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from the don't-feed-the-trolls dept

Weve noted for a while that Trumps alternative social media platform, Truth Social, isnt doing particularly well. Being a Trump product, the platform (surprise!) began with a lot of money slushing around that wasnt spent in any coherent way. Its also just generally glitchy and terrible. And its not helped much by the fact that after all of his whining about social media censorship (read: minimal accountability for saying stupid and sometimes dangerous things), Trump doesnt even use the product.

Then theres been the slow realization by the company that it still has to deal with the headaches of reality and content moderation at scale, which weve also noted isnt going particularly well. If you want a platform that isnt just a pit of bile and illegal content, you have to have moderation standards, which is why Parler, Gab, and now Truth Social (which muzzled some racist drivel by right wing dirty ops shitlord Roger Stone last week) have barred obnoxious people from doing dumb and sometimes illegal things.

Truth failed to gain traction even with the National Republican Senatorial Committee spamming its support for the platform like a feverish street corner huckster:

Putting the corruption, grift, and technical incompetence aside (and theres a lot to put aside), when the political mainstream press discusses the struggles of Social and other GOP social media platforms, one of the top arguments explaining why they fail is because echo chambers are just no fun:

I think the challenge that a lot of these newer ones have is to not be an echo chamber for people who hold similar beliefs, said Alex Weber, a content creator who was embraced by conservatives online after posting videos criticizing mask mandates, vaccine mandates and the mainstream media. I think why Instagram and Facebook and all these are so impactful is because youve got all different types of people.

While thats true to a point, it misses a key part of the failure. The problem isnt just that such groups corral like-minded people into groups made specifically for them. Hell, huddling with like-minded people is 80 percent of the reason Reddit was created and a major reason for its success.

No, one of the major reasons such projects fail is because they break the GOPs troll and inadvertent amplification cycle. How many times does a right wing personality say something grotesque, racist, or otherwise terrible on Twitter only to have it hate retweeted countless times by numerous people, usually partisan opposites, who think theyre dunking on, correcting, or punishing the content?

The entire success of modern GOP discourse is based on trolling. On any given day on Twitter and Facebook, theres a ceaseless array of left wing and centrist accounts hate retweeting every idiotic and racist thing Fox personality Tucker Carlson says, expanding distribution of his viewpoints exponentially.

Right wing celebrities like Ann Coulter have paid their mortgage for 30 years by intentionally saying stupid and controversial things, then soaking up free advertising as the outraged amplify said stupid and controversial thing to a significantly larger audience that might have never seen it otherwise.

Twitter dunks work to amplify dodgy and shitty trolls in much the same way. Theres just a countless array of folks who think theyre helping by dunking on terrible takes, when theyre only really amplifying those terrible takes to a much broader audience. Its utterly counterintuitive, and in some cases punished by engagement and ad engines (across both online and traditional cable media), to do anything else. Controversy sells. Nuance does not.

So while platforms like Truth Social are stumbling because theyre badly made by incompetent people who arent magically immune from the challenges of content moderation, theyre also stumbling because they break a cornerstone of online right wing discourse: trolling to amplify propaganda. A room full of terrible trolling propagandists has nobody to troll but themselves. And what fun is that?

Most of the Section 230 and conservatives are being silenced discourse is falsely framed as a conversation about free speech in punditry and the press. In reality, what the modern Trump GOP wants is the mandated carriage of propaganda. The dominant U.S. press simply cant help but frame Trump GOP concerns of censorship as legitimate, which speaks to the propagandas effectiveness.

Its why the GOP freaked out when DirecTV made the ordinary business decision to kick the conspiracy and fantasy channel off of its lineup. Its why the GOP despises big techs belated and often sloppy attempt to clean up race-baiting GOP propaganda on their platforms. Its why the party adores media consolidation at the hands of Sinclair, and the steady destruction of genuine local news reporting.

The modern Trump GOP cant just come out and admit their goal is mandated carriage of bigoted propaganda designed to rile up low-information Americans, so they have to dress it all up as something grander, including the Trump GOPs performative support of antitrust reform (read: an attempt to gain leverage over tech giants to mandate the carriage of, you guessed it, propaganda).

Shifting demographics and a fading (and dying) electoral base arent great news for the modern GOP, which increasingly alienates a big chunk of independent voters with unhinged behavior and positions. As a result, like many global authoritarian movements, theyve been forced to embrace online propaganda, fabricated culture war, and victimization porn to agitate and befuddle the public.

