On my Nextdoor a guy was constantly posting stuff that was just false. They would occasionally get a response from other neighbors. After the 3rd “I don’t think this is legit info” responses I finally called them out with “stop posting things that are factually incorrect. Take this post down. I’m reporting you.”
Holy shit did the neighbors unload on him. 30 responses later, which is likely the most active post of the month, he took it down and apologized.
People just needed one person to get the ball rolling.
im not trying to give out redemption arcs i wanna reduce the quantity of bad guys’ political activity and reduce the effectiveness of their remaining political activity
I strongly disagree with the former, I agree with the latter. Imagine you’re your neighbor and you read the same advice you just wrote. You’ve now justified him bullying other people despite him likely being in the wrong. Moreover, one rarely knows the mental stability of strangers met online and offline, and some people really, really cannot handle criticism and will resort to unhinged behavior.
i mean unless they can dox you they are not a real world threat. at most they will report you and try to get you banned, which is annoying, but not going to really impact you in a large way.
in real life, yes, troll type people will try to ruin your social reputation. i had women in college spread claims of sexual assault when i rejected them for sex. they got their comeuppance eventually but it sucked to be harassed by random people who believed their lies. and a lot of people are increasingly mentally unwell and unhinged and will resort to violence if you upset them.
I love that you did this, and that it was successful, but TBH I don’t have the time and energy in my life for doing the lord’s work this way. I just block and move the fuck on. I assume if they don’t get attention they will go away, but either way I’ll have made it not my problem and others can make the same decision or not.
I had a friend I used to argue with all the time. He would post blatantly false shit on Facebook and I’d call him out. And we’d go back and forth until ultimately he would concede that he “didn’t really know that much about it.” And then the next day he would post the exact same lies like we’d never even danced that dance.
I can’t confront that level of willful idiocy. It cost him nothing to post lies, while I’d spend an hour or so researching facts, providing links, and explaining that oil industry insiders might not be a great source for climate science (for example).
I do t agree with “block them”
Actively bully them. Call out misinformation.
On my Nextdoor a guy was constantly posting stuff that was just false. They would occasionally get a response from other neighbors. After the 3rd “I don’t think this is legit info” responses I finally called them out with “stop posting things that are factually incorrect. Take this post down. I’m reporting you.”
Holy shit did the neighbors unload on him. 30 responses later, which is likely the most active post of the month, he took it down and apologized.
People just needed one person to get the ball rolling.
all that does is further solidify them in their delusional beliefs.
and on fediverse, they just label you a nazi/facist/zionist and tell you that you are brainwashed by nazi/facist/zionist ‘propaganda’.
im not trying to give out redemption arcs i wanna reduce the quantity of bad guys’ political activity and reduce the effectiveness of their remaining political activity
and what if your actions just have the opposite effect?
hostility breeds hostility. resentment breeds resentment.
you’re shooting yourself in the foot to spite the other guy. just like they are doing. you are them.
There’s no reaching these people but they can get booted off their platforms so others don’t get sucked into their nonsense.
they control the platforms on fedi.
That mostly worked because you’re talking about neighbours, they knew where the troll lived and he was aware of that.
I strongly disagree with the former, I agree with the latter. Imagine you’re your neighbor and you read the same advice you just wrote. You’ve now justified him bullying other people despite him likely being in the wrong. Moreover, one rarely knows the mental stability of strangers met online and offline, and some people really, really cannot handle criticism and will resort to unhinged behavior.
i mean unless they can dox you they are not a real world threat. at most they will report you and try to get you banned, which is annoying, but not going to really impact you in a large way.
in real life, yes, troll type people will try to ruin your social reputation. i had women in college spread claims of sexual assault when i rejected them for sex. they got their comeuppance eventually but it sucked to be harassed by random people who believed their lies. and a lot of people are increasingly mentally unwell and unhinged and will resort to violence if you upset them.
I love that you did this, and that it was successful, but TBH I don’t have the time and energy in my life for doing the lord’s work this way. I just block and move the fuck on. I assume if they don’t get attention they will go away, but either way I’ll have made it not my problem and others can make the same decision or not.
I had a friend I used to argue with all the time. He would post blatantly false shit on Facebook and I’d call him out. And we’d go back and forth until ultimately he would concede that he “didn’t really know that much about it.” And then the next day he would post the exact same lies like we’d never even danced that dance.
I can’t confront that level of willful idiocy. It cost him nothing to post lies, while I’d spend an hour or so researching facts, providing links, and explaining that oil industry insiders might not be a great source for climate science (for example).
I’m not arguing with the poster, I’m speaking g up so others aren’t afraid.