Post AkZn06JVE7LscOIE6a by RufusJCooter@mstdn.social
(DIR) More posts by RufusJCooter@mstdn.social
(DIR) Post #AkZYQWLxXI1baya98C by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-02T23:59:56Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Remember how long it took to convince ordinary people who were dialed into politics there was something deeply wrong with Fox New in particular? It took like 15 years and there are still holdouts. (those in other media among the worst offenders)We have the same issue with X. People think of media as neutral, social media more so. You say it's biased it's like if someone said "email is right wing!" ... what are you talking about?I don't have a solution but this is the size of the problem.
(DIR) Post #AkZYbISnWAPPhcv2X2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T00:01:46Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
I have a friend who thought my only issue with X was that money went to Elon Musk. And that's an issue, but it's kind of the smallest one with using the site. It's hard not to interact economically with all kinds of companies and people. Why Is using X worse than shopping at Walmart? Using Amazon?(I think it and Facebook are much worse than both.)
(DIR) Post #AkZYw0vvtCe1PoQRCy by noplasticshower@zirk.us
2024-08-03T00:05:39Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird because your data are being used to train their AI? Is this a trick question?Musk bought Twitter for the data pile.https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/why-the-data-ocean-is-being-sectioned-off
(DIR) Post #AkZYxaWp28mw6JQlfs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T00:05:58Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
The "you are subjecting yourself to propaganda" argument is rather weak with most people because most people think they have special propaganda "senses" and that they "know how to avoid scams" and just that they can't be tricked or swayed. (This never worked well with Fox News either. Though it's the biggest danger.)And everyone is vulnerable to propaganda. You just do not notice the stuff that works. That's the whole point.
(DIR) Post #AkZZ7BwFJTfCjStyPQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T00:07:40Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
I think saying "you are enticing other people to be subjected to propaganda by helping to provide and promote the content" might be more effective?
(DIR) Post #AkZZVgSJVDHeKVa18y by justafrog@mstdn.social
2024-08-03T00:12:05Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird I see this with people who aren't into American anything or even the English language.They just see Xitter as a free resource and sincerely don't care about what it means in US politics.And probably Musk doesn't give a shit what they say to each other, while there's nobody paying him to care.Of course, they do end up getting used as active user count to solicit more investment and ad money, but that doesn't cost them personally in a direct way they'd care about.
(DIR) Post #AkZZevGPodEUrXQ6eO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T00:13:47Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@justafrog Musk has aspirations to meddle in international politics. He's pro Russia among other things. It's not just a US issue at all. Although I can understand why it might seem that way.
(DIR) Post #AkZZq43tRenRKnsMZE by leon_p_smith@ioc.exchange
2024-08-03T00:15:47Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Hmm, is there a memorable slogan for that?
(DIR) Post #AkZZsH0mGkhu4oTJEO by libramoon@mastodon.social
2024-08-03T00:15:49Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Either, by nature, you’re plagued with paranoiaOr you’ve bought pervasive propaganda.I do understand:It was so cheap, and in your color.It wasn’t labeled “Propaganda.”Sold as “News,” common knowledge,accommodation to the norm.And it fits your internal dialog so well“Danger is everywhere these days of disorder,scary change.”Just like all the dayswhen Freedom seems such a flimsy wage,a cheap exchangefor sham Security.
(DIR) Post #AkZZyaCJqfGTJpsY0O by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T00:17:20Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@leon_p_smith "Do you enjoy working as a content creator for Elon for free?"Although this might confuse the issue back to it being about making money for him. Which isn't the problem. I don't even think he makes much money with X. He's using it to shape and influence culture and politics.
(DIR) Post #AkZa2ZMStr8xspWdc0 by pawsplay@dice.camp
2024-08-03T00:18:02Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird One thing I have learned and know is that we are all susceptible to influence.
(DIR) Post #AkZa5lNifJnM23dR3Y by kims@mas.to
2024-08-03T00:18:36Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird This argument has almost never worked for me. When friends agree that it's bad to [shop at amazon / eat meat / watch the NFL / insert collective harm here] it's almost always met with, "I'll stop when everyone else stops."No one wants to go first
(DIR) Post #AkZa8BDHawZej7uDc8 by rvinson@liberdon.com
2024-08-03T00:19:09Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird
(DIR) Post #AkZaANeGKexpsBZgY4 by leon_p_smith@ioc.exchange
2024-08-03T00:19:14Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird good points, on both counts.Financially, there's pretty much no way that X won't be an absolute bloodbath for Musk at this point, at least in any direct sense. Of course, Frontline's reported that with his purchase of X, Musk has earned the respect of authoritarians around the world, so maybe it'll still work out for him indirectly in the long wrong?
