sure, there are some people who are invested in the cause, they're not social events only. But a large number of those showing up are not, they're there because their friends are, because it's an event and something to do, and because they want to belong to a tribe, and tribal outings are the thing to do when you want to be a part of the tribe.

Most of them don't want that more than they want to stay dry though, so bad weather usually translates into smaller events.

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

#63

Post by NortySpock »

weitzj wrote: post #45

About 2 years ago there was an online game/simulator where one could add “information blocks” onto network nodes and see if they become true. It nicely demonstrated how things became a “fact”. Does anybody have the link to it?

Nicky Case "The Wisdom or Madness of the Crowds"

https://ncase.me/crowds/

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

#64

Post by throwaway0a5e »

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.

Tell that to the guys who didn't believe in the cause but joined the jihad and died in Iraq/Syria because all their buddies were doing it. There's a huge element of peer pressure involved in getting off the porch. That's why this article about distortion of apparent norms is relevant to the topic of protests (and other implementations of "getting off the porch"). Having the belief that people your respect and identify with are also doing something is a massive motivator that makes the difference to a lot of people.

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

#65

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#66

Post by darepublic »

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…

I'm surprised you lump in 9/11 with the good times.. instead of starting their decline.

There were no insane JavaScript frameworks but some really nifty flash apps. The quality of flash games was improving everyday. The TAS community was in its golden era...

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

#67

Post by reroute1 »

ghthor wrote: post #48
grawprog wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmmm, no i was responding to the actual content of the article which is pointing out social media is causing people to overreact to issues outside their area of influence because of what they see online. My point is, I watched a large majority of a community go out and protest over things in another country, ignoring the issues not only caused by the recent lockdowns that seem to matter nothing any more to these peop…

Glad I believe in karma, because the people that cut down that old forest aren't coming back as humans for a very long time.

I feel this is not a well thought out perspective.

They have ""bad karma" according to your subjective view of the world. What if that's how they view you? What if a human is the worst thing you could be?

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

#68

Post by reroute1 »

luckylion wrote: post #62
vkou wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Sure, there are some people who are invested in the cause, they're not social events only. But a large number of those showing up are not, they're there because their friends are, because it's an event and something to do, and because they want to belong to a tribe, and tribal outings are the thing to do when you want to be a part of the tribe. Most of them don't want that more than they want to stay dry though, so b…

That's a ridiculous assumption to make. You have no idea what percent of any crowd is there to appease someone else and any claim otherwise is silly.

What if someone is there for more than one reason(Hint everyone)? Do they not count anymore?

Bad weather lowers attendance for all events you dullard that doesn't support anything you've said. You're just ascribing intention to thousands of people and it's really lazy thiking. You haven't even scratched the surface of why some people are there but go ahead and keep making your wild assumptions

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

#69

Post by themovieinwins »

grawprog wrote: post #43
watwut wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then it kind of sounds like people are protesting against issue that is actual issue they experienced in their community. And somehow it is not real for you, because they are not right color and should wait for other protests with matching color.

Hmmm, no i was responding to the actual content of the article which is pointing out social media is causing people to overreact to issues outside their area of influence because of what they see online. My point is, I watched a large majority of a community go out and protest over things in another country, ignoring the issues not only caused by the recent lockdowns that seem to matter nothing any more to these peop…

Not really sure what protest would aim to achieve against job losses caused by pandemic. Killing of people based on race by police on the other hand has been shown to be an systemic issue and something which could be reformed.

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

#70

Post by darepublic »

unishark wrote: post #21
ThomPete wrote: post #3

I call this anecdotal growth mutation. You see something, you share it, a lot of other people share it. Suddenly the anecdote becomes statistically significant in the heads of everyone.

I see a lot of posts on reddit which basically consist of the formula "My relative keeps doing . They make me so angry." Perhaps with some extra details of being an obvious two-dimensional jerk for good measure. Always has lots of upvotes. Could be someone trying to affect opinion with fake upvotes, someone trying to fish for easy upvotes, or just organically motivated by the network's desire for anecdotes to rage ab…

If someone held a gun to my head and told me to increase my reddit karma by 10k in a week I would quickly hop on to r/politics
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