New ownership for Twitter

Started by hbelkins, October 28, 2022, 04:00:25 PM

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LM117

I made my Twitter account in early 2013 and hardly used it after 2014, mainly because everybody that I personally know ditched Twitter since then.

I finally put my account out of it's misery last year. No regrets, especially now.
“I don’t know whether to wind my ass or scratch my watch!” - Jim Cornette


NWI_Irish96

Quote from: bandit957 on October 28, 2022, 04:13:24 PM
Twitter couldn't be any worse than it already was.

That really depends on whether Musk prioritizes profit over purpose. If he wants to turn the best profit, there has to be a moderate level of content moderation. The anything-goes approach that leads to no checks on unfounded conspiracy theories which leads 82 year old men suffering broken skulls is going to drive users away. Very strict scrutiny of everything is also going to drive users away. The most profitable approach is to generally allow free expression but censoring the most egregious content.

However, Musk clearly doesn't need to profit from Twitter so he could choose a path that satisfies his own personal goals.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

JayhawkCO

#27
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 11:02:20 AM
However, Musk clearly doesn't need to profit from Twitter so he could choose a path that satisfies his own personal goals.

Which is obviously what we're all afraid of. Amplification of Nazis leads to more Nazis.

bing101

#28

There is hype to go to Mastadon a Twitter alternative but not sure where this is going from here.
Also there is hype at play for BeReal app. But then again once politicians start using these apps then it's all crazy from there.










kurumi

Quote
Twitter is what you make of it.

True, but I'm not an island.

Like Facebook, TV news, and similar amplifiers, our way of life is affected by what other people make of it.
My first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"

hbelkins

My thoughts on content moderation are well-known. I'm against it. People have the ability to either self-moderate by using whatever "block" or "ignore" functions are offered, or to counter speech they don't like with an alternative view.

Professionally, Twitter is an afterthought for me. The Facebook page I run has at least 10 times the traffic as the Twitter feed. I was really surprised to learn at a TransComm conference a few years ago that Twitter is the most prevalent social media tool used by DOTs. Even after the character limit was doubled from 140 to 280, I find this to be a crippling limitation and a negative for trying to use Twitter to convey information. And when the ability to automatically post Facebook page posts to a linked Twitter feed was removed, that took away even more functionality for Twitter.

I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

I'm reserving judgment on Musk's purchase until I see if he is really committed to an open free exchange of ideas and opinions. If he does what so many hopes he'll do, then maybe he'll buy Facebook next.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

Bruce

Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

Max Rockatansky

Is this a common thing where people go to Twitter to get news or political messages?  The way platform users talk about Twitter it seems the fate of the world hangs in the balance right now.  All this over a webpage that only allows short hand message posts?  Is any media/social media platform really that important?

hbelkins

Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

SectorZ

Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

Who said that nutjob got his ideas from Twitter?

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: SectorZ on October 29, 2022, 07:21:52 PM
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

Who said that nutjob got his ideas from Twitter?

I didn't hear Twitter specifically mentioned but that he did consume a large quantity of conspiracy theory material on social media.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

texaskdog

I've never used it but these sites that ban people.  I've been banned for a week on facebook for saying "I hated the Canadians" meaning the characters on king of the hill (hate speech...against cartoon characters?), for showing a picture of Hitler feeding a fawn (no caption), and other various stupid things.  Anything that gets nonsense like this done away with I'm all for.

texaskdog

Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

One of society's biggest problems is to silence people who don't agree with you.  Most of what comes from "fact checkers" is opinion or nonsense.

NWI_Irish96

#39
Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 07:58:15 PM
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

One of society's biggest problems is to silence people who don't agree with you.  Most of what comes from "fact checkers" is opinion or nonsense.

Really?

https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-michigan-furries/fact-check-michigan-school-district-did-not-place-litter-boxes-in-student-restrooms-idUSL1N2U61XU

You may have heard some candidates claiming that school students are identifying as cats and have been given litter boxes to use at school.

The claim originated from a parent at a school board meeting in Midland, MI.

The superintendent quickly refuted the claim. Hasn't stopped people from spreading the claim long after it was debunked.

This brings up another huge problem in our society--we want to believe what we believe so badly that we completely ignore credibility when evaluating conflicting statements.

