I don’t like the smugness of the news media and social media pointing out fake news and disinformation campaigns. If anything that’s a turn off to those who might believe in such things. Often issues aren’t black and white – and while one side may be misleading – it’s better to just report the facts from both sides in context.
Social Media
Parler… A website I struggle to figure out. 🤷🏻♂️
Parler… A website I struggle to figure out. 🤷🏻♂️
Lately it’s become a trendy thing to say your going to the alternative social media website, Parler because people are getting fed up with the constant disclaimers and censorship of major social media services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It is obnoxious that every time you mention or see a post about the election or COVID-19 your splashed with a disclaimer pointing to a platform curated collection of news articles. Maybe it’s a good idea to confront disinformation but it seems like these social media platforms have gone too far.
So the alternative people point to is Parler. But when I created my account I was disappointed on how much of a political echo chamber it is, full of weird conspiracy theories and far right news feeds. Yeah, I kind of like Larry the Cable Guy and John Rich’s feeds there but it lacks all of the groups and diversity that Facebook has.
I’ve been warned that Parler is kind of a far right echo chamber. But I was hoping it would have an interesting mix of off-gridders, farmers, homesteaders, hunters, sportsman and back to the earth type folks and not be dominated by politicos. I get that folks who live off the land like their guns and aren’t afraid of a little blood, manure or smoke and are conservative in persuasion but I didn’t go there for the politics or the love of Donald Trump, a man who I find quite awful.
I am not sure if the issue with the lack of users or the lack of search function but it’s really hard to find non political, communities of interest on Parler. There just aren’t the groups or pages I like, it’s more individual users than content feeds. No YouTube feeds, no cute pictures of cattle, deer or wildlife. Really not much of interest. Maybe the site will improve but right now it really lacks much of interest unless you’re interested in werid right wing conspiracy theories.
This man is running Russia’s newest propaganda effort in the U.S. — or at least he’s trying to
Alexander Malkevich stood outside the White House on Thursday, braving the 85-degree heat in a skintight long-sleeve shirt with Che Guevara’s face emblazoned on it. Thursday was flag day, as well as the birthdays of Malkevich, Che and President Donald Trump, and he was leading a very small political rally.
But this wasn’t one of the typical protests that crop up on Pennsylvania Avenue. Malkevich sits on Russia’s Civic Chamber commission on mass media, an official arm of President Vladimir Putin’s government. He was there to promote his new Russia-funded, English-language news site, USA Really. Wake Up Americans.
Like most of Russia’s efforts to manipulate U.S. politics, the website traffics in content on divisive issues such as promoting secessionist movements in the U.S. — the same kinds of activities that caused a furor when they were exposed as having influenced the 2016 presidential election.
Industry Insiders Don’t Use Their Products Like We Do. That Should Worry Us.
"They haven't used it," Jobs told Bilton. "We limit how much technology our kids use at home." Every night, the family had a phone-free dinner together, according to Walter Isaacson, author of the definitive biography Steve Jobs. "The kids did not seem addicted at all to devices," Isaacson told Bilton.
Many found Jobs’s choices startling—and for good reason. What does it say about the safety of a product if its creator forbids his own kids from using it? But the tech billionaire’s choices weren’t as unusual as they might seem. From tobacco to food manufacturing to social media, executives and insiders are subtly sounding the alarm in actions, if not in words. Their behaviors provide insight not just into the risks of certain consumer products to children, but to adults, too.
What’s Worse Than Foreign Election Interference? QAnon | WIRED
Not by a long shot. The more threatening type of election interference is that which is, by design, hard to identify—even when you’re looking right at it. Something like what we now see in hindsight from the 2016 Election: manipulation of existing sentiments and movements, prolific propaganda machines, distorted news reports, online trolls who blend into the fray. In essence, what we’re now seeing with QAnon.
Pull of Being Disconnected
The pull of being disconnected.
Client emails me with a question. Landlord texts me a second time wondering why I’ve ignored his text about the driveway getting sealed next week. Dozens of unimportant or non pressing emails in my inbox. And of course the social media accounts annoyed that I’m not actively on them this weekend – you have 28 notifications on Twitter and 44 unread notifications on Facebook.
Great. I think I will just have to ignore them for now, no matter how addictive that witty response to that Facebook comment may be.
Honestly, I would have probably ignored them all had it not been a busy time at work. I know I’m annoyed when people don’t respond quickly to my calls. But cellphone service is very spotty up here in the wilderness. But then again it’s nice to not be connected every minute of every day.
7 Ways to Deal with Cyberbullying | Talkspace
Bullying isn’t new, but the way people go about it has changed. What was once reserved for the schoolyard now occurs at home or at work via social media. In fact, cyberbullying affects adults as much as children. A 2012 study from the University of Nottingham and the University of Sheffield found that eight out of ten of the 320 adults surveyed across three different universities had been victims of cyberbullying in the last six months. About a quarter reported feeling humiliated, ignored, or being the subject of online gossip at least once a week.
I am super disappointed about the bullying emails and comments I've been getting lately but the best thing to do is step back, delete the emails and comments. Unlike other forms of social media I have complete control over who posts on my blog and people who seek to use it at a platform for bullying will be blocked.
Also, I am well aware of who is sending those fake troll emails, they look real but I can see from the headers who is sending them, and I am carefully saving them if necessary for future reference.