General News Thread

[bovril]

8 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I don't have the soul to post specific takes, but here's the first page:

 

https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/109214-trump-triumphs/#comments

 

There certainly are some humdingers in there. 

I like "someone on my facebook is genuinely considering building his own bomb shelter" which is obviously a lie but may not have been such a bad idea after all.

[leicsmac]

14 minutes ago, bovril said:

I like "someone on my facebook is genuinely considering building his own bomb shelter" which is obviously a lie but may not have been such a bad idea after all.

I'm thinking the general denial of exactly what Trump is, what he's going to do (and what he has since done) running through that thread is the most darkly hilarious part of it. 

Edited Sunday at 20:24 by leicsmac

[Rubbersoul]

27 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I don't have the soul to post specific takes, but here's the first page:

 

https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/109214-trump-triumphs/#comments

 

There certainly are some humdingers in there. 

Why does 2016 feel like another lifetime now 

[leicsmac]

22 minutes ago, Rubbersoul said:

Why does 2016 feel like another lifetime now 

Because socially and politically, I think that it is. 

 

The last decade has changed things more than people realise, IMO.

[bovril]

42 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

I'm thinking the general denial of exactly what Trump is, what he's going to do (and what he has since done) running through that thread is the most darkly hilarious part of it. 

Lol I just found the Matt Pee post that's like "the so called tolerant left protesting when they don't like the result, I doubt Trump supporters would cause trouble if they lost the election". 

[Trav Le Bleu]

17 minutes ago, bovril said:

Lol I just found the Matt Pee post that's like "the so called tolerant left protesting when they don't like the result, I doubt Trump supporters would cause trouble if they lost the election". 

That aged like full cream milk on a hot day.

[Trav Le Bleu]

34 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Because socially and politically, I think that it is. 

 

The last decade has changed things more than people realise, IMO.

Global pandemic.

 

War in Europe.

 

DT & BJ simultaneously at the helm of the Anglo-American special relationship.

 

Leicester City cheated their way to the league title.

 

It's been crazy!

[leicsmac]

21 minutes ago, bovril said:

Lol I just found the Matt Pee post that's like "the so called tolerant left protesting when they don't like the result, I doubt Trump supporters would cause trouble if they lost the election". 

 

3 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

That aged like full cream milk on a hot day.

He wasn't the only one putting forth that point, either. 

[when_you're_smiling]

2 hours ago, leicsmac said:

On this score, was taking a trip down memory lane and looked up the thread published on here just after Trump won in 2016. 

 

The amount of people saying it "wouldn't be that bad" or something along those lines, or even flat out stating it as a positive (some gone, some still here now, but I won't call out names) is remarkable. 

To be fair, I think the ‘wouldn’t be that bad’ comments were at least partly because the belief was he would still would want to be elected for a second time, but then nobody would be daft enough to vote for him for a second time.

 

It would have blown people’s minds in 2016 if you told them he’d encourage insurrection in 2020 and then still get voted back in four years later.

[leicsmac]

8 hours ago, when_you're_smiling said:

To be fair, I think the ‘wouldn’t be that bad’ comments were at least partly because the belief was he would still would want to be elected for a second time, but then nobody would be daft enough to vote for him for a second time.

 

It would have blown people’s minds in 2016 if you told them he’d encourage insurrection in 2020 and then still get voted back in four years later.

There's something in that.

 

Everyone thought, with good reason, that a person that incites a coup against the legislative centre of a first world country tends to get dealt with, rather than being in a position to run for power again, much less getting it.

[leicsmac]

In other news, the Ukrainians targeting Russian data centres is having a noticeable effect on the presence of trollbots on social media, apparently. 

[kenny]

16 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

In other news, the Ukrainians targeting Russian data centres is having a noticeable effect on the presence of trollbots on social media, apparently. 

Its very true on Reddit.

 

Pro Russian activity is very quiet.

[leicsmac]

16 minutes ago, kenny said:

Its very true on Reddit.

 

Pro Russian activity is very quiet.