Parent at school board meeting - zero accountability to anybody if making a false statement
School superintendent in official school communication - accountable to school board who is in turn accountable to voters if making false statement

Doctor who has a small private practice and has previously lost privileges at multiple hospitals and is bankrolled by PACs - not accountable to anybody other than the PAC
Board certified infectious disease specialist working for a major hospital - accountable to medical board and the employer
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

texaskdog

#40
Okay because you can cite one example all "fact checkers" are true.

Anyway my argument was that people like the ones running twitter and facebook have bots ban people for nonsense reasons.  Apparently someone even acknowledged my appeal.  I don't hate Canadians I hated the characters.  That was apparently hate speech that needed to be silenced.  back in the day if someone was spouting nonsense they just got ignored.  I hope he buys facebook next.

NWI_Irish96

Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 08:22:40 PM
Okay because you can cite one example all "fact checkers" are true.

Anyway my argument was that people like the ones running twitter and facebook have bots ban people for nonsense reasons.  Apparently someone even acknowledged my appeal.  I don't hate Canadians I hated the characters.  That was apparently hate speech that needed to be silenced.  back in the day if someone was spouting nonsense they just got ignored.  I hope he buys facebook next.

Just happened to remember that another huge problem in our society is that people deal in absolutes. Someone finds one person/organization being untruthful one time and thinks that means that person/organization is untruthful all the time.
Indiana: counties 100%, highways 100%
Illinois: counties 100%, highways 61%
Michigan: counties 100%, highways 56%
Wisconsin: counties 86%, highways 23%

texaskdog

Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 08:27:48 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 08:22:40 PM
Okay because you can cite one example all "fact checkers" are true.

Anyway my argument was that people like the ones running twitter and facebook have bots ban people for nonsense reasons.  Apparently someone even acknowledged my appeal.  I don't hate Canadians I hated the characters.  That was apparently hate speech that needed to be silenced.  back in the day if someone was spouting nonsense they just got ignored.  I hope he buys facebook next.

Just happened to remember that another huge problem in our society is that people deal in absolutes. Someone finds one person/organization being untruthful one time and thinks that means that person/organization is untruthful all the time.

Exactly. 

The political season really annoys me because our guy is great and gonna get all this stuff done, and the other candidate is the antichrist.  I got something in the mail today about how horrible this judge is, but vote for me because i look good in a cowboy hat.

JayhawkCO

Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 08:22:40 PM
back in the day if someone was spouting nonsense they just got ignored.

Nowadays they have rallies with similarly minded dimwits and then threaten and enact violence against whichever person or group is the target of their nonsense. That's the problem.

vdeane

Quote from: JayhawkCO on October 29, 2022, 08:52:47 PM
Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 08:22:40 PM
back in the day if someone was spouting nonsense they just got ignored.

Nowadays they have rallies with similarly minded dimwits and then threaten and enact violence against whichever person or group is the target of their nonsense. That's the problem.
Yeah, that's the thing with social media.  Used to be an idea couldn't spread far before encountering someone who would say "that's BS" and then it would die.  Today it's already beamed out to the whole planet before anyone even has a chance to hear it, and thus inevitably finds the people who will believe it, no matter how BS it is.

Honestly, I'm not sure there's an answer except for society to get totally stuck in the retro zone.  Sad face.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Rothman



Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 07:58:15 PM
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

One of society's biggest problems is to silence people who don't agree with you.  Most of what comes from "fact checkers" is opinion or nonsense.

That certainly is an unfounded mantra put forward usually by conservatives that refuse to judge articles by the citations they provide.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

texaskdog

Quote from: Rothman on October 29, 2022, 09:14:37 PM


Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 07:58:15 PM
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

One of society's biggest problems is to silence people who don't agree with you.  Most of what comes from "fact checkers" is opinion or nonsense.

That certainly is an unfounded mantra put forward usually by conservatives that refuse to judge articles by the citations they provide.

But a lot of what they spout are just their opinions.  I remember my neighbor who laughed about atheists wanting proof of God's existance and he would always say "it's right there in the bible".  A fact checker could say there is no proof of God, and actually be right. 