The idea that doing absolutely anything to rein in race-baiting propaganda in online or traditional media is censorship or the silencing of conservatives is itself propaganda, and it would be lovely if the broader discourse and press would wake up to this fact before were all drowning in many of the even uglier aspects of rank authoritarianism.

Filed Under: big tech, big tech censorship, censorship, conservative censorship, propaganda, section 230, silenced conservatives, social media, trolling, trollsCompanies: truth social

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GOP Social Media Experiments Fail (In Part) Because They Break The Troll/Amplification Cycle - Techdirt

This kind of foolishness, which arrived on April Fools Day no less, deserves nothing more than an eye roll and a trip to the recycling bin. But the invocation of QAnon makes this something beyond another sketchy promotion. The senders address is given as a post office box in Portsmouth, N.H., but no one seems to know whos behind this mailing, whos footing whats probably a sizable tab, or the motive behind it.

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Perhaps Id find clues if I scanned the cards QR codes or visited its email address, but my mother cured me of that sort of thing. Years ago, an envelope arrived from what appeared to be the Unification Church, led for decades by Rev. Sun Myung Moon, who conducted mass weddings for church-arranged marriages, claimed he was the messiah, and bought full-page newspaper ads defending Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

That letter disturbed my mother so much, she made me throw it away but not in the house. I tore it up, balled up the remains, and tossed it in a public trash container a few blocks away.

Without question, Moon was a cult leader. But unlike QAnon followers, Moons devotees never participated in a deadly insurrection to overturn the results of a presidential election.

Unlike other cults, QAnon has no designated leader. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, the Q name is the umbrella term for a sprawling spider web of right-wing Internet conspiracy theories with antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ elements that falsely claim the world is run by a secret cabal of pedophiles who worship Satan and are plotting against former president Donald Trump.

Somehow theyve overlooked the fact that Trump was a longtime friend of convicted sex offender and accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump isnt mentioned in the postcards text, but his photo is featured alongside those of Big Tech megalomaniacs (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk); politicians (former president Barack Obama, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo); performers (Mel Gibson, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift); and far-right provocateurs (Alex Jones, Ann Coulter); among others.

While the postcard is certainly controversial, Steve Doherty, a United States Postal Service spokesman, told NBC 10 Bostons Alison King, there doesnt appear to be anything in the mailing that would make it illegal to send through the mail.

If these postcards violate no law, this could mean we should expect more of this propaganda from an unhinged lot the FBI labeled a domestic terrorism threat and that was before the Jan. 6 insurrection. Prominent among the throngs with Trump banners and Confederate flags were people wearing QAnon garb and holding up handmade Q signs. Some of them breached the US Capitol, pummeled police officers, and went hunting for lawmakers barricaded in their offices.

Instead of shunning QAnon, Republican lawmakers adopted its mendacious talking points on nonexistent voter fraud, the efficacy of COVID protocols, and purported pedophilia rings among Democrats. This was glaringly obvious in some GOP senators disgraceful performances during last months Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Ketanji Brown Jackson. Unable to attack Jacksons qualifications, they drilled down on a manufactured theme that she gave lenient sentences to those convicted of possessing child pornography. That it was untrue didnt matter; Republicans followed through on a scurrilous lie Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri tweeted before the hearings.

It was perhaps the most significant Republican nod yet to the QAnon faithful, a boost to normalizing the conspiratorial claptrap doused in hate, racism, and attempts to shred democracy. About 16 percent of Americans now say they adhere to QAnon theories that government, media and financial worlds are controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles, an even larger percentage than when Trump was president.

Under normal circumstances, one could laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. But this perilous moment is anything but normal. With little daylight between many Republicans and QAnon, American right-wing politics is mainlining extremism. Now after spilling from the bowels of the Internet to the halls of Congress, these dangerous beliefs are literally landing on our doorsteps.

Rene Graham can be reached at renee.graham@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @reneeygraham.

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What is QAnon doing in my mailbox? - The Boston Globe

ITS NOT MASSIVELY surprising to hear Ulster head coach Dan McFarland claim hes not a fan of the two-legged European knockout system given that, were it not in place, his side would be Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finalists already.

After their 26-20 win in Toulouse over the defending European champions last week, rather than going through, the two sides have to do it all over again at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday to determine which side progresses to the last-eight instead, and McFarland admits hes not a massive fan of the schedule.

I quite like the idea of the six pool games and then one knockout match (per round), opined the former Connacht prop.

I get it. It does add an interesting dynamic. But I read another coach who said the feeling at the end of the game is an odd one. You dont have the normal elation or despondency that you would in normal games. Its very different.

