Side note:
All of this is what makes the GRM board unique. It's a place to hang out online, read interesting things and shoot the E36 M3 with peers where I'm relatively certain my key strokes aren't being sent to a totalitarian regime.
What was once the default internet experience is now the exception.
What this means for you
You are being targeted by a sophisticated PR campaign meant to make you more resentful, bitter, and depressed. It's not just disinformation; it's also real-life human writers and advanced bot networks working hard to shift the conversation to the most negative and divisive topics and opinions.
It's why some topics seem to go from non-issues to constant controversy and discussion, with no clear reason, across social media platforms. And a lot of those trolls are actual, "professional" writers whose job is to sound real.
So they're taking a cue from the news media then
CrustyRedXpress said:Side note:
All of this is what makes the GRM board unique. It's a place to hang out online, read interesting things and shoot the E36 M3 with peers where I'm relatively certain my key strokes aren't being sent to a totalitarian regime.
What was once the default internet experience is now the exception.
There are other places for a comparable experience. Places like Discord servers often behave very similarly. Much like this GRM forum, they share certain features:
There has been discussion about the process of "enE36 M3ification" of social media and other mainstream online platforms. The introduction of AI is accelerating this. As platforms become enE36 M3ified, real people use them less and less - either only observing, posting superficially, or leaving altogether. (I now stay logged out of FB, only checking in a couple times per week for things like, checking on parties people are throwing.)
I remember the Usenet back in the 1990s with all of it's newsgroups. This was before corporate America figured out you could monetize the Internet. There were no Russian trolls or Indian scammers. Mostly Americans and Western Europeans. An account from the Government, the Military or a University was your ticket in. Compuserve would come in later with people who could pay to get in, and they were mostly business accounts. AOL (America Online) would come in much later as a more mainstream provider. Anybody back then with an AOL account would be made fun of because most of the young kids trolling and the clueless newbies came in through AOL. The Internet was a much nicer place back then. It was like a private club you needed an invitation to join. There was less static and more signal. I miss that place.
Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) said:I have this theory that I've posted on social media, but I'm not sure I've posted it here or not. Here goes:
My theory is that every modern age has brought with it some form of "pollution".
This is closely related to my own theory that society has dived straight into the internet, social media and all, and we simply are not ready. As a group, and often as individuals, we haven't learned how to handle it responsibly or set limits on either ourselves or the system.
It's like giving a crate of fireworks to a group of eight-year-old and expecting them to take it easy. One or two might have some sense, but as a group, they're not responsible enough, and they're going to goad each other on until someone loses an eye.
Sigh.
CrustyRedXpress said:Side note:
All of this is what makes the GRM board unique. It's a place to hang out online, read interesting things and shoot the E36 M3 with peers where I'm relatively certain my key strokes aren't being sent to a totalitarian regime.
But do we REALLY know what Margie is doing with those key strokes? 
In reply to DarkMonohue :
Some people would accuse me of being a "gatekeeper" for having this opinion, but by and large, I think communities tend to have a much higher level of discourse when there's some kind of barrier to entry. Creates a sense among the people involved that it's not something they can just take for granted.
The internet was an amazing and fun experience when the masses thought it was just a place for nerds to hang out, Facebook was great when you had to have a .edu address to gain access, and so on...
In reply to DarkMonohue :
This is closely related to my own theory that society has dived straight into the internet, social media and all, and we simply are not ready. As a group, and often as individuals, we haven't learned how to handle it responsibly or set limits on either ourselves or the system.
It's like giving a crate of fireworks to a group of eight-year-old and expecting them to take it easy. One or two might have some sense, but as a group, they're not responsible enough, and they're going to goad each other on until someone loses an eye.
Sigh.
I struggled with this greatly on deciding when to allow my children to have smart phones. I resisted for longer than most, 8th grade. I have a lot of regret for giving in. I knew it was a horrible idea, but I was concerned about which was worse- allowing the phones with our supervision and guidance, or withholding them and making my kids the only ones in the school without them. Plus my wife saw the benefits of being able to track what they were doing and where. It didn't help that I shun most social media myself- GRM is as social media as I get- so I was ill prepared to understand the onslaught my kids would be subject to. Couple that with the schools showing no will to restrict access, and we have basically turned out kids loose in the Wild West. Teenagers have enough to deal with without being exposed to every bad idea on the planet 24/7. I've enacted a lot of restrictions, but the horses are already out of the barn and the focus has switched to damage control. My youngest will not be getting a smart phone. I think in 2o years people will look back like we do on smoking. "Can you believe in the 2020's, they gave them to KIDS?!?"
I think the phrases you are looking for are: Barrier to Entry and Investment in the Process.
I believe the studies about the nightmare that public housing became essentially boiled down to Investment in the Process.
I do think though, some sort of self-sorting, self-regulating is the real solution, but then again, much like Reddit (with it's up-voting / ranking system) that can create a tyranny of the majority situation.
It really comes down to just not being an a-hole, but not sure how you filter for that. Historically, it has been done by common cultural norms (e.g. being respectful) but those seem to be pretty blown apart in general now.
pointofdeparture said:SV reX said:If you care about privacy and security, you should not be using any social media app, period.
Ding ding ding.
GRM is about the extent of my online interactions.
Get outside. Touch grass. Make an effort to talk to your neighbors. You'll find they're not as scary as you imagined. You'll find you probably have a lot in common. You might even make a friend.
My 22 year old Daughter has 0 social media, never has. She said she noticed most of the drama during her school years involved some sort of it, so she didn't care to get involved. I'm ok with that as shes not hooked to a screen all day, she's out doing stuff.
I think the saddest part is that most people already know or have suspected most of what is in that original article, they just don't want to give up their fix. I don't think you'll find a single Meth or Heroin addict who thinks the drug is healthy, and yet they are caught in the addiction.
As a whole, we know it, we just refuse to acknowledge it.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
You're not wrong. We know it - and they know it. I consider myself exceptionally fortunate that I am not prone to addiction of any kind. Still, what do I do after posting a meme here? Come back periodically and check the thumbs-up score. I want that little reward for having entertained the gurmurs.
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