Ukraine doing the job the mod teams on these sites won't do, then. 

 

Hopefully will have a further effect on the landscape for the midterms considering most pro-Russian trolls are also pro-Trump.

[kenny]

24 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Ukraine doing the job the mod teams on these sites won't do, then. 

 

Hopefully will have a further effect on the landscape for the midterms considering most pro-Russian trolls are also pro-Trump.

It would be interesting to see if the Pro-Reform comments on the Dailymail also reduce in volume.

[Bellend Sebastian]

58 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

In other news, the Ukrainians targeting Russian data centres is having a noticeable effect on the presence of trollbots on social media, apparently. 

My Facebook feed is unrecognisable. All of the stuff I would categorise as 'total shite' has disappeared. 

 

The Ukrainians have succeeded where my years of falsely flagging accounts I don't like as sexual content have failed

[leicsmac]

7 minutes ago, kenny said:

It would be interesting to see if the Pro-Reform comments on the Dailymail also reduce in volume.

My working hypothesis is that they would, but I guess we'll find out. 

 

7 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

My Facebook feed is unrecognisable. All of the stuff I would categorise as 'total shite' has disappeared. 

 

The Ukrainians have succeeded where my years of falsely flagging accounts I don't like as sexual content have failed

Yeah, much clearer over here too. 

 

Amazing the difference blitzing a few data centres makes.

[Finnegan]

3 minutes ago, kenny said:

It would be interesting to see if the Pro-Reform comments on the Dailymail also reduce in volume.

 

You'll find a lot of those aren't actually Russian bots. 

 

Don't get me wrong, there definitely will be a large amount of Russia based bots pushing opinions, positions and political parties on social media that are sympathetic to Russia. 

 

But you'll also find that an enormous amount of content farms these days are actually commercial, not state run, and their primary motivator is revenue not political gain. 

 

Everywhere from Macedonia to Pakistan to Vietnam there are content farms just baiting engagement because every reaction, share, response, etc, generates income. 

 

They deliberately post inflammatory content designed to trigger and bait but it's not because they have a particular stance they're trying to push but just because it's what hooks people. 

 

A recent study showed that these farms target Reform voters (as an example, I imagine it's the same with MAGA and. ADF types too) because they're statistically more likely to respond. 

 

They're typically more online, less well educated, have poorer self control and critical thinking, more prone to engage with click bait. 

 

What's interesting is that the same farms will spam both positive and negative content about the subject because both can work to drive engagement, either people respond in support or they get rage baited. 

 

These commercial farms probably make up the majority of content farms these days and they're why social media is just a mess completely overrun with low effort bait crap these days. 

 

A lot of the accounts fanning the flames of various culture wars comes from these farms, they might seem like they're pushing a particular agenda but mostly they just want to generate money from engagement. 

 

[kenny]

3 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

You'll find a lot of those aren't actually Russian bots. 

 

Don't get me wrong, there definitely will be a large amount of Russia based bots pushing opinions, positions and political parties on social media that are sympathetic to Russia. 

 

But you'll also find that an enormous amount of content farms these days are actually commercial, not state run, and their primary motivator is revenue not political gain. 

 

Everywhere from Macedonia to Pakistan to Vietnam there are content farms just baiting engagement because every reaction, share, response, etc, generates income. 

 

They deliberately post inflammatory content designed to trigger and bait but it's not because they have a particular stance they're trying to push but just because it's what hooks people. 

 

A recent study showed that these farms target Reform voters (as an example, I imagine it's the same with MAGA and. ADF types too) because they're statistically more likely to respond. 

 

They're typically more online, less well educated, have poorer self control and critical thinking, more prone to engage with click bait. 

 

What's interesting is that the same farms will spam both positive and negative content about the subject because both can work to drive engagement, either people respond in support or they get rage baited. 

 

These commercial farms probably make up the majority of content farms these days and they're why social media is just a mess completely overrun with low effort bait crap these days. 

 

A lot of the accounts fanning the flames of various culture wars comes from these farms, they might seem like they're pushing a particular agenda but mostly they just want to generate money from engagement. 