Whether I dont like it as much because it is different and were adverse to a bit of a change, or whether its just the fact I prefer youre a winner or a loser at the end of 80 minutes, I dont know.

However he feels, McFarland has no say in the matter. Rather than basking in the glory of a quarter-final place, they have a six-point lead to defend in Belfast on Saturday against a side who will have a fire lit under them after their perceived injustice from last Saturdays first-leg.

While there were no complaints with a red card handed out to winger Juan Cruz Mallia for a particularly nasty mid-air collision with Ben Moxham, Matthis Lebels disallowed try drew ire from the sell-out crowd at the Stadium de Toulouse, while the third try of Robert Baloucounes hat-trick had Ugo Mola flailing his arms around in anger that the Ireland winger wasnt called offside.

But even were it not for those incidents, preparing to play the same team twice in a row presents its own unique challenges that teams so rarely face in rugby. For instance, how much will either team change things up to keep their opponent guessing while, equally, not losing their consistency of performance? Or will they back their fundamentals to get the job done, despite knowing their opponents have the measure of them from game one?

Generally speaking teams will have a way that they play. Obviously small things within that will change, such as set piece launches or small tactics around phase play or defence. But generally speaking teams wont change a massive amount, believes McFarland.

Why? Because if you get to the level youre at now, youve been successful with the things you do week in, week out. The more you change, the more moving parts there are to get right, and that can be a limiting factor.

Well have changed small things around launch plays or our phase play, well try to improve in areas around our defence but thatll be more to do with our system work. I would expect similar things from them. I wouldnt expect Toulouse to come and say were not going to offload this week or were not going to counter-ruck you this week, or were not going to try and maul and scrum you with our enormous people.

They had some good launch plays that put us under pressure, so I imagine theyll be looking for similar plays this week but with a bit of variety from last week.

With the carrot of a first home European quarter-final since 2014 on offer, though, McFarland is not worried about his sides preparation and he is eagerly preparing for a game that, under the floodlights at Kingspan Stadium, could produce fireworks.

The rewards are such at the end of it, and the goal is so big that the emotional side of things look after themselves. We have to be very focused on what were trying to achieve thats being clear on who we are, what were about, improvements weve got to make, added the English coach.

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Theres no need to remind guys that its a European knockout game with a home quarter-final at stake against a massive opposition. The emotion will be there, and emotion is important in rugby. Its a sport that does well with passion because of the physicality of the game. Its not something that necessarily needs to be driven in a week like this.

Theyre the European champions, theyre the Top 14 champions and we played a helter-skelter game against them last week. We did a lot of things well and we ended up winning, but Im sure this week will be equally tough and probably even tougher.

The task is huge but the reward is huge as well, and well be ready for it.

In the final episode of the series, The Front Row The42s new rugby podcast in partnership with Guinness welcomes comedian Killian Sundermann in to studio. The online funnyman fills us in on his schools rugby days, gaining recognition during the pandemic, making his stand-up debut and travelling around Europe in a van. Click here to subscribe or listen below:

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''The feeling at the end of the game is an odd one' - McFarland not a fan of two-legged European ties - The42

GAME Two of the PBA 46th Season Governors Cup is slated to be played on Friday night, with the scene shifting to the Mall of Asia Arena. Incidentally, the venue was where Ginebra was crowned as champion during the 2019 season where it beat Meralco in Game Five of the series, 105-93.

Ginebra though will need to rekindle that winning feeling at the Mall of Asia Arena for Game Two after the Kings lost to the Bolts, 104-91, on Wednesday. Meralco will now be eyeing a 2-0 lead in Fridays titular showdown.

Lets review what happened in Game One, and a couple of things to look forward to in Game Two.

According to PBA statistics chief Fidel Mangonon, 60 out of the 88 Game One winners in a best-of-seven finals series went on to win the championship.

The Bolts had an excellent shooting night in Game One, converting 51 percent of their shots (42-of-81). They picked up where they left off in Game Five of the semifinals against Magnolia where they shot 46 percent. They also limited the Gin Kings to only 38 percent from the field (31-of-81) in Game One. Meralco also had more points in the paint, 52-36. Can they sustain this production in Game Two?

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More known for his defense and hustle plays, Cliff Hodge stepped up off the bench in putting the ball to the hoop, scoring a conference-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field. Meralco coach Norman Black expects adjustments by Ginebra as far as defending Hodge is concerned.

Justin Brownlee had 27 points in Ginebras Game One defeat, which actually isnt bad. But Brownlee would definitely want to improve on his 7-of-20 clip from the field, which at 35 percent is his worst shooting game of the conference. Meralco coach Norman Black said Brownlee still put on an excellent showing, and will have to defend the import again for Game Two.

