How Trolls on Reddit Try to Manipulate You

TheSteelRider

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I want to share a video that spoke volumes to me during this pandemic even though it has literally nothing to do with the pandemic. It is a video from Destin (Smarter Every Day) and his deep-dive into Trolls and Troll culture. In the end, he discovers that we are all susceptible to inflammatory posts and after watching this I was more aware of posts I had made in the past that were perhaps not as constructive as they could have been. I am trying to be very self-aware of what I type and how it might be interpreted by others, as writing loses a lot of context that you would otherwise get from an in-person dialog. I encourage you to give it a listen.

How Trolls on Reddit Try to Manipulate You (Disinformation & How We Beat It) - Smarter Every Day 232

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pbojanoski

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Appreciate the video! Very interesting.

I think there is one person on this forum that consistently stirs up and inflames dissent. I think all probably know who that is. I've pretty much ignored that person, but he clearly is very vile on the coronavirus related threads. He is prickly on other threads as well. It certainly makes the threads less interesting and useful for all of us, I can only assume.

I've certainly tried to counter his hate with trying to tamp down the vitriol and call for the partisan nature of his posts to stop. I've continually called for all to be respectful and constructive. I probably didn't use enough "love and kindness" as suggested in the video, but my personality is not a natural spreader of love and kindness. ;) My apologies for that going forward.

I highly recommend the video and I highly recommend giving everyone on this forum the benefit of respect, at least until they prove beyond a doubt that they don't deserve it. Then blocking/reporting is the best answer.

While not specific to the video, I do constantly say and would say again here that all information you read, hear, or see, regardless of source, should be looked at with a critical eye. Too many in media are trying to manipulate you for a myriad of reasons. Don't let them. Stay informed. Listen to varying points of view. Challenge your own beliefs.
 

Sweetwater

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LYTMCQ---Please stay here and leave corona thread. I must admit your
last post there was very good. I thank you for that. We must stay focused
and informative there. You get a big A for that. ;)
 

dbsb3233

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?

I just have to laugh. I don't know what else to do.

???
I made the mistake of letting curiosity get the best of me and un-ignoring that post to look at it. OMG, how one-sided and in denial about his own side.

Just reinforces my decision to have put his posts on ignore. Sadly, this political crap (both sides) is ruining thread after thread, just as I expected it would once it started weeks ago. All it takes is one culprit to lob the first grenade in a thead (by pointing at a politician or a party or a political ideology), and everyone else either has to bite their tongue and fume, or gets baited into responding. It's no-win either way. All the fault of whichever ******* lobs the first grenade.

So ****ing annoying. That's all I'll say. Another thread I'm taking out of my watchlist. ?
 

pbojanoski

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I made the mistake of letting curiosity get the best of me and un-ignoring that post to look at it. OMG, how one-sided and in denial about his own side.

Just reinforces my decision to have put his posts on ignore. Sadly, this political crap (both sides) is ruining thread after thread, just as I expected it would once it started weeks ago. All it takes is one culprit to lob the first grenade in a thead (by pointing at a politician or a party or a political ideology), and everyone else either has to bite their tongue and fume, or gets baited into responding. It's no-win either way. All the fault of whichever ******* lobs the first grenade.

So ****ing annoying. That's all I'll say. Another thread I'm taking out of my watchlist. ?
I feel your pain @dbsb3233. I knew it going in and I think I even said it in a post early on (I've had conversations with guys like this before and I understood how they end with me looking just as bad as the other guy that drops bomb after bomb), but I'm not one to let an obvious wrong go unquestioned and I ignored my own advice. I can only hope that I've learned my lesson, for a while at least. Thanks for keeping it real and high brow.
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