(DIR) Post #AkZaC8yDsMhEvekfIG by CStamp@mastodon.social
2024-08-03T00:19:08Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird I knew someone who "watched Fox just for the entertainment." He got more and more weird. I recently have pulled someone back from YouTube after he started giving some weird opinions. I had him show me what he was watching, and production value on some of this crap is really good. I was able to walk him through the misleading stuff, gave him links to those behind it, and thankfully he pulled back before it was too late. He has 2 university degrees, in science bkgds...
(DIR) Post #AkZaIbgM2TfdiMTYcC by xgranade@wandering.shop
2024-08-03T00:20:54Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird I went with "you are helping normalize" when I put together https://y-after.social, but I'm not sure if that's the most cogent argument either?
(DIR) Post #AkZaigkVp2n0xVrD5k by shaknais@mastodon.social
2024-08-03T00:25:39Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird Hollywood came into its own with WWII. That's not a coincidence. It was intentional. The military have since backed countless films that fit a certain ideology.Propaganda is... Everywhere.
(DIR) Post #AkZarhqt5j2MzA8h8a by hobs@mstdn.social
2024-08-03T00:27:06Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebirdAnd pro China. And he'd probably be pro NK if he had a factory there. In the end he's just pro-Elon (sociopath).@justafrog
(DIR) Post #AkZbHCt0qN8iTaIDRo by QuietLurker@mastodon.social
2024-08-03T00:31:50Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird One thing I saw a lot of after he took over the platform was liberal, progressive, and centrist accounts (many of note) claiming he bought it because he’s stupid, got tricked into it, to use as a toy, or because he’s petty. All those things might be true, but they were adamant that anyone claiming he was doing it to subvert democracy or sway public opinion to the right was a ridiculous conspiracy theorist. Some of these people have no excuse for being that gullible.
(DIR) Post #AkZbWCzCkqgN86LIDQ by justafrog@mstdn.social
2024-08-03T00:34:35Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Yeah, I'm not saying it's fine.Just look at what Facebook did in Myanmar.But try telling a Malaysian or a Peruvian this and they'll kinda shrug about it.Because it hasn't happened to them at all and they figure they'll deal with it when it happens.
(DIR) Post #AkZbambcGQYslBUSsS by angiebaby@mas.to
2024-08-03T00:35:24Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird "Amplifying propaganda does the propagandist's job for them."
(DIR) Post #AkZcdGflXxQGXoBEPI by lambic@social.linux.pizza
2024-08-03T00:47:05Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird I have friends and colleagues who are still on the birdsite and they exhibit a weird kind of shame about it, like they know they shouldn't but they just can't stop. They behave the same way about still using chrome.
(DIR) Post #AkZdeJJbJ7Lsz2sE40 by tantramar@mastodon.social
2024-08-03T00:58:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Nobody thinks they’re stupid, gullible, or can be easily influenced.My motto? The easiest person for me to fool is myself.The first question whenever I come across some juicy nugget about Trump or Poilièvre? “Is this true or do I just really want it to be true?”
(DIR) Post #AkZeIovhBWogcL0bYW by Almost_Hermit@mastodon.social
2024-08-03T01:05:45Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Are you planing to dehumanized humans?In literature, I see Greeks invented a specific word for those we were unconcerned about politics [ἰδιώτης] "So, ἰδιώτης (idiōtēs) can be literally translated to "one's own private person" or "a person who is concerned with one's own affairs""The more I've read the bible (which is a CULTURE phenomena) I read GOD told Samuel "Ppl rejected GOD [Eloah], not Samuel as a religious"leader"" What's your plan to sort that out AFTER 3.000 years?
(DIR) Post #AkZg7S3c5DKIP3Q1se by ben@pgh.social
2024-08-03T01:26:03Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird Another thing is: knowing something is propaganda doesn't make you immune to it.