 

Not much difference between a bot and farm is there?

 

Ive always assumed that Russia encourages and probably finances Reform, Palestine Action, Extinction Rebellion, Britain First etc as a way of distracting and causing the UK problems.

[bovril]

Man that Trump thread is the gift that keeps giving. We're going to get a super free trade deal that includes visa free work for Brits in the US.

 

The past is a foreign country. 

[bovril]

"This is a vote for the white working class against the educated liberal elite. By the way I am very much against identity politics"

[leicsmac]

8 minutes ago, bovril said:

Man that Trump thread is the gift that keeps giving. We're going to get a super free trade deal that includes visa free work for Brits in the US.

 

The past is a foreign country. 

I'm rather partial to the "no new wars" and "that racist, homophobic and otherwise bigoted graffiti on day 1 isn't a sign of intent, it doesn't mean anything" contributions. 

[Bellend Sebastian]

31 minutes ago, Finnegan said:

 

You'll find a lot of those aren't actually Russian bots. 

 

Don't get me wrong, there definitely will be a large amount of Russia based bots pushing opinions, positions and political parties on social media that are sympathetic to Russia. 

 

But you'll also find that an enormous amount of content farms these days are actually commercial, not state run, and their primary motivator is revenue not political gain. 

 

Everywhere from Macedonia to Pakistan to Vietnam there are content farms just baiting engagement because every reaction, share, response, etc, generates income. 

 

They deliberately post inflammatory content designed to trigger and bait but it's not because they have a particular stance they're trying to push but just because it's what hooks people. 

 

A recent study showed that these farms target Reform voters (as an example, I imagine it's the same with MAGA and. ADF types too) because they're statistically more

 

They're typically more online, less well educated, have poorer self control and critical thinking, more prone to engage with click bait. 

 

What's interesting is that the same farms will spam both positive and negative content about the subject because both can work to drive engagement, either people respond in support or they get rage baited. 

 

These commercial farms probably make up the majority of content farms these days and they're why social media is just a mess completely overrun with low effort bait crap these days. 

 

A lot of the accounts fanning the flames of various culture wars comes from these farms, they might seem like they're pushing a particular agenda but mostly they just want to generate money from engagement. 

 

Oh, I hadn't realised you'd met my father in law, how did you get on? 

 

I'm sure a lot of what you've said is true. I wish I knew how to tell where a post originates from, I'm assuming is a way of telling as I've seen replies asking why someone in Zambia or wherever is enquiring about whether Farage would make a good PM or if EVs are the future of UK motoring.

 

That said, the AI image engagement farming crap from across the board is conspicuous by its absence today on Facebook

 

 

[ClaphamFox]

17 hours ago, Parafox said:

Does that mean he has capacity under the MH act?  To have capacity you have to be able to understand the consequences of your actions/decisions.

 

I doubt he did.

The footage of him wagging his finger at the tiger to tell it to stop attacking him is particularly heartbreaking. At the very least it appears the man did not understand fully understand the risk of climbing into the enclosure, whether because of intellectual disability, autism or mental health issues. 

 

I've been surprised at the callousness of many comments I've seen about this incident online. Clearly the man did not have the capacity to understand what he was doing, yet many people seem devoid of any sympathy for him. It's been a bit depressing.

[ramboacdc]

16 hours ago, Wymsey said:

In what way?

Schitzophrenia they are painted as a nut job. Autistic they are painted as a vulnerable person. People with issues such as schizophrenia, bipolar etc can be just as vulnerable as someone with autism and make stupid decisions, and I say this as someone who suffers from these sort of issues and has an autistic child. 

This is a good simulator of someone with schizophrenia and it isn't their fault as much as folks will say it isn't their fault if the kid was autistic. But if it comes out they are Schizophrenic, it will become a totally different story on how the victim is treated to how it will be if they come out as autistic. Either way the person jumped over a large fence, climbed in, sat down and put their back to a tiger. 
 

 

[Lionator]

Truth bombs