11 ms·

For such apparently intelligent people, such dimwitted use of a centrally managed communications. Not to mention bad taste, it seems.

std_throwaway 9y ago
People go to the toilet to get the crap out. Same for many online forums.
- 2_listerine_pls 9y ago
  Many do it for fun while not being racist. 4chan is an example.
  - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
    I saw this firsthand with a former flatmate of mine. He passionately studied Semitic languages and Persian at uni, spent a lot of time traveling or studying abroad in Israel, Arab countries, and Iran. His social circle in Europe was heavy with immigrants from those countries and with them he seemed to be the best of friends. And yet he loved to visit 4chan and collect anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim memes to repost elsewhere just for the lols. Deciding if a person is "really racist" or not has become a challenge in our age.
    - pyre 9y ago
      But making that shit turn up everywhere just normalizes it. People start seeing those things and agreeing with them, no matter how "ironically" he intending them to be taken. Ideas like "let's get Donald Trump elected for the lulz" have real-world effects. "It was just for laughs, mate" isn't really a good excuse. At a certain point, it approaches "watching the world burn" territory.
      - 2_listerine_pls 9y ago
        > Ideas like "let's get Donald Trump elected for the lulz" have real-world effects. Do you have statistics to back that claim?
        pyre 9y ago
        I'm not making a claim either way on the idea that Donald Trump was "meme'd into office" as has been claimed elsewhere. My statement is that attempting to get someone elected president just because it would be "funny" to see that person as President has real-world consequences. At some point these things go beyond being "just a prank" regardless of how effective they are at actually accomplishing their goal. Were they to actually accomplish their goal, it would have real-world consequences beyond just providing more fuel for their image board meme battles.
    - chatmasta 9y ago
      Why do we need to decide if someone is "really racist" in the first place? To make ourselves feel good about being morally superior? To feel offended on behalf of people who we may not even understand? Political correctness really has gotten out of hand, and the sooner people realize this, the sooner they'll begin to understand how we ended up with Trump as president. The pendulum swings both ways. Be careful how hard you push it.
      - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
        I think it’s entirely normal that if you have a friend who expresses two completely opposite sentiments, you wonder which of them he/she really espouses. It has nothing to do with feeling good or superior.
      - unityByFreedom 9y ago
        Trump is also politically correct, just not the kind we're used to. He didn't say anything about the Portland knife attack and had a lot to say about the London one. Doing so kept his base happy. Don't be fooled into thinking Trump is not a politician.
    - anabis 9y ago
      Judge him by his actions.
- Ntrails 9y ago
  Most online forums involve the cunning use of pseudonyms so when I say "FYAD bitch" it doesn't come up on my college applications...
  - std_throwaway 9y ago
    Not yet. The data is there to link it to you.
    - kodt 9y ago
      And by what legal means would a private university access that data to connect it?
      - std_throwaway 9y ago
        What keeps them from doing it? Internet communication is not private. Everybody with access can record and sell it.
      - DanBC 9y ago
        If you're not posting under your confirmed real name, in a facebook group under the control of the private university, there's probably nothing they can do.
      - thaumasiotes 9y ago
        Reading a document dump from somewhere. Same way people accessed the Ashley Madison subscriber data.
- pyre 9y ago
  As much as you say that, repeating something over and over eventually normalizes it no matter how much you try to remain conscious of this process.
  - julianmarq 9y ago
    ... According to you. You don't get to police or interpret how anyone else thinks. Maybe "repeat it often enough and it will be true" applies to you, but you don't get to project your thought processes onto others.
    - pyre 9y ago
      There's a pretty wide spectrum between "do whatever you want" and "let's implement thought-crime." I don't understand how me saying that something is a bad idea for anyone to do somehow becomes "policing" what other people are thinking. Could you please explain that to me?
      - julianmarq 9y ago
        I probably was too extreme by calling that particular instance "policing" so I apologize for wording that poorly. But, that aside, your claim of "normalization" remains baseless.

std_throwaway 9y ago

People go to the toilet to get the crap out. Same for many online forums.