(DIR) Post #AkZkHRlcPtTYDQ1WdM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T02:12:46Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@LexYeen @ben I love that meme. It illustrates the point that it makes perfectly. Would it be as appealing without Garfield with his cool hoodie looking smug, but also chill and likable? Of course not. Would anyone remember a sign that just said those words as well? Probably not. As with all propaganda it helps that I like the message. It helps that I liked Garfield as a kid. I've heard people call it ironic but I don't think it is. It's just effective propaganda for media literacy.
(DIR) Post #AkZkSN0ETEQWcn4Fu4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T02:14:46Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@LexYeen @ben I've noticed some alternate versions that say stuff like "you are not immune to propaganda but neither am I... " and go on and on... which is why leftists suck at making memes. (Too many WORDS)But I can see how due to the image being used in a "gotcha" way online to make people feel bad for falling for stuff... yeah... that might be needed. But to me it's just a happy image that I like and agree with.
(DIR) Post #AkZn06JVE7LscOIE6a by RufusJCooter@mstdn.social
2024-08-03T02:43:12Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @leon_p_smith "Do you enjoy carrying the fascists' water for them" maybe?"What do you get from that Nazi bar that you can't get anywhere else" ?
(DIR) Post #AkZnrFzFzXaBy4Ab9E by mkb@mastodon.social
2024-08-03T02:52:49Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird Several years back, I nearly fell for some Birdsite disinformation. A political account I followed mostly had well-sourced claims. Even the surprising ones were supported by links to NYT, WaPo, and other reputable outlets. Then there was the occasional unsourced claim. The well-sourced claims got me to file that account in my Reasonable People mental bin, so I actually started thinking their BS claims might be true. In retrospect, it was an early version of some bonkers Q ideas.
(DIR) Post #AkZo7t5yM6YZtSF1Fo by mkb@mastodon.social
2024-08-03T02:55:52Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @LexYeen @ben In case you’re not already familiar:https://garfieldminusgarfield.net/
(DIR) Post #AkZwFJaJ4CRfi0Txqa by cykonot@mas.to
2024-08-03T04:26:51Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird The people who control the algorithm control what the crowd experiences.The people who control your experience control what you think is acceptable & valuable.Oligarchs invest in media to increase their net worth by changing your beliefs & behavior. Corporate media and ads are all propaganda, and propaganda WORKS. Controlling the culture is valuable. So, we must seize the means of communication.Make it a meme? Only algorithmically-approved behavior is visible, makes u an npc idk
(DIR) Post #AkaAbMGTBKLnkYbokS by ChemicalEyeGuy@mstdn.science
2024-08-03T07:07:42Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird It’s actually taken over a *century* to figure out that the #Murdoch family business that became #FoxNews is actually based on the ‘business model’ of turning lies into money. The deaths ☠️ of other people are an uncounted byproduct. Somebody should look into that! 👀 👉 https://insidestory.org.au/the-myth-of-keith-murdochs-gallipoli-letter/#AUSpol #USpol
(DIR) Post #AkaKZehWfDNvtM5i0u by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T08:59:28Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
OK another way to put it:How do you think you can organize and promote the next movement like BLM on the site that suspicious as something as harmless and mainstream (outside of exclusively right wing spaces) as "White Guys for Harris" ? They were treated horribly. Twitter was (for a time) an effective left tool. Right now X hardly able to tolerate center left electoral organizing.
(DIR) Post #AkaKfORY1S8JCtLyXA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T09:00:23Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
This is obviously more of a message for someone who cares about social change. And that's not everyone or even most people.
(DIR) Post #AkaMptbpCgF2fbIQnQ by Astronomy_A2Z@mstdn.social
2024-08-03T09:24:47Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Continuing a presence on X is directly supporting a billionaire's efforts to tear apart the social fabric of his adopted country, which he increasingly treats as a cheap source of labor and endeavors to allow him to operate unregulated in the hopes of making him a trillionaire. Its a shame because platforms like Mastodon show a better way forward.
(DIR) Post #AkaR5btXETIABDKRLk by leon_p_smith@ioc.exchange
2024-08-03T01:06:46Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@futurebird There is one thing that has bothered me though. Why don't people see through cases like Fox News and Elon Musk immediately? Like, it's so stinkin' obvious to me. I've long understood that I'm fairly unusual in that respect, but I don't understand the disconnect other people have.I think a lot of it is a very deep wisdom I absorbed from my mother and her father and her brother, which consisted of a mixture of kindness, a general desire to be generous, and bullshit detection skills par excellence. My estranged abusive biological brother trained his bullshitting skills against that, which means he's an absolutely lethal bullshitter of Trumpian proportions. Oof.My father has superior technical skills than my mother and grandfather, and while he is a much wiser man than typical people, he also lacks that same wisdom that I so deeply appreciate.
