NFT: If I could find a post of interest to comment on, I would. Otherwise:

[Painter]

But my growth in knowledge has been a bit of a double edge sword. On the other edge of the sword, is a bit of sadness and disillusionment at the amount of ignorance and foolishness in the world. I see people trapped in mindsets that are wrong and unhealthy.  Will things get better in the future? I don

[Painter]

Interesting read.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/author-jia-tolentino-on-american-culture-through-the-prism-of-the-internet


Cheers!

[MightyGiants]

But my growth in knowledge has been a bit of a double edge sword. On the other edge of the sword, is a bit of sadness and disillusionment at the amount of ignorance and foolishness in the world. I see people trapped in mindsets that are wrong and unhealthy.  Will things get better in the future? I don

[T200]

I think the other interesting thing about social media and the internet is that it encourages extreme rather than moderate views

There's comfort in anonymity. Plus, admitting one's true feelings from behind a keyboard in a worldwide public forum not only attracts other likeminded individuals, it emboldens them to come out of the shadows as well.

The majority of these extreme "thinkers" would hardly be bold enough to say the same sh*t in a bar or other public place that they say online.

I mean, can you imagine a 40-year-old man walking up on a group of pre-teen girls on a playground and saying, "Hi, my name is Becky. I'm new here - can I hang out with you guys?" Reminds me of one of Dave Chappelle's skits, "What if the Internet was a real place." 

[MightyGiants]

There's comfort in anonymity. Plus, admitting one's true feelings from behind a keyboard in a worldwide public forum not only attracts other like-minded individuals, but it also emboldens them to come out of the shadows as well.

The majority of these extreme "thinkers" would hardly be bold enough to say the same sh*t in a bar or other public place that they say online.

I mean, can you imagine a 40-year-old man walking up on a group of pre-teen girls on a playground and saying, "Hi, my name is Becky. I'm new here - can I hang out with you guys?" Reminds me of one of Dave Chappelle's skits, "What if the Internet was a real place." 

Tim,

That is certainly a major aspect of it.  Although I was thinking more than in social media likes, karma, responses, and any other "reward" favor those with extreme rather than moderate views.    Look at our own football message board.   You are far more likely to get lots of likes and responses if you post a strongly worded post saying "Daniel Jones is the worst QB in NFL history"  than you would a thoughtful and balanced take that says, you have real concerns that Daniel Jones might never become an NFL caliber starter but I appreciate that there were circumstances beyond his control that hurt his situation and I am not certain that he is a bust.    The more extreme view is will "win out" in most social media environments while more moderate and restrained views tend not to get much interest.

Worse social media has splintered and divided so that people tend to gather in like-minded groups that become echo chambers that amplify the extremist views to the point that they become the accepted norm in that group.   

To push that football board reflecting society, I would point to BBI.   At BBI there is a sizeable part of their posters that love the "insiders".   If you want attention at BBI say you have insider information and suddenly you have people wanting to hear what you have to say.   Most of the insider information is simply guesses or putting together the hints from various reports from the true insiders.   It wasn't hard to see from that dynamic that another fake insider, QAnon, could pull off something similar on political websites, especially as this anonymous insider was telling people what they wanted to hear. 

Unfortunately, while I can identify the problems and how the problems were created, I am at a loss as to how to fix said problems.  As I have said before human nature makes us highly prone to manipulation and over the years there are those who are getting better and better and exploiting the sort of issues I have identified.  It's sort of funny though.  I am a bit of a history buff.  One of the things I have concluded from my observations of history is that people don't change much over the centuries.   In the olden days, a village could get riled up and take to torches and pitchforks to engage in a little mob "justice".   Interestingly enough hundreds of years later using technology those villagers would have thought witchcraft, the same pitchforks and torches mob justice crowds can still be summoned. 

[jimmyz]

There's comfort in anonymity. Plus, admitting one's true feelings from behind a keyboard in a worldwide public forum not only attracts other likeminded individuals, it emboldens them to come out of the shadows as well.

The majority of these extreme "thinkers" would hardly be bold enough to say the same sh*t in a bar or other public place that they say online.

I mean, can you imagine a 40-year-old man walking up on a group of pre-teen girls on a playground and saying, "Hi, my name is Becky. I'm new here - can I hang out with you guys?" Reminds me of one of Dave Chappelle's skits, "What if the Internet was a real place." 

Tim, who are you to decide what gender a 40 yr old male is?

[jimmyz]

Tim,

That is certainly a major aspect of it.  Although I was thinking more than in social media likes, karma, responses, and any other "reward" favor those with extreme rather than moderate views.    Look at our own football message board.   You are far more likely to get lots of likes and responses if you post a strongly worded post saying "Daniel Jones is the worst QB in NFL history"  than you would a thoughtful and balanced take that says, you have real concerns that Daniel Jones might never become an NFL caliber starter but I appreciate that there were circumstances beyond his control that hurt his situation and I am not certain that he is a bust.    The more extreme view is will "win out" in most social media environments while more moderate and restrained views tend not to get much interest.

Worse social media has splintered and divided so that people tend to gather in like-minded groups that become echo chambers that amplify the extremist views to the point that they become the accepted norm in that group.   

To push that football board reflecting society, I would point to BBI.   At BBI there is a sizeable part of their posters that love the "insiders".   If you want attention at BBI say you have insider information and suddenly you have people wanting to hear what you have to say.   Most of the insider information is simply guesses or putting together the hints from various reports from the true insiders.   It wasn't hard to see from that dynamic that another fake insider, QAnon, could pull off something similar on political websites, especially as this anonymous insider was telling people what they wanted to hear. 

Unfortunately, while I can identify the problems and how the problems were created, I am at a loss as to how to fix said problems.  As I have said before human nature makes us highly prone to manipulation and over the years there are those who are getting better and better and exploiting the sort of issues I have identified.  It's sort of funny though.  I am a bit of a history buff.  One of the things I have concluded from my observations of history is that people don't change much over the centuries.   In the olden days, a village could get riled up and take to torches and pitchforks to engage in a little mob "justice".   Interestingly enough hundreds of years later using technology those villagers would have thought witchcraft, the same pitchforks and torches mob justice crowds can still be summoned.

That like button has become a way of anonymously piling on your opponent.  When someone has mud stomped your @$$, the like button is a convenient way for others to get their shot in.  It's also a way of designating who the popular members are informing others who you are supposed to respect and who is open season for trashing.

[T200]

Busted lol

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