HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

⬐ gruglife

Is it just me or are other people sick of all the finger pointing at Facebook for the worlds ills. Sure FB isn’t perfect but it’s hard for me to believe they are solely responsible for Trump, Brexit, the end of democracy, and hell freezing over.

⬐ fagnerbrack

I wish that was opinion so that we could actually argue against it. It's not a matter of belief at this point, as unbelievable as it may sound.

This happened to some degree with WWII, and the accusation is less that people are radicalised and more that they are given a target for their frustration.

This TED talk summarises it well. You are correct that certain media in the UK very much laid decades of foundations, and also the government with its austerity measures arguably created much of the environment conducive to radicalisation.

https://www.ted.com/talks/carole_cadwalladr_facebook_s_role_...

I guess I want to say that the fact the situation is far more nuanced than "the Russians did it" neither excuses it nor does it render those actions irrelevant. They seem to be a fairly clear piece of the puzzle.

I'm also sure that all our secret services have been at similar games for years so it's ok to have little sympathy too, but Facebook targeting did get in the way of scrutiny and oversight of these messages which is really problematic for democracy.

[edit] fix typo

⬐ sammorrowdrums

A good parallel is how fad diets slip into the zeitgeist. People were already looking for a magic cure for their weight problems. When that cure falls on their lap many people fall end up with a new (frequently self-destructive) solution.

The key is the finding susceptible people and giving them the solution they were already looking for and it'll almost feel obvious.

⬐ kayza

It‘s interesting that this video can’t be found in full on YouTube. Why do you think that is?

⬐ Bakary

I find the subtext of all of these articles and complaints somewhat irritating, even if I am politically aligned along the same "side".

If people vote for this or that populist, then they must have been tricked. If they were better informed, they would surely vote for The Economist-style liberal centrist status quo, right? Sad to see that democracy is dead and that these voters are completely wrong about their own lives, eh?

⬐ astazangasta

What's really broken is all the allegedly smart people reading the Economist, which regularly tells us capitalism is still great no worries, who then can't figure out why people keep voting for populists.

⬐ someguydave

Arguing that power should be distributed and the people’s vote respected isn’t a route to personal power or success.

Instead we get the pitch: “the people were misled and it’s all X’s fault, vote for me to curb X’s power”. Presently, X is facebook or twitter. It used to be Republicans.

⬐ yy77

Please admit that the old way of communication using newspaper magazine & public speech is out of date, social media has stronger impact.