1. online propaganda and astroturfing are very effective
2. our foreign adversaries are very aware of point #1 and use it for political gain
3. hence, there is rampant misinformation online which fuels polarization and societal instability
So I guess there are two questions here:
1. do you think the combination of factors above is problematic?
2. if so, what can or should be done about it, and by whom?
Your framing of all of this, including narrowing it down to just a few things and asking “do you think the combination of factors above is problematic?” is emblematic of the kind of subversive pidgeonholed discord that’s very useful for adversaries to control narratives (see f.e. “Nerd Sniping”).
I’ll answer by saying this: HN, for example, is already taken over. There are nationalistic and politically-inclined shill groups (paid, and useful idiots) already in here and have been here for some time. The upvoting/flagging system is broken as a result since opposition can be easily quashed by downvoting/flagging without manual intervention. Daniel is one lad, he can’t keep up with all of this (but kudos for trying, really). The shit faucet diameter is just too large. My thinking? We’ll need to take a page out of 4chan’s book because placing speech silencing tools in front of users is a dead end. Whatever you do to try to control things, an adversary will gain control of and use it to control the narrative. It’s right there on Reddit.
Don’t take my word on it. Foundations of Geopolitics spelled this out long before most of the internet as we know it today was a thing.
> HN, for example, is already taken over. There are nationalistic and politically-inclined shill groups (paid, and useful idiots) already in here and have been here for some time.
Ok, so it seems you recognize there is a problem.
What, if anything, do you think can or should be done about this problem (and similar), and by whom?
> HN, for example, is already taken over. There are nationalistic and politically-inclined shill groups (paid, and useful idiots) already in here and have been here for some time.
You're stating this very matter-of-factly, so presumably you have some more concrete info. Can you give us more? Who are they? How many? Whats the breakdown between "paid" and "useful idiots"? When did this start? How much of an impact does it have?
> "Your framing of all of this, including narrowing it down to just a few things and asking “do you think the combination of factors above is problematic?” is emblematic of the kind of subversive pidgeonholed discord that’s very useful for adversaries to control narratives (see f.e. “Nerd Sniping”)."
1. online propaganda and astroturfing are very effective 2. our foreign adversaries are very aware of point #1 and use it for political gain 3. hence, there is rampant misinformation online which fuels polarization and societal instability
So I guess there are two questions here: 1. do you think the combination of factors above is problematic? 2. if so, what can or should be done about it, and by whom?