(DIR) Post #AkaR5cgSIaQKcwDVbM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T10:12:27Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@leon_p_smith How much do you know about where exactly your tap water comes from? Or about the supply chain for road salt and asphalt in your area?Everyone can't be expert at everything and people tend to assume that services will be mostly fair. Even though every service presents opportunities for exploitation and magnification of oppressions. Internet and social media are a minor part of many people's lives. That they aren't perfect and pure doesn't seem like such a big deal.
(DIR) Post #AkaT1fBHGwz77bsCqu by jwcph@helvede.net
2024-08-03T10:34:07Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird We need a good metaphor, maybe something like: X is a pedal bus - it can't run unless users tread the pedals & the more people do, the faster it goes. If you know for a fact that the bus driver is deliberately running down women, people of color & any vulnerable minority you can think of & also providing free transit for nazis & the like, are you OK with helping provide pedal power...?
(DIR) Post #Akan6DBamZXwpPT076 by leon_p_smith@ioc.exchange
2024-08-03T14:11:22Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Sure, though in my mind my two toots are tangentially related.I mean, I get that there's specialized knowledge involved in making some of these of judgements, and that not everybody has that knowledge. I understand that. What I don't understand is the disconnect between those who have most or all of the prerequisite knowledge to come to a fairly reliable conclusion that some organization or individual or idea is deeply compromised, yet still resolutely refuse to see that fact.I mean, I feel like even very basic media literacy and critical thinking skills would go a long way towards shutting down some of these bullshitters.
(DIR) Post #AkanettYUuCn8MZT8K by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T14:25:18Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@sagefault @QuietLurker Because it requires sponsors and artificial propaganda to keep right wing ideas in circulation they assume there is a similar left wing network. It can't possibly be that things like climate change being a bad, treating trans people like normal people, not being racist, and women having reproductive choice are just naturally popular and spread naturally. No... there must have been an expensive brainwashing operation.
(DIR) Post #AkanulIMEv7t5wjelc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T14:28:13Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@sagefault @QuietLurker There was a smaller version of this in NYC when the people against bike lanes complained about "Big Bike" taking over the city. To the far right real grass roots leftwing movements can't exist. The idea that a large portion of the US population got behind BLM was so confusing to them. They really wanted someone to be behind it all... pulling the strings. It couldn't be that videos of police are just... they aren't what most people want to see or support.
(DIR) Post #Akao03E6zwcc9lGtge by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T14:29:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@NocturnalNessa "never gonna happen"IDK. I think it could. There are many many good reasons to do it while still saying on legacy social media.
(DIR) Post #AkaoKc7oxKAkBT8NOa by glitzersachen@hachyderm.io
2024-08-03T14:32:50Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @sagefault @QuietLurker "Big Bike" LOL.People wanna be able to walk again in the city? Possibly Big Pedestrian taking over. People don't want to be shot by copy at the drop of a hat? => Big Life taking over.
(DIR) Post #AkaoMpbJpAAeYczMtU by itty53@beige.party
2024-08-03T14:31:13Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@sagefault @QuietLurker @futurebird This the most forced apologist comment I've ever read. "The richest man on earth was taken for a fool by capitalists". Please, troll, troll elsewhere.
(DIR) Post #AkaoMqHrH0CMgYtLCS by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T14:32:52Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@itty53 @sagefault @QuietLurker Do you assume that being rich means he's better at exploiting the opportunities presented by capitalism? It's an advantage, yes, but buying at peak is still a poor move.
(DIR) Post #AkaoQooegUbNHW80TQ by Sean@liberal.city
2024-08-03T14:32:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@QuietLurker @futurebird not all of his $44 billion came from his own personal funds, billions came from Qatari and Saudi billionaires (those guys he watched the '22 FIFA World Cup in their sky box), he might be motivated to be the top troll but others are motivated to push political narratives that are to their liking. If GRU, with an army of bots, can influence what is and isn't trending, then owning the company and making decisions on how the algorithm will be implemented is more influential
(DIR) Post #AkaoQpN2ce6j0ADT4S by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T14:33:58Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Sean @QuietLurker I hate that people can buy a company going into debit then dismantle the company "because now it's in debit" that whole process seems broken beyond all reason.