2_listerine_pls 9y ago
Many do it for fun while not being racist. 4chan is an example.
- Mediterraneo10 9y ago
  I saw this firsthand with a former flatmate of mine. He passionately studied Semitic languages and Persian at uni, spent a lot of time traveling or studying abroad in Israel, Arab countries, and Iran. His social circle in Europe was heavy with immigrants from those countries and with them he seemed to be the best of friends. And yet he loved to visit 4chan and collect anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim memes to repost elsewhere just for the lols. Deciding if a person is "really racist" or not has become a challenge in our age.
  - pyre 9y ago
    But making that shit turn up everywhere just normalizes it. People start seeing those things and agreeing with them, no matter how "ironically" he intending them to be taken. Ideas like "let's get Donald Trump elected for the lulz" have real-world effects. "It was just for laughs, mate" isn't really a good excuse. At a certain point, it approaches "watching the world burn" territory.
    - 2_listerine_pls 9y ago
      > Ideas like "let's get Donald Trump elected for the lulz" have real-world effects. Do you have statistics to back that claim?
      - pyre 9y ago
        I'm not making a claim either way on the idea that Donald Trump was "meme'd into office" as has been claimed elsewhere. My statement is that attempting to get someone elected president just because it would be "funny" to see that person as President has real-world consequences. At some point these things go beyond being "just a prank" regardless of how effective they are at actually accomplishing their goal. Were they to actually accomplish their goal, it would have real-world consequences beyond just providing more fuel for their image board meme battles.
  - chatmasta 9y ago
    Why do we need to decide if someone is "really racist" in the first place? To make ourselves feel good about being morally superior? To feel offended on behalf of people who we may not even understand? Political correctness really has gotten out of hand, and the sooner people realize this, the sooner they'll begin to understand how we ended up with Trump as president. The pendulum swings both ways. Be careful how hard you push it.
    - Mediterraneo10 9y ago
      I think it’s entirely normal that if you have a friend who expresses two completely opposite sentiments, you wonder which of them he/she really espouses. It has nothing to do with feeling good or superior.
    - unityByFreedom 9y ago
      Trump is also politically correct, just not the kind we're used to. He didn't say anything about the Portland knife attack and had a lot to say about the London one. Doing so kept his base happy. Don't be fooled into thinking Trump is not a politician.
  - anabis 9y ago
    Judge him by his actions.
Ntrails 9y ago
Most online forums involve the cunning use of pseudonyms so when I say "FYAD bitch" it doesn't come up on my college applications...
- std_throwaway 9y ago
  Not yet. The data is there to link it to you.
  - kodt 9y ago
    And by what legal means would a private university access that data to connect it?
    - std_throwaway 9y ago
      What keeps them from doing it? Internet communication is not private. Everybody with access can record and sell it.
    - DanBC 9y ago
      If you're not posting under your confirmed real name, in a facebook group under the control of the private university, there's probably nothing they can do.
    - thaumasiotes 9y ago
      Reading a document dump from somewhere. Same way people accessed the Ashley Madison subscriber data.
pyre 9y ago
As much as you say that, repeating something over and over eventually normalizes it no matter how much you try to remain conscious of this process.
- julianmarq 9y ago
  ... According to you. You don't get to police or interpret how anyone else thinks. Maybe "repeat it often enough and it will be true" applies to you, but you don't get to project your thought processes onto others.
  - pyre 9y ago
    There's a pretty wide spectrum between "do whatever you want" and "let's implement thought-crime." I don't understand how me saying that something is a bad idea for anyone to do somehow becomes "policing" what other people are thinking. Could you please explain that to me?
    - julianmarq 9y ago
      I probably was too extreme by calling that particular instance "policing" so I apologize for wording that poorly. But, that aside, your claim of "normalization" remains baseless.