So does the banning of r/NoNewNormal count as a demonstrable result, in your opinion? I saw that and thought maybe I was wrong that the protest was sort of inadequate, but there's still a ton of misinfo floating around that the admins aren't banning.
I am genuinely surprised that they bothered, but hey credit where it’s due, I may be a partisan but not partisan to that extent
I guess this conversation is moot then
Yes, but only out of spite because r/ssc and r/themotte aren’t going
private ;). And imagine the content which we would have on all the
Rationalists gloating about Sneerclub going private. The hypocrisy of
them going ‘sneerclub made covid worse’ would be even more clear.
But seriously, sure, why not. This: “Subreddits which exist solely to
spread medical disinformation and undermine efforts to combat the global
pandemic should be banned.” is actually a good cause. (And as I’m also
at the same time in twitter jail (don’t call white people racist for
doing blackface people), a social media detox is prob good for me ;)
).
I like the spite argument, that’s moved the needle a bit for me, as is the social media detox argument: I could use an excuse to drop at least one social media involvement from my docket of things I do, although what with the current curfew here in Pristina somewhere to shitpost about anti-vaxx rationalists might be nice in the increasingly cold nights stuck by law in my unheated flat
I’m happy to take /u/completely-ineffable’s suggestion that there be a discussion and accede to whatever comes out of it: what’s our time frame to talk about it?
Fuck I haven’t checked out badmath in ages
It’s probably my favourite BadX subreddit last time I checked, just because I love number and category theory cranks (the only fields of maths I can sort of understand other than stats)
I think this is at least an idea
My only concern is that it won’t be much use on /r/SneerClub, where I assume most or basically all sympathetic visitors are already happy with vaccination, even lockdowns, etc.
Maybe some people are from Australia and fed up with the government failure there
One argument I made above, which I’ll clarify a bit further here: is that at the very least shutting down puts the sub on the list of subs that have done that, even if it’s only one extra number on the count, which however barely moves the needle on the spreadsheet the admins are presumably compiling as we speak
> Anyway things are happening, why not be part of it
I heard, but I have not checked, that people are spamming horse porn (no idea on the specifics, nor do I want to know) in the pro horse paste subreddits in an attempt to get them shut down or at least get them flagged as NSFW (which means that ... horse porn is allowed on reddit? How do people even get horse porn (rhetorical)). Just wanted to share, not advocating you join in obv.
I have no idea what going private would even do for the sub, I assume regular users cant access the information then.
I know you don’t want to know but I made the mistake of looking and it was just furry/brony porn, which is probably allowed on reddit. No real life horses. r/ivermectin disabled image posting so now people are spamming horse erotica stories instead.
Definitely not into sharing horse porn, but that is the sort of disruptive action I think might make more of a problem for the reddit overlords. A good protest would make it costly for the people content with misinformation. Going private doesn't really do that.
I guess I've talked myself into believing Sneerclub doesn't need to go private.
Yeah, but not every action is done just to cause problems for the people in power, there also is stuff like creating wider awareness of the problem, or sympathy for the problem (both not the case).
Or just showing solidarity for people fighting, not being part of the uninterested silent group. (So that people can't claim, well only a small group of people cares about this). Actions like putting sneerclub on private can be a good signal for those, even if it is a bit 'virtue signally' (aka a low cost action which inconveniences nobody).
Yeah, those are both true too. I guess I see creating awareness and showing solidarity as complementary to creating a cost for the status quo. Without the latter, it feels like just virtue signaling.
Good conversation :)
I am neutral leaning no. I hold this position for the following
reasons:
1. I don’t think it will do anything. I don’t think Reddit’s mods are
going to be moved by this. Most of the larger subreddits aren’t getting
involved, so most of their traffic will be unaffected (I’m aware of TIFU
and Futurology, but they’re the only really big subs so I’m skeptical
that their traffic won’t simply spend time on open subreddits).
2. Even if Reddit does do something, I am skeptical that
banning those subreddits will do more than quarantining them or flooding
them with horse porn will have. Most of the anti-masker traffic and the
like will simply move on to other platforms, and there are enough
right-wing aligned websites and news channels spreading this bullshit
that it’s conceivable it won’t make a difference.
3. It’s my impression that Reddit admins have basically alluded to
potential consequences for subreddit mods that participate in this
demonstration. Which, admittedly, may not be that much of a downside as
far as the mods are concerned.
