Conspiracy Theories

[stormchaser]

First off, like other posts that I’ve made, this post isn’t intended to be “Democrats vs Republicans” so please refrain from making it that way but I feel it’s an important conversation that as Americans, we need to have.

At what point does it need to become illegal to intentionally start/spread conspiracy theories and misinformation online/on social media? I understand the importance of freedom of speech and strongly support it BUT that was also implemented before a time where an anonymous person could make any claim online, provide zero proof or source of info, and have it spread like wildfire in basically no time at all.

I used to believe that gradually people would wake up and not just blindly believe things they see online but it seems it’s only getting worse. These conspiracy theories can do real harm too. Look at the pandemic and vaccine…and unfortunately it’s only going to get worse with elections coming up. Not to mention how bad it will soon be with AI generated videos that will be impossible to tell what’s real and what’s fake.

I honestly feel like it’s destroying our Country. When is enough enough and how do we best improve things going forward? I realize it’s probably a stretch to make it illegal because who would decide what’s true and what isn’t but something needs to change. The nonsense constantly spread on Twitter especially is insane these days.

[Busguy2010]

I took a 5 day break from social media this week and I tell ya, it felt like when I quit smoking. I kept getting pangs to "see what was going on" even though I knew most of it had nothing to do with people I actually interact with. I broke today, however it was worthwhile as I learned to not check in on it all the time when I'm bored, just because I'm bored. And like I said, it's very much similar psychologically to smoking. I can get on socially media and mindlessly scroll and it's like having a cigarette in between your fingers, but when you engage it's like actually smoking the cigarette. You see what you want, you get a reward. Either way, the mere availability of it is addictive. I've been trying to limit my social media time because I know a great majority of it isn't positive, but on the other hand, you almost have to have some presence somewhere. Social media was alright about 10-15 years ago when you really only saw what your friends had to share, but now it's mostly ads and misinformation.

[ricko]

First off, like other posts that I’ve made, this post isn’t intended to be “Democrats vs Republicans” so please refrain from making it that way but I feel it’s an important conversation that as Americans, we need to have.

At what point does it need to become illegal to intentionally start/spread conspiracy theories and misinformation online/on social media? I understand the importance of freedom of speech and strongly support it BUT that was also implemented before a time where an anonymous person could make any claim online, provide zero proof or source of info, and have it spread like wildfire in basically no time at all.

I used to believe that gradually people would wake up and not just blindly believe things they see online but it seems it’s only getting worse. These conspiracy theories can do real harm too. Look at the pandemic and vaccine…and unfortunately it’s only going to get worse with elections coming up. Not to mention how bad it will soon be with AI generated videos that will be impossible to tell what’s real and what’s fake.

I honestly feel like it’s destroying our Country. When is enough enough and how do we best improve things going forward? I realize it’s probably a stretch to make it illegal because who would decide what’s true and what isn’t but something needs to change. The nonsense constantly spread on Twitter especially is insane these days.

The older I get, the more I realize that conspiracy theories rely on the exploitation of people’s fears and ignorance, especially when you have revered institutions (like churches and political organizations) peddling them for their own selfish reasons. Conspiracy theories have always existed, but the digital age has exacerbated the problem. It’s much easier to live in a bubble than to seek the truth.

I think the solution requires a commitment to teach elementary and high school students the values embodied in the Constitution; logic/reason and critical thinking skills. Responsible citizenship doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Somewhere along the way we dropped the ball.

[GenX]

First off, like other posts that I’ve made, this post isn’t intended to be “Democrats vs Republicans” so please refrain from making it that way but I feel it’s an important conversation that as Americans, we need to have.

At what point does it need to become illegal to intentionally start/spread conspiracy theories and misinformation online/on social media? I understand the importance of freedom of speech and strongly support it BUT that was also implemented before a time where an anonymous person could make any claim online, provide zero proof or source of info, and have it spread like wildfire in basically no time at all.

I used to believe that gradually people would wake up and not just blindly believe things they see online but it seems it’s only getting worse. These conspiracy theories can do real harm too. Look at the pandemic and vaccine…and unfortunately it’s only going to get worse with elections coming up. Not to mention how bad it will soon be with AI generated videos that will be impossible to tell what’s real and what’s fake.

I honestly feel like it’s destroying our Country. When is enough enough and how do we best improve things going forward? I realize it’s probably a stretch to make it illegal because who would decide what’s true and what isn’t but something needs to change. The nonsense constantly spread on Twitter especially is insane these days.

The older I get, the more I realize that conspiracy theories rely on the exploitation of people’s fears and ignorance, especially when you have revered institutions (like churches and political organizations) peddling them for their own selfish reasons. Conspiracy theories have always existed, but the digital age has exacerbated the problem. It’s much easier to live in a bubble than to seek the truth.