Tony Bishop made up for his offensive struggles in Game Five of the semifinals against Magnolia as he hit 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. His presence was felt in the third quarter where he had 12 points.

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It was a back-to-back 20-point night for Allein Maliksi, who picked up where he left off in Game Five of the semifinals against Magnolia, scoring 22 points in the finals opener against Ginebra. Maliksi also shot 5-of-7 from threes after nailing six in the knockout game against the Hotshots.

Aaron Black scored the first two points of the ballgame for Meralco, and it set the tone for his solid performance with 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

Norman Black: Because Ive been on the losing end so many times in this conference, Im just taking it one game at a time. We got the first game and Im going to look at the first game like its 0-0. We have to get the second game.

Tim Cone: Frankly, we were terrible. They were great. They looked prepared and motivated. We looked as if we were taking a walk in the park. We are hoping we can turn that around in Game Two. Needless to say, we dont want to fall into a 2-0 hole.

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PBA commissioner Willie Marcial has summoned Arvin Tolentino and Raymar Jose for their role in a scuffle late and even after Game One of the finals series. Jose and Tolentino were called for technical fouls late in the match, and their exchange spilled over to the hallway at the Big Dome shortly thereafter.

Lost in the Game One defeat was Scottie Thompsons triple-double effort after he finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. It was Thompsons second triple-double of the conference after he had a 20-13-11 against Terrafirma last February 27.

Christian Standhardinger notched his fifth consecutive double-double with his 20-point, 14-rebound night against Meralco in Game One.

The Barangay Ginebra veteran struggled in Game One with LA Tenorio scoring a conference-low five points on 1-of-8 from the field, and his presence is definitely needed on Friday night. During the semifinals, he was averaging 14.5 points against NLEX.

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What to look forward to in Game 2 of Ginebra vs Meralco PBA Finals - Sports Interactive Network Philippines

Never dismiss the power of money to persuade. A study initiated before the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has found that a $1000 incentive for the vaccine-hesitant could boost vaccine rates up to 87 percent.

At the time, that number was considered sufficient to confer herd immunity. With COVID-19 variants now proliferating globally, notions of herd immunity have changed. But the authors say their findings are still valuable, given that much of the developing world has yet to become fully vaccinated, and as public health officials continue to encourage vaccination as a powerful tool against serious health effects.

Its even a bigger question than vaccines and COVID. This is part of a larger set of ?dilemmas called collective action problems such as how do we convince people to take action to mitigate climate change, says Vivek Nandur, a doctoral student in behavioural economics at the University of Torontos Rotman School of Management and one of three study co-authors. This speaks to that and how monetary incentives can be used to influence larger behaviour change.

Some 2,500 study participants, recruited online in December 2020, were asked if they planned to get the vaccine or, if they would accept it under one of three conditions if it were free, if it was effective against COVID-19, or if it had no side effects.,

Those who answered yes varied from 68 percent in the free vaccine category to 75 percent for those in the no side effects group. Some 70 percent of participants in the no conditions group said they would get vaccinated.

All participants who answered no, were then asked how much money would incentivize them to accept the vaccine. A $500 cash incentive brought the percentage of vaccine willing up to 80 percent. But the $1000 cash incentive, the maximum, raised that figure to nearly 87 percent.

Between 13 and 15 percent of participants were unwilling to accept the vaccine under any circumstances. But Nandur said the results support other findings that show that the vaccine hesitant are not a homogeneous group and that public health strategies need to be similarly nuanced and targeted. Even cash incentives are not a panacea, and can potentially backfire, given other conditions.

As one example, offering the vaccine for free in our experiment seems to make people a bit warier, which is confusing and likely needs more examination, Nandur said.

Money aside, people were more willing to take the vaccine if it was shown as effective against COVID-19, or had no side effects. Hesitancy was stronger among younger people than older ones, and among political conservatives.

The study was published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.

Nandur co-authored the study with David Soberman, a professor of marketing and the Canadian National Chair of Strategic Marketing at the Rotman School, and Ganesh Iyer of the Haas School of Business at the University of Berkley.

The researchers have since looked at the effects of a 2021 policy by the government of West Virginia to offer $100 savings bonds to people aged 16 to 35 who get vaccinated. The policy was introduced to boost the states lagging vaccination rate from 52 to beyond 70 percent.

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Pay the vaccine-hesitant to get their COVID-19 shots ScienceDaily - Verve Times