Mastodawn

I said it before, I'll say it again:

#SocialMedia is more destructive #technology than #nuclearweapons

The greatest threat to #civilization is no longer #nukes

It is organized #troll #brigades and #disinfo #influencers

And they are currently winning

The Bear-Slayer 🇱🇻🇺🇦Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce Not only trolls, social media (especially certain short video sites offering easy and quick entertainment and killing our creative abilities) is very often making us dumber… Just look around. We are really shifting towards the scenario depicted in comedy movie “Idiocracy” years ago…

🍄🇪🇺ashtime🇪🇺🍄Nov 25, 2024

@bearslayer @benroyce All true, but I would also add abysmal quality of education, no investment in education system(s) for kids&adults, no education about #disinformation and propaganda. If someone believes in conspiracy theories, I am sorry to say, but they lack serious deduction skills that were sadly not acquired in a school or some adult training institution. We need investment in education and tax rich people.

inpc Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce Cool! I’ve been struggling to build my own nuclear weapons but I have spun up a few Fediverse instances.

Boom!

@inpc 😆

Bellison22 Nov 26, 2024

@benroyce 🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯

obscurestar Nov 26, 2024

@benroyce Social media is also not going away. The novelty/alert fixation in social animals runs all the way down to slime molds. I don't think humans could give it up if we tried.

So the question is: How do we get people to patch themselves so they're not so easily exploited and/or how do we design a social media system that is non-toxic and can be fixed if it is gamed.

What would good social media look like to you? How would it operate? Seriously looking for ideas.

Ben Royce 🇺🇦 🇸🇩Nov 26, 2024

@obscurestar

this

mastodon/ fediverse

it has a lot of problems

but it's good clay- no algorithm manipulation and trolls and disinfo are held at bay

it can be worked into something better

obscurestar Nov 26, 2024

I think some algorithm could be good. For instance: Someone posts a lot to a lot of different people about the same things, use their interests list to start serving them more stuff about their other interests, less about the one they're charged on.

The idea being to remind people they have things they love and help them disengage.

In my opinion (for what those are worth), a well-considered and fully transparent and open algorithm could actually help instead of hurt.

Ben Royce 🇺🇦 🇸🇩Nov 26, 2024

@obscurestar

absolutely agreed

Debbie Belair Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce Deranged Musk has bought Twitter to get DT elected is one, I bet.

SherBeareth Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce If billionaires control everything we’d all might as well go live with Bernie.

Jcmacomber Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce
It would seem you are correct.

SherBeareth Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce Fascinating piece Ben! Exactly what I needed for a Last Read, huge thanks. The alt right wasn’t invented in America. Pretty soon Trump will claim it. Pffffttttt.

https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/articles/2024/10/7/7195714/

Distante Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce There is a great article about populism from the perspective of a journalist from Ukraine (nothing new, just TLDR). Maybe someone will be interested to read it with the help of DeepL/GoogleTranslate

Проблема не лише у Трампі. Як здолати нову хвилю популістів, особливо небезпечну для України

Антиукраїнська риторика часто стає основою успіху нових політичних лідерів. Проте подекуди популісти можуть обирати і проукраїнську або нейтральну до нас політику.

Європейська правда

Svante Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce And again a »surprising« election result, contradicting all previous polls, even exit polls?? This doesn't look believable to me anymore. It rather looks like election fraud on a new level, worldwide.

They have some new technical means to do something akin to ballot stuffing, and they use it to produce seemingly close results.

It's not social media — that would show up on polls. As would any other real opinion swing, unless there are strong incentives to remain silent.

@Ardubal

it is social media

these are the polls it is showing up in

xs4me2 Nov 25, 2024

True, it is the new radio of the 1930s, the television of the 1960s…

So obvious.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksempf%C3%A4nger

@xs4me2

Volksempfänger - Wikipedia

xs4me2 Nov 25, 2024

Yes, and Hitler's speeches from the Sportpalast broadcasted via it. And the total control this gave...

Azulrin Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce the left is not voicing the right way. Their only social media ads were "vote for us because we're not Trump "... my mom isn't Trump either but i sure ain't gonna write her name in the ballot.

@Azulrin

sure but even if the #democrats had the best messaging on the world, the #plutocrats own the #socialmedia channels- the #algorithms

and the structure of #centralized social media itself rewards #troll #brigades

thus, no message in the world can compete in that rigged game

the future is this, right here: #mastodon

of course, it's a pebble next to a mountain

and it needs some more tweaks

but this is where we fight back, with our own channels free of #plutocracy

charles Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce @Azulrin
I agree decentralized social media like this provides a safer way to have the conversations that need to happen. Where I think it needs improvement, is that it tends to insulate into media bubbles. How can we build consensus with people who have very different views?

@charles @Azulrin

we make this more appealing

if traditional social media rewards edgelord trolls, this is essentially repellant to everyone, but they are stuck- there's no other options

but if they can have an arena without the trolls, they will have a nicer time, and gravitate

GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce
Read my lips:

Russian.
Election.
Interference.

SueDiOh Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce Yes. It's too easy to block facts if you don't agree with them.

mmalc Nov 25, 2024

I agree with your overall perspective on social media

I'm not convinced, however, that it's “the most crucial reason Trump won”

Final voting numbers much closer than appeared in first days:

As of 7:01 a.m. ET on Nov. 25: Trump 76,838,984, Harris 74,327,659 (https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2024/11/06/who-won-the-popular-vote-in-2024-trump-vs-harris-election-results/76087705007/)

Vote suppression and quite possibly actual vote rigging (https://substack.com/home/post/p-151721941), together with global economics (https://apnews.com/article/global-elections-2024-incumbents-defeated-c80fbd4e667de86fe08aac025b333f95 ) and MSM normalisation of Trump all played significant roles

Trump vs. Harris: Who won the popular vote? Who won the electoral college?

How much of the popular vote and electoral vote did former President Donald Trump win so far? Let's take a look.

The Enquirer

@mmalc

no argument

but i'm concerned with what we *can* do, rather than alluding to fixes we have no control over, that's why i focus on social media

if you have an angle on state laws that can be changed to ensure oversight, great

but for most of us, what we can do is fix and push the fediverse

mmalc Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce
Oh, certainly agree with that

➴➴➴Æ🜔Ɲ.Ƈꭚ⍴𝔥єɼ👩🏻‍💻Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce I think there's a secondary effect people need to pay attention to.
It doesn't matter if democrats, progressives or leftists use social media to push back with equal force.
That just results in Truth Decay (no one believes anything). That will always results in the right winning.

I think the most important thing everyone can do is: Talk to your neighbors!

@AeonCypher

well said

going to war with disinfo only elevates disinfo

we simply need different forums where that shit can't permeate

CurtAdams Nov 25, 2024

@AeonCypher @benroyce It's bothsidering to equate left and right social media here. Left social media distorts info, but vastly less than right social media, likely due to greater pluralism and more education on the left.

➴➴➴Æ🜔Ɲ.Ƈꭚ⍴𝔥єɼ👩🏻‍💻Nov 25, 2024

@CurtAdams @benroyce

I mean, corporately controlled social media is part of where the truth decay comes from.

Not sure about "left" or "right" social media.

Robert Taylor Nov 25, 2024

@benroyce it’s the billionaires killing it

Ben Todd Nov 26, 2024

Correction, commercial social media is killing democracy: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg etc al.

@DemocracyMattersALot

Be_Outside Nov 26, 2024

@monkeyben @benroyce @DemocracyMattersALot
lol, correction again: Billionaires and their surveillance networks that pretend to be "social networks." ;)