4. I have to be honest: I’m not particularly emphatic about this
campaign in the first place, because I see coronavirus misinformation as
fundamentally the same sort of problem as global warming denial,
advocating for the War on Terror, promoting capitalism (and unrestrained
capitalism, at that), unrelenting techno-optimism of the accelerationist
sort, or ignoring the ten million air pollution kills a year, rather
than the sort of problem that is represented by advocating murdering the
Jews again.
So in conclusion, I’m not particularly emphatic about the campaign in
the first place and I think there are logistic reasons why it isn’t that
great an idea. But if people generally want to do it, go ahead.
One thing I will say–emphatically–is that I don’t think SneerClub
should do what some subreddits have done and make a decision to go
private indefinitely until the coronavirus misinformation subreddits are
banned. If the campaign doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.
EDIT: Also, no matter what decision is made, thank you for making
this a thread and providing people with warning; other subreddits were
not good about communicating this, to the point where people didn’t know
what was going on.
Point 3 is one of the best reasons in favor of doing it tbh
If the petty reddit overlords wanna throw a tantrum, let them
(As for 4: true, all of those things should be banned as well bc free speech (specifically the freedom to cause harm) is an asinine idea and nobody really believes in it when push comes to shove, the real disagreement is about where to draw the line)
> One thing I will say--emphatically--is that I don't think SneerClub should do what some subreddits have done and make a decision to go private indefinitely until the coronavirus misinformation subreddits are banned. If the campaign doesn't work, it doesn't work.
Well, saying outright you will just go open again after a while also is a bad form of pressure, that just tells the radmins that they can can ignore it and it will go away after a while. So even if people dont plan to go private forever, sharing this outright is not a good idea.
It is like you don't even do game theory/incentives/read the art of war ;).
[deleted]
Yes, but only out of spite because r/ssc and r/themotte aren’t going private ;). And imagine the content which we would have on all the Rationalists gloating about Sneerclub going private. The hypocrisy of them going ‘sneerclub made covid worse’ would be even more clear.
But seriously, sure, why not. This: “Subreddits which exist solely to spread medical disinformation and undermine efforts to combat the global pandemic should be banned.” is actually a good cause. (And as I’m also at the same time in twitter jail (don’t call white people racist for doing blackface people), a social media detox is prob good for me ;) ).
It seems that some of the participating subreddits are doing pinned crossposts rather than going private, e.g., AITA.
I wouldn’t mind, but I also don’t see a particularly big benefit to doing so.
Yes.
Well, I said nothing would happen, and boy was I wrong.
I like the idea, though I’d like to know how long sneerclub is expected to stay private
Id be more stoked if the anti misinfo subs were able to go into some kind of Reddit gold buying strike
Anyway things are happening, why not be part of it
I am neutral leaning no. I hold this position for the following reasons:
1. I don’t think it will do anything. I don’t think Reddit’s mods are going to be moved by this. Most of the larger subreddits aren’t getting involved, so most of their traffic will be unaffected (I’m aware of TIFU and Futurology, but they’re the only really big subs so I’m skeptical that their traffic won’t simply spend time on open subreddits).
2. Even if Reddit does do something, I am skeptical that banning those subreddits will do more than quarantining them or flooding them with horse porn will have. Most of the anti-masker traffic and the like will simply move on to other platforms, and there are enough right-wing aligned websites and news channels spreading this bullshit that it’s conceivable it won’t make a difference.
3. It’s my impression that Reddit admins have basically alluded to potential consequences for subreddit mods that participate in this demonstration. Which, admittedly, may not be that much of a downside as far as the mods are concerned.
4. I have to be honest: I’m not particularly emphatic about this campaign in the first place, because I see coronavirus misinformation as fundamentally the same sort of problem as global warming denial, advocating for the War on Terror, promoting capitalism (and unrestrained capitalism, at that), unrelenting techno-optimism of the accelerationist sort, or ignoring the ten million air pollution kills a year, rather than the sort of problem that is represented by advocating murdering the Jews again.
So in conclusion, I’m not particularly emphatic about the campaign in the first place and I think there are logistic reasons why it isn’t that great an idea. But if people generally want to do it, go ahead.
One thing I will say–emphatically–is that I don’t think SneerClub should do what some subreddits have done and make a decision to go private indefinitely until the coronavirus misinformation subreddits are banned. If the campaign doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.
EDIT: Also, no matter what decision is made, thank you for making this a thread and providing people with warning; other subreddits were not good about communicating this, to the point where people didn’t know what was going on.
Too late I guess.