(DIR) Post #AkaoYFMwMLLnf3hsmG by itty53@beige.party
2024-08-03T14:35:19Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @sagefault @QuietLurker I was responding to Jonathan Beverly's take on Elon being forced to buy Twitter by "real" capitalists.
(DIR) Post #AkaorHAfsofskj2kU4 by tehstu@hachyderm.io
2024-08-03T14:38:47Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @sagefault @QuietLurker I've never thought about it like that before, that's a really great point.
(DIR) Post #AkapEhF9770KH4Ip2e by amerika@annihilation.social
2024-08-03T14:43:05.011897Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird That's the point. The Left abused it, and it was taken away.
(DIR) Post #AkapHIuW2Sl9fztdNQ by amerika@annihilation.social
2024-08-03T14:43:33.634947Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Why do all corporations turn evil?It's the taxes.
(DIR) Post #AkaqHoA5wmg8YRzI92 by dalias@hachyderm.io
2024-08-03T14:54:46Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @sagefault @QuietLurker TBF there is a sliver if truth to what they expect. Hostile parties (esp. Putin's mafia) do *watch* mass popular sentiment and try to coopt it, but the ones who do so also want it to fail - they just want it to be a thorn in the side of the political elite while it goes nowhere. The key thing tho is this isn't a left wing mastermind network. It's all right wing and it's all very obvious.
(DIR) Post #AkarIVHbivH8FMOg0O by cshlan@dawdling.net
2024-08-03T15:06:05Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird@sagefault @QuietLurkerI've noticed for a while that my left leaning friends assume people on the right hold deeply considered political views while my family and their friends on the right assume people on the left are brainwashed.
(DIR) Post #AkatH3AYxoEsflXKtM by Sean@liberal.city
2024-08-03T15:28:16Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @QuietLurker but it's "cool" because the stock price was a 420 joke 🤦and the debt is held by theocratic dictatorships.
(DIR) Post #AkazryWTnl4yhXmKQq by llewelly@sauropods.win
2024-08-03T16:42:12Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @sagefault @QuietLurker oh yeah? if Big Bike isn't real, what did Godzilla ride?
(DIR) Post #Akb68AjmksVUwV6neC by avirr@sfba.social
2024-08-03T17:52:18Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird Too many Nazis seems like a good approach
(DIR) Post #AkceiMp6t9iOS0zQrg by PTR_K@dice.camp
2024-08-04T11:48:13Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
@sagefault @QuietLurker @futurebird I tended to think all the above reasons were part of it. But combined with the right/libertarian sphere idea of the inherent goodness of free speech absolutism. That (contrary to Brandolini's law, bots & sealioning) if you let people say anything without limits, that the truth will predominate on a platform. So if he could just make Twitter "free" enough, people would accept his ideas.When that failed (as it was doomed to), he started silencing naysayers.
(DIR) Post #AkcoNmYn0IrHjTBA5A by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-04T13:42:53Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@chu @silver_huskey I know you didn't ask me... and I hope others will still answer ... but for a lot of people I've talked to a big factor is simply not having a critical mass of "their people" here... which is a kind of circular problem. There are some interests and posting styles that are very lively here but others that are dead... eg. posting about live sports games as they happen.
(DIR) Post #AkcurKg1pxPtfO2TnU by d_j_fitzgerald@bitbang.social
2024-08-04T14:55:23Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @chu @silver_huskey same point as Futurebird, presented from the other side: I have been on Mastodon since 2018. Before Dipshit McGee bought X, my presence here has become almost nonexistent. Everybody here was a stranger to me, nobody I ever met IRL was here, and at best this place served as a makeshift [white, Millenial] transfemme support group.Then Dipshit bought X and a sizable portion of #retrocomputing Twitter moved here. Suddenly this became vital and interesting to me.
(DIR) Post #AkePp79MRyNCs68ogi by condret@shitposter.world
2024-08-05T08:17:14.346369Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird the solution is to convince people to use adblockers. won't solve the problem over night, but x could eventually no longer operate and shutdown
(DIR) Post #Al68gQR77HpRHnasbY by johnefrancis@mastodon.social
2024-08-18T17:16:57Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@futurebird @sagefault @QuietLurker my favourites are accusations aimed at "Antifa" like it's an actual organization with staff and money and offices with meetings and strategies.