Has the Forum Become More -- or Less -- Hateful Over the Past Year?

[Laika]

I consider myself a Progressivist, which does make me very aligned with left-wing politics, I guess. The majority of my political posts on here, though, are me responding to wild accusations from people from the right whom I don't hate. And responding to them just made matters worse, as I suspect this discussion of politics and even me resorting to jokes at times, well the right didn't really take it very well. It lost me a few friends on the right for my political beliefs.

So I'm afraid I don't relate fully.

No worries. I’m thinking mainly about reddits far left communities, mainly r/communism and r/communism101 (I’m now banned from both). Most independent far left forums (e.g.revleft.com) have almost disappeared or gone very inactive. I think Its easier for young people to set up in reddit and manage them than have to run your own server. they can get more people to join as its such a large platform as well. Independent forums live and die based on google search results and google has made changes to downplay both far left and far right results as unreliable sources I recall.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

It's definitely not as friendly and it no longer has the sense of community that it once had.

I do agree with this. I can't say within the past year since I wasn't active, but it certainly has a different feel from since I joined.

 

[wizanda]

but it certainly has a different feel from since I joined.

Everything new feels different, ideas are fresh; the nitty-gritty of matters generally does feel heavier.

In my opinion.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Has the Forum's atmosphere become more -- or less -- hateful over the past year? What do you think?

It does look like the posts in 2019 have become more and more hostile, can't say if it is because of change in longtime members or the newbie members but it is more difficult to have a serious spiritual discussion now then earlier in 2019.

 

[Augustus]

I’m thinking mainly about reddits far left communities, mainly r/communism and r/communism101 (I’m now banned from both).

A reactionary capitalist pig!

What did you get banned for?

 

[wizanda]

Also to add it isn't just the forum that is becoming more polarized in the world, and since religion is in the middle of the polarization, of course here should be in the middle of it.

Personally want to unite everyone, and can't understand everyone's hate of each other over beliefs.

In my opinion.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Has the Forum's atmosphere become more -- or less -- hateful over the past year? What do you think?

I don't think it's so much the atmosphere as it is a few select individuals that express their intolerance in a hateful fashion. Those individuals are slowly weeding themselves out through the escalating infractions and points system.

I've read through the first few posts about lack of community, and for the most part, I disagree. I still feel a sense of community here. Is it the same as it was a year ago? Hard to tell. I would say just different. But that doesn't necessarily equate to "more hateful" of an atmosphere (except toward my impeccable sense of fashion).

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I still feel a sense of community here.

Given that a few members have seemed to stay up / spend long hours talking to me when I wasn't feeling the greatest, when they didn't have to. And just the messages to see how I'm doing. I'd agree.

 

[Laika]

A reactionary capitalist pig!

What did you get banned for?

I'll tag @Rival as she may like this as well...

I am currently on a simulation of the U.S. Government on reddit. I was in the (model) Republicans for two months as a moderate before switching to the socialists after realising just how extreme they were. Whilst I was there saw that a group was trying to establish a monarchist caucus within the GOP. monarchists in a republican party? Naturally, I'm intrigued and bewildered.

So I went to r/monarchism and asked what legal and constitutional implications would be for a monarchy in the U.S. None of this got me banned.

What did was Whilst I was there in r/monarchism I made a post saying it was sad that the far left subreddits indulge in denialism and apologetics for communist atrocities. I later made a post on the communism subreddits about someone joining a communist party age 15/16 and The post from r/monarchism was dredged up and was what I got banned for from both r/communism and r/communism101 even though it wasn't posted on either of those subreddits.

In an earlier account I got banned from r/socialism101. Someone asked about whether any people got in to politics and were successful with a mental illness (mainly depression) because they had problems themselves and wanted some inspiration. I said that Abraham Lincoln had won the U.S. Civil war and Winston Churchill had help win World War II when both had depression. This was called "imperialist propaganda" and I was promptly banned.

What can I say? Being an enemy of the people is not what it used to be.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Everything new feels different, ideas are fresh; the nitty-gritty of matters generally does feel heavier.

In my opinion.

This is true! Life is dynamic and change inevitable. But waxing nostalgic is part of the human condition. ;-)

 

[ChristineM]

I joined RF about two and a half years ago and can't say i have noticed a great difference.

It varies from day to day, week to week just then as it does now.

There will be the occasional hateful thread posted, usually against muslims or atheists, the replies can be quite educational, assuming the OP is willing to be educated.

Compared to the food fight forum i migrated from i find RF to be a breath of fresh air with several communities with similar interests.

 

[Stevicus]

Has the Forum's atmosphere become more -- or less -- hateful over the past year? What do you think?

I haven't noticed any significant differences over the period of time I've been posting here. Sure, a lot of people come and go - and there are slight changes over time. Not so much with this forum or any particular website, but with the internet culture in general.

The forum may reflect that to some extent, so I guess one could also ask whether the atmosphere of public opinion in the West has become more or less hateful. It does tend to seem that way, although I've also noticed a general sense of indifference, apathy, cynicism, and nihilism.

I can't say that there's any "more" of it than there ever was, but perhaps we see it more since the internet is kind of a semi-permanent record.

