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This isn't even about Reddit specifically but it's the 20th anniversary of Katrina and I'm browsing through the threads and the hate for Bush and how Trump is worse and yadda yadda
I have a serious problem in our age with the broadly defined concepts of what misinformation is and isn't. Covid ought to put a hard stop to any of it, this certainty with which we believe certain narratives. About how masks work and how the vaccines are safe and stop the spread (all false and if you didn't ban doctors from online platforms, you would know that). That's just one example, but you can almost tell exactly where someone is on the political spectrum by some of the positions they hold
But people are entitled to their opinions, right? The problem is censorship. If Reddit has bias because it has younger users, ok. But you will get banned if you dissent, either by the site itself (tell me how r/nonewnormal was a serious problem, Reddit. You should be able to defend these decisions, or be subject to lawsuits, and we'll see you in court) or by dedicated mods of subreddits who tend to be the same across the mainstream subs
It's propaganda. I've seen things promulgated that I know are false. The decentralized nature of it falls apart. Youtube spends quite a lot of time removing videos and demonetizing, as well. Completely unaccountable nature of bureaucracy
I'm not inclined to like Trump, I don't come into this liking Trump. But I've heard the other side of this by now to know what we get told and reality as represented by some people just isn't how things are, at all. It's always been true but the sheer concentrated nature of power is awful
I have a serious problem in our age with the broadly defined concepts of what misinformation is and isn't. Covid ought to put a hard stop to any of it, this certainty with which we believe certain narratives. About how masks work and how the vaccines are safe and stop the spread (all false and if you didn't ban doctors from online platforms, you would know that). That's just one example, but you can almost tell exactly where someone is on the political spectrum by some of the positions they hold
But people are entitled to their opinions, right? The problem is censorship. If Reddit has bias because it has younger users, ok. But you will get banned if you dissent, either by the site itself (tell me how r/nonewnormal was a serious problem, Reddit. You should be able to defend these decisions, or be subject to lawsuits, and we'll see you in court) or by dedicated mods of subreddits who tend to be the same across the mainstream subs
It's propaganda. I've seen things promulgated that I know are false. The decentralized nature of it falls apart. Youtube spends quite a lot of time removing videos and demonetizing, as well. Completely unaccountable nature of bureaucracy
I'm not inclined to like Trump, I don't come into this liking Trump. But I've heard the other side of this by now to know what we get told and reality as represented by some people just isn't how things are, at all. It's always been true but the sheer concentrated nature of power is awful