I think the solution requires a commitment to teach elementary and high school students the values embodied in the Constitution; logic/reason and critical thinking skills. Responsible citizenship doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Somewhere along the way we dropped the ball.

The root of the problem, IMHO, is the lack of critical thinking skills, education, ethics, etiquette, basic social norms, debate skills, manners, patience and respect for others. Everything that was taught to us by the previous generations. Everyone has become selfish. People repeat what they see on social media without reading or analyzing the information first. They take it at face value instead of coming to their own opinion.

We’ve become the future Idiocracy satirically portrayed.

[stormchaser]

I took a 5 day break from social media this week and I tell ya, it felt like when I quit smoking. I kept getting pangs to "see what was going on" even though I knew most of it had nothing to do with people I actually interact with. I broke today, however it was worthwhile as I learned to not check in on it all the time when I'm bored, just because I'm bored. And like I said, it's very much similar psychologically to smoking. I can get on socially media and mindlessly scroll and it's like having a cigarette in between your fingers, but when you engage it's like actually smoking the cigarette. You see what you want, you get a reward. Either way, the mere availability of it is addictive. I've been trying to limit my social media time because I know a great majority of it isn't positive, but on the other hand, you almost have to have some presence somewhere. Social media was alright about 10-15 years ago when you really only saw what your friends had to share, but now it's mostly ads and misinformation.

I agree - I took nearly a year off but because of work (I work in marketing), It's almost impossible to stay way. It's always been pretty toxic but it seems to be getting worse (IMO anyway).

The older I get, the more I realize that conspiracy theories rely on the exploitation of people’s fears and ignorance, especially when you have revered institutions (like churches and political organizations) peddling them for their own selfish reasons. Conspiracy theories have always existed, but the digital age has exacerbated the problem. It’s much easier to live in a bubble than to seek the truth.

I think the solution requires a commitment to teach elementary and high school students the values embodied in the Constitution; logic/reason and critical thinking skills. Responsible citizenship doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Somewhere along the way we dropped the ball.

I 100% agree a large part of the problem is education (or lack there of) and exploitation of fears/ignorance. Its shocking to me how its not only become acceptable to share these conspiracy theories without any proof at all, but you're basically attacked for asking for proof. As if expecting proof of a claim someone is making is completely unreasonable.

The root of the problem, IMHO, is the lack of critical thinking skills, education, ethics, etiquette, basic social norms, debate skills, manners, patience and respect for others. Everything that was taught to us by the previous generations. Everyone has become selfish. People repeat what they see on social media without reading or analyzing the information first. They take it at face value instead of coming to their own opinion.

We’ve become the future Idiocracy satirically portrayed.

I agree, I definitely see "idiocracy" becoming our future if things don't change.

[Big E]

"Becoming"...?

That's cute.

[stormchaser]

"Becoming"...?

That's cute.

Lol - touché (unfortunately)

[Omaha Cowboy]

The thing with social media, is you need to consume it with a filter..

I honestly don’t take it seriously. It’s fun sometimes, informative sometimes and silly MOST times..

It’s a pity though, what FB has devolved into these days. It was much more “fun” when you posted on someone’s “wall” 15 years ago, and didn’t have to wade through an ocean of advertising (YouTube as well)…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Big E]

Yes the original promise of Facebook / social media was pretty compelling. Getting back in touch with old friends, professional networking, sharing of niche interests, etc.

Then you find out half your friends and family are closet Klan members and the shine wears off pretty quick. Deleted all my social media earlier this year and haven’t regretted it for a |expletive| second.

[Busguy2010]

The thing with social media, is you need to consume it with a filter..

I honestly don’t take it seriously. It’s fun sometimes, informative sometimes and silly MOST times..

It’s a pity though, what FB has devolved into these days. It was much more “fun” when you posted on someone’s “wall” 15 years ago, and didn’t have to wade through an ocean of advertising (YouTube as well)…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

I think a lot of my friends have taken thus stance as well. I don't have a huge amount of friends on Facebook, the majority of them don't post much, neither do I, and I unfollowed all the friends that got into the political bigotry. So truthfully, I'm not seeing much of what pertains to me. And actually most of what I see from friends are reposts of memes and reels, etc. If it weren't all ads I could probably check my feed once a week for a minute or two and be all caught up. And when you go looking for that needle in the haystack post from someone you know, you get caught up looking at stupid videos and forgetting your reason for going there. It's annoying, but it's addictive. They know exactly what they're doing.

[stormchaser]

Oh good, as if there isn't enough misinformation/conspiracy nonsense out there. Twitter/X is bringing Alex Jones back.