The Media, Fake News, Fox, CNN, MSNBC and any other media outlets, Trust No One

[Haysey_Draws]

I think, and this is just me, that Google is pushing all these right wing and flat earth video's because they are popular with people who are either stupid and believe them or people who want to argue how wrong they are. People from all walks of life are watching, commenting and sharing in mass either as someone that believes them, want to laugh about how stupid they are or merely want to remind people how fucked the human race is which in YT's stupid algorithm says "this is doing great, push it more!"

[zecho]

I think, and this is just me, that Google is pushing all these right wing and flat earth video's because they are popular with people who are either stupid and believe them or people who want to argue how wrong they are. People from all walks of life are watching, commenting and sharing in mass either as someone that believes them, want to laugh about how stupid they are or merely want to remind people how fucked the human race is which in YT's stupid algorithm says "this is doing great, push it more!"

You may be right, but I only hope YT realizes the damage constantly bombarding a future generation with videos like that will do. It makes it seem like more people agree with those videos than actually do, but if children grow up thinking that these things are a mainstream point of contention, they may grow up giving more credence to things like flat earthers. I really don't want to see the internet weaponized by false information and pseudo-science instead of being the source of almost limitless knowledge that it has been until recently. That would really suck.

[mfte]

You mean like one day school's teaching these "different" points of view?

[Jinsai]

You may be right, but I only hope YT realizes the damage constantly bombarding a future generation with videos like that will do. It makes it seem like more people agree with those videos than actually do, but if children grow up thinking that these things are a mainstream point of contention, they may grow up giving more credence to things like flat earthers. I really don't want to see the internet weaponized by false information and pseudo-science instead of being the source of almost limitless knowledge that it has been until recently. That would really suck.

its been a breeding ground for misinformation since it was publicly adopted. It’s why your nephew is sure he’s solved the Labyrinth and can’t shut up about how everything is a conspiracy, it’s why your sweet co-worker is suddenly a vehement anti-vaxxer, memes are hilarious high wit, and Donald Trump is president

[zecho]

You mean like one day school's teaching these "different" points of view?

No, more like the students thinking the schools are part of the conspiracy to keep these things from them. Sort of the same way many conservatives feel about college already.

its been a breeding ground for misinformation since it was publicly adopted. It’s why your nephew is sure he’s solved the Labyrinth and can’t shut up about how everything is a conspiracy, it’s why your sweet co-worker is suddenly a vehement anti-vaxxer, memes are hilarious high wit, and Donald Trump is president

The difference being that before these things had to be sought out, so the people who immersed themselves in them were already crazy. Now they're pushed to everyday people and introduced to impressionable youth early enough to plant a seed. Hopefully people will eventually adapt to it the same way they adapted to chain-emails, but it doesn't currently look like it.

[Jinsai]

The difference being that before these things had to be sought out, so the people who immersed themselves in them were already crazy. Now they're pushed to everyday people and introduced to impressionable youth early enough to plant a seed. Hopefully people will eventually adapt to it the same way they adapted to chain-emails, but it doesn't currently look like it.

I feel like it's always been pushed on us, though perhaps more subtly. At the bottom of legit news articles are those ads that say things like "Stomach doctors are begging people to throw out this vegetable!" Click bait in general is only a philosophical step away from "if you liked this video on youtube, maybe you'd also wanna watch this shit."

I personally think memes are dumbing us down and newly weaponized as an easy way to influence our beliefs, political and otherwise, through a form of derivative lazy sarcastic humor. If I see a route to flat-earth shit becoming a really accepted belief, it'll get there through sarcastic memes. The anti-vaxx people love their memes, just like conspiracy theorists, etc

It's reaching outside of the online realm now too... you hear younger people saying things OUTLOUD like "oh you got PWNED" and "that awkward moment when..." and "oh? tell me more about..."