JD Vance is the central example of this. Sponsored by tech broligarchs, he behaves irl like a fleshy algorithm. He follows Kamala Harris around much as the comments section follows a cheerful tweet.
Indeed.
this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2024
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Fediverse vs Disinformation
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Pointing out, debunking, and spreading awareness about state- and company-sponsored astroturfing on Lemmy and elsewhere. This includes social media manipulation, propaganda, and disinformation campaigns, among others.
Propaganda and disinformation are a big problem on the internet, and the Fediverse is no exception.
What's the difference between misinformation and disinformation? The inadvertent spread of false information is misinformation. Disinformation is the intentional spread of falsehoods.
By equipping yourself with knowledge of current disinformation campaigns by state actors, corporations and their cheerleaders, you will be better able to identify, report and (hopefully) remove content matching known disinformation campaigns.
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Maybe people who are automatically written off as trolls and bots are actually trying to offer you an open door to helping yourself flourish.
Here’s a pretty on the nose example. There are others more recent but that one, and the structure of the discussion after, are unusually crystal clear.
If that was meant to help me help myself to flourish, I’ll remain unflourished.
Yeah. That's definitely a bot.
I do like how cheerful it is after being told to fuck off. Hitchhikers Guide's asshole cheerful doors are becoming reality, but with much more sinister purposes.
Oh, I don’t at all think it is a bot - I think it is a 4chan type edgelord who is cheerfully inserting “joking” fascist bullshit into the narrative. The whole point of Snyder’s piece is, the stuff is damaging whether it comes from bots or paid actors or people who have just picked up the habits of interacting like they do.
I actually have some more, somewhat more damaging (because they are more real-looking and thus harder to spot) examples: people doing the same thing of saying discouraging nonsense that favors one side particularly of the political discussion. I don’t think they are literally bots. Like Snyder says, it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day; the messaging and what impacts it has and how to react to it productively are the important things.
The only thing I've seen from fourchan in 10-15 years has been posted on Lemmy and before that in irc * Get a grip on yourself, I keep telling you just because people disagree with you don't make us bots, trolls, shills, paid or otherwise, and that language is just dehumanizing us so you don't have to confront your own dismissive arrogant self-assurededness. I have been there, probably for a couple of decades, in the day, and occasionally I go there, nowadays. If I'm doing my inner work, I don't stay long.
Enjoy your Sunday.
For serious, I will bet you $200 that I can find 10 examples from the last 3 days of me talking bad about Democrats, or engaging with someone who is challenging my narrative without calling them a bot or troll or anything of the sort
You spun up this whole strawman that because I called a troll a troll, that must mean I call other people who are just disagreeing with me trolls, but you literally just made that up. Bet me that you are wrong.
The other person I said that to evaporated when I said it. Will you do the same? With or without admitting you were making up nonsense about me and cloaking in it a wrapping of self-righteous good faith about your conduct in the conversation?
Neither. They evaporated because you're invested in ego, not searching what other alternatives you may find acceptable. Why would either of us waste any more precious leisure time, when for months that's what you've shown of yourself?
$100
And I’ll make it 12 times in 3 days
Final offer
Spend your time and money on shadow work with a good therapist, and all of us, including and especially yourself, would be better served. That you consider this behavior better than maga, bots and trolls! Oh my! is pitifully absurd.
Oh wow somebody trolling the libs in his replies, truly inconvertible proof of russian bots on lemmy. I've known multiple people who share this exact sense of humor and would post like this.
How can you read "Thank you for engaging with my fascist propaganda that’s designed to cause a catastrophe in Gaza!" and not clock that he's trolling.
*ok I see I missed your point. It's not that they're a russian bot, it's that criticism from the left = maga = russian bots because any opposition to Harris is functionally the same. Criticism of complicity in a genocide is the same as saying don't vote for her she's secretly trans or whatever the actual maga crowd is saying about her. Truly its impossible for two things to be bad at once.
I am aware that it’s masquerading as humor. And yes yes very edgy; congratulations.
"Everything I disagree with is either a russian bot or functionally a russian bot" as an alternative to critically thinking about new information/other opinions is actually insidious and far more dangerous to democracy than misinformation. This is just the other side of the coin to trumpers calling everything they don't like fake news.
Okay so first that it’s clearly trolling and ha ha how dare I get taken in by it, and then whoa whoa whoa it’s clearly just well intentioned criticism and how dare I not take it seriously and engage with it on the merits and ignore some of the red flags that it is trolling.
Dude you gotta teach me more of this, I feel like maybe I’m just too uncritically minded to understand it. Can you break it down for me more, so I can understand your well intentioned point? I feel like that would really help me.
The example you linked is satirical semi-surrealist shitposting, there's nothing really there to engage with. It's just making fun of democrats for willfully ignoring her complicity and rhetoric regarding the genocide. Or maybe you're confused, I meant their comment replies were trolling the people brigading that community not the post as a whole.
But more generally you're basically advocating reducing politics into team "vote blue no matter who" and team "russians/bots/traitors/other enemies". Oh this person is mocking Kamala, therefore they basically aren't human.
Or alternatively "this either confirms my biases or is bad-faith and should be ignored"
But more generally you're basically advocating reducing politics into team "vote blue no matter who" and team "russians/bots/traitors/other enemies".
But what if I am just advocating trolling the tanks and mags? You said you know a bunch of people who that’s their sense of humor, so that should be easy to understand. Surely that would be pretty cool, right?
Ok, you've apparently latched onto my explanation of why I thought that guy wasn't a bot. Could you maybe respond to the comment you're replying to instead?
Then again why am I surprised you're not interested defending your idea. Your whole thesis is "if they don't already agree they should be ignored." I'm obviously one of the russian bots to ignore.
'Everything I don't like is fake news' is dumb when they do it and enlightened when I do it.
Am I doing it right?
Ok you're now trolling about as hard as that guy trolled the people brigading his community. So what does that make you?
At least I'm not such a dumbass that I think actively avoiding challenging your beliefs is a good thing. "Engaging with ideas sounds hard :( never think again bestie its bad for you"
I thought that type of thing and sense of humor made perfect sense to you though?
For serious, I will bet you $200 that I can find 10 examples from the last 3 days of me talking bad about Democrats, or engaging with someone who is challenging my narrative without calling them a bot or troll or anything of the sort
You spun up this whole strawman that because I called a troll a troll, that must mean I call other people who are just disagreeing with me trolls, but you literally just made that up. Bet me that you are wrong.
That's the core of the substack you posted, that's the whole idea. Even the submission title you chose is just 'it doesn't matter if they're genuine or not because they're basically bots'
Recognize the doomers, and ignore them. Most of them are not human, most of the humans are not American, and none of them care. They are like a pothole in the road: there is no point reasoning with them.
People are already way too quick to call everything a bot/propaganda/a russian op, they do not need more encouragement to think less.
Does that mean you don’t want to bet?
It probably means you could pull your head out of your wounded ego child self, and think
Dude, it's really great to be open-minded and all, but you don't want to have such an open mind your brain falls out! What you're saying is silly
Edit: forgot a word
You're entitled to your opinion. Be happy and well.
You, too! I can tell you're being honest and trying to find the truth as well
Thanks so much! It's been fairly satisfying, so far, especially when I sat and did nothing, while I and my fur baby enjoyed a fresh, peach one of my neighbors brought on their way home from church. Truly divine, in both experience and flavor. I wish experiences equally divine, as we search separately, together.
By parroting a bunch of brain dead propaganda and hate speech? You flourishing as a Neo-nazi?