JayhawkCO

Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 09:21:29 PM
Quote from: Rothman on October 29, 2022, 09:14:37 PM


Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 07:58:15 PM
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

One of society's biggest problems is to silence people who don't agree with you.  Most of what comes from "fact checkers" is opinion or nonsense.

That certainly is an unfounded mantra put forward usually by conservatives that refuse to judge articles by the citations they provide.

But a lot of what they spout are just their opinions.  I remember my neighbor who laughed about atheists wanting proof of God's existance and he would always say "it's right there in the bible".  A fact checker could say there is no proof of God, and actually be right.

You just explained my atheism. :)

Rothman



Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 09:21:29 PM
Quote from: Rothman on October 29, 2022, 09:14:37 PM


Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 07:58:15 PM
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

One of society's biggest problems is to silence people who don't agree with you.  Most of what comes from "fact checkers" is opinion or nonsense.

That certainly is an unfounded mantra put forward usually by conservatives that refuse to judge articles by the citations they provide.

But a lot of what they spout are just their opinions.  I remember my neighbor who laughed about atheists wanting proof of God's existance and he would always say "it's right there in the bible".  A fact checker could say there is no proof of God, and actually be right.

Opinions supported by evidence/citations.  And, the facts checked most of the time are much more tangible than claims of existence of deity and claims supported by data analysis.

So, when someone says taxes went up, fact checkers can easily look at whether or not that kind of fact is true or not (e.g., did tax brackets change) -- just as one example.

And then, any fact checker worth its salt will provide their sources, which most of the big ones do.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

texaskdog

#49
Quote from: Rothman on October 29, 2022, 09:25:59 PM


Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 09:21:29 PM
Quote from: Rothman on October 29, 2022, 09:14:37 PM


Quote from: texaskdog on October 29, 2022, 07:58:15 PM
Quote from: NWI_Irish96 on October 29, 2022, 07:12:27 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 07:05:05 PM
Quote from: Bruce on October 29, 2022, 03:45:20 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 29, 2022, 03:18:25 PM
I'm finding this whole "if so-and-so's account is reinstated, I'm leaving" drama to be humorous and pointless. If you don't like what some person or entity says, then you have two choices. You can ignore/block or you can engage.  Why want to silence them totally just because you disagree with them or don't like what they say? I actually spend most of my time on Twitter checking out what the other side is saying. Sometimes I'll even counter.

Because even if you block those accounts, news media will pick up every last one of their tweets and amplify them out to the rest of the world. Dangerous messages and all.

Maintaining our democracy is more important than some rich guy's feelings getting hurt.

"Maintaining our democracy" means that all viewpoints and ideas -- no matter what one might think of them -- are aired and weighed on their merits. The way you counter a "dangerous message" is to respond to it with a non-dangerous message that can convince people not to listen to the message you think is dangerous.

So an 82-year-old man just got a cracked skull from a guy who had consumed an overwhelming amount of blatantly false conspiracy theories on social media. Simply "countering" those dangerous messages isn't getting through to people.

One of our society's biggest problems is that people consider demonstrably false information to simply be a "viewpoint" or "idea."

One of society's biggest problems is to silence people who don't agree with you.  Most of what comes from "fact checkers" is opinion or nonsense.

That certainly is an unfounded mantra put forward usually by conservatives that refuse to judge articles by the citations they provide.

But a lot of what they spout are just their opinions.  I remember my neighbor who laughed about atheists wanting proof of God's existance and he would always say "it's right there in the bible".  A fact checker could say there is no proof of God, and actually be right.

Opinions supported by evidence/citations.  And, the facts checked most of the time are much more tangible than claims of existence of deity and claims supported by data analysis.

So, when someone says taxes went up, fact checkers can easily look at whether or not that kind of fact is true or not (e.g., did tax brackets change) -- just as one example.

And then, any fact checker worth its salt will provide their sources, which most of the big ones do.

Big difference between numbers you can look up and opinions

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/26/eight-examples-where-fact-checking-became-opinion-/#:~:text=Eight%20examples%20where%20%E2%80%98fact-checking%E2%80%99%20became%20opinion%20journalism%20Republican,Clinton%20in%20the%20first%20of%20three%20debates%20Monday.

Snopes is pretty good for apolitical things.  Politics, not so much....

https://nypost.com/2022/02/16/snopes-latest-example-of-fact-checking-the-truth-away/



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