 

[Cooky]

I've been doing really good in debates lately, and I've been enjoying reading my posts, and re-reading them again and again.

...There's more than this?

 

[Stevicus]

I'll tag @Rival as she may like this as well...

I am currently on a simulation of the U.S. Government on reddit. I was in the (model) Republicans for two months as a moderate before switching to the socialists after realising just how extreme they were. Whilst I was there saw that a group was trying to establish a monarchist caucus within the GOP. monarchists in a republican party? Naturally, I'm intrigued and bewildered.

So I went to r/monarchism and asked what legal and constitutional implications would be for a monarchy in the U.S. None of this got me banned.

What did was Whilst I was there in r/monarchism I made a post saying it was sad that the far left subreddits indulge in denialism and apologetics for communist atrocities. I later made a post on the communism subreddits about someone joining a communist party age 15/16 and The post from r/monarchism was dredged up and was what I got banned for from both r/communism and r/communism101 even though it wasn't posted on either of those subreddits.

In an earlier account I got banned from r/socialism101. Someone asked about whether any people got in to politics and were successful with a mental illness (mainly depression) because they had problems themselves and wanted some inspiration. I said that Abraham Lincoln had won the U.S. Civil war and Winston Churchill had help win World War II when both had depression. This was called "imperialist propaganda" and I was promptly banned.

What can I say? Being an enemy of the people is not what it used to be.

Well, Reddit is kind of a wasteland anyway. It wouldn't be so bad overall, except that some of those who have created and moderate their own subreddits seem to take themselves waaaay too seriously. They seem to think that their own corner of Reddit is the center of the universe, and a general tendency towards whimsical, heavy-handed moderation and Byzantine rules leads to the creation of their own little echo chambers.

Sites like Reddit pretty much sum up and encapsulate everything that is wrong with the internet.

 

[Estro Felino]

Also to add it isn't just the forum that is becoming more polarized in the world, and since religion is in the middle of the polarization, of course here should be in the middle of it.

Personally want to unite everyone, and can't understand everyone's hate of each other over beliefs.

In my opinion.

Thank you for saying that

 

[Cooky]

Has the Forum's atmosphere become more -- or less -- hateful over the past year? What do you think?

Seriously though, no. But @Revoltingest has been posting less the last few weeks. So we're going through uncharted territory in a sense.

We're all alone now, without our inner conscience.

 

[BSM1]

More...and I'm not just talking about the many times you've called me 'poopyhead' off line...

 

[Stevicus]

Also to add it isn't just the forum that is becoming more polarized in the world, and since religion is in the middle of the polarization, of course here should be in the middle of it.

Personally want to unite everyone, and can't understand everyone's hate of each other over beliefs.

In my opinion.

I've also observed a good deal of polarization in both politics and religion. Of course, there have always been disagreements, a divergence of opinions, and different schools of thought. There have always been those who have been passionate about their views and often find themselves clashing with those who have the opposite view. In terms of human society, I don't think this phenomenon will ever change.

However, the internet may have created a somewhat different dynamic, especially since it's coupled with a great deal of narcissism, nihilism, and cynicism - along with everything else that adds to the toxicity.

More people seem to go out of their way to make it a priority to humiliate, denigrate, and/or impugn those whom they see as the opposition, while putting considerably less effort on arguing passionately, positively, and persuasively for their own viewpoint. It's a lot easier to tear down someone else's viewpoint than it is to put forth one of your own.

Sometimes I wonder if there's someone out there who has a great plan for saving the world, yet reluctant to express it openly because they see the sharks circling, ready to destroy anyone who has an original idea.

 

[Laika]

Well, Reddit is kind of a wasteland anyway. It wouldn't be so bad overall, except that some of those who have created and moderate their own subreddits seem to take themselves waaaay too seriously. They seem to think that their own corner of Reddit is the center of the universe, and a general tendency towards whimsical, heavy-handed moderation and Byzantine rules leads to the creation of their own little echo chambers.

Sites like Reddit pretty much sum up and encapsulate everything that is wrong with the internet.

Yeah, basically. It's so bad there is now a trend to having subreddits dedicated to removing all human users and replacing them with bots. No human interaction necessary! Best internet upgrade ever!

https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/6/1...openai-text-artificial-intelligence-subreddit

 

[Stevicus]

Yeah, basically. It's so bad there is now a trend to having subreddits dedicated to removing all human users and replacing them with bots. No human interaction necessary! Best internet upgrade ever!

https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/6/1...openai-text-artificial-intelligence-subreddit

That article was interesting, at least as far as how they create the bots to begin with. Apparently, they're getting more and more elaborate.

All this AI hubbub is the creation of redditor disumbrationist, who explains some of the technical details behind the project here. (We’ve reached out to disumbrationist with some questions and will update this story if and when we hear back.)

Each of the bots was created using an open source AI language model called GPT-2 that was originally developed by OpenAI, an artificial intelligence lab co-founded by Elon Musk. OpenAI unveiled GPT-2 earlier this year, and it’s probably the most advanced system of its kind, capable of generating text in a variety of formats, from jokes to stories to songs.

I don't know how far away we are from a world like Blade Runner, where AI is portrayed as much more sophisticated to the point of achieving sentience. But that might be a topic better suited for another thread.