#because like many times before media is just spreading misinformation and propaganda

[mssi]

speak up for palestine 🇵🇸

[nerdylilpeebee]

I am not one to put myself into discourse but I really need to explain something to you,

As a Palestinian you need to understand that Hamas aren't killing babies, those 40 Israeli babies were made up, this had been confirmed over and over again. Palestine is older then Israel, Isreal only started existing after WW2, Palestinian's welcomed them but we're faced with Starvation,genocide, rape and bombing in return.

It is currently Ramadan, a time of fasting from sunrise till sundown, yet they have no food nor water to have before this period.

13,000 innocent children have died. Over 300+ not even making it to their first birthday. Girls and woman are experiencing periods and pregnancy without proper supplies. Isreal is not struggling, they have received over 300+ billion dollars in support from the U.S.A alone. You're ignorance isn't some "I'm better and different" stunt. You are actively supporting the death of entire bloodlines and families.

Don't you dare pull "Well, what if their Hamas" Isreal has proved they can bomb a specific room to kill them. This isn't about Hamas, Isreal is wiping out entire families, lives, homes, etc.

They're killing innocent animals too.

To put this in your shoes, imagine if you were bombed, raped and tortured, not knowing if you were going to make it to the next day, you're being starved. Whilst media is actively supporting your nightmare, funding it, even.

Before you pull the Hamas card on me, I have been raised with Western media and in America. I find myself lucky for this even though my people are struggling.

Please, scroll through pro-Palestine tags without bringing your opinion into the matter to see what is going on. I beg.

No, honey, actually it wasn't disproven. The people who tried said "yeah, babies were beheaded, but it wasn't 40 of them." XD

Palestine is not older than Israel. There are references to Israel in the Torah, which is older than Islam. And no, the Palestinians did not "welcome Israel". XD that is blatantly false.

And really? So tell me, why do they know for sure these 13k kids have died but can't name how many of their hostages are alive? Please explain that to me. How is that possible?

Okay? Israel not struggling doesn't mean anything. XD Being weak and having your government steal the billions in foreign aid to make themselves rich does not make a war against you a genocide.

I'm not supporting the deaths of anybody, and It is 100% about Hamas, Israel literally sends warnings in an effort to avoid civilian casualties. Even if Hamas isn't lying (incredibly unlikely) they have killed less than most wars have in the modern era.

Even if I was in their shoes, honey, I wouldn't want people siding with my oppressors because westerners decided the terrorists who'd murder me for speaking against them and consider everyone I know and love to be martyrs they're happy to sacrifice are resistance fighters. And hell, there are Palestinians who hold this very stance, who knows that Hamas is the fucking problem not Israel, westerners like you just ignore them.

You were raised in America and with western media? Cool. Doesn't change that you're falling for propaganda. XD being raised in the West does not make you immune to propaganda.

And no, I will not let idiots spread misinformation, and I will not let them villainize the Jews because Israel is actually defending itself when terrorists attack them and kidnap their people instead of laying down and dying.

I have paid plenty of attention to what's happening, including from the Pro-Pal side, I just happen to know terrorists aren't the good guys just cuz they play to people's sympathy and use their own people as human shields to make Israel look like the villain.

Just cuz it didn't lead me to agree with you doesn't mean I haven't been exposing myself to Pro-Pal talking points and "evidence."

[moonlayl]

This...got super long and to be clear nothing I have experienced nor will ever experience will come close to the horrors that Palestinians are facing right now. I just need to say that and make that clear, but these are just things I've been wanting to say for a while now.

Just a thought that came to my head, but I remember arguing with lots of liberals before about how I don't really support the idea that people shouldn't be able to say anything they want (except obviously spreading misinformation especially if you're in certain professions), even hate speech not because I ever want to hear hate speech, but because I can't trust any government to decide what hate speech is, and I was told to give an example

I remember at the time saying "what if one day, me speaking about Palestine starts to become classified as antisemitism or terrorism?"

I was told that was silly and would "obviously never happen" (I didn't believe them and called them naive at the time)

well....looking at certain countries right now, trying to ban Palestinian flags, ban common Palestinian/muslim sayings, ban any peaceful protest in favour of Palestine, even looking at imprisoning/fining people etc.... is kind of just proving my point.

Like most of us don't feel included or part of any western communities even if we're lived here our whole lives for so many reasons and it almost always boils down to us being Arabs/muslim.

can't speak for non Arabs and non muslims, but a lot of us feel this way.

seeing how fighting for the people who need it the most (2000+ Palestinians have been killed. 800 of them being children. 45 families completely wiped out, entire bloodlines, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, children, nephews, nieces, grandchildren, etc....like this is actual genocide. their entire family tree has been completely wiped form existence) is being banned or branded as "terrorism", or we're losing our jobs, or we're being silenced, like it says a lot about theses countries and the governments that run them.

They tried to suspend humanitarian aid to innocent people of Gaza for the love of God!! Thank God there were 5 decent countries who voted no!

Israel gets away with every goddamn crime and ANY "condemnation" of any warcrime it commits is just talk, while they continue to aid and support it.

How am I supposed to trust these governments, and MY government to decide what's acceptable and what's not when I know that during the most critical moments that matter the most, they won't be on our side, and they'll side with oppressors because they themselves are just that? That the little I can actually do for Palestine and any other country could be completely taken away?

These are "democratic" countries by the way, or they're supposed to be, and sure we can challenge all these things but there are things even we can't do. the onslaught of propaganda shared everywhere by the same news stations that refuse to invite Palestinians (and refuse to air the few times they do) and refuse to fact check their content, or report on what's actually happening in Gaza, can't really be stopped. We can do our best to spread what's actually happening, and to correct false information, but the damages have been done.

And its getting harder and harder to hear form the people of Gaza because of the bombs, cut of electricity, cut off internet access, and also, you know, the fact that the people sharing news are being killed one by one.

There's also many social media platforms completely erasing anything about Palestine. suspending our accounts and hiding our posts. I can't believe I'm saying this but maybe it's a good thing Elon Musk took over twitter because at least I've been able to talk about Palestine as much as possible without nay censoring and I'm still able to. Palestinians are still able to share their stories and the reality yon there. And sin't that crazy? Elon musk is kind of doing something right???

And you know something else? Israel killed one of their own journalists, and those people weren't able to properly report on it. They couldn't directly say it was Israel that killed one of their own workers. Like....its crazy (and they're cowards). Israel also killed 12 UN workers.

That crime is not making as many headlines as the fake stuff did. Those "journalists" and "reporters" who repeated false information (that resulted in far too many people believing them and suddenly being okay with genocide) are still working. they still have a job and they're still out there spreading more propaganda.

this post isn't well written because I'm just putting out my thoughts and what I've witnessed but to make one thing clear, I won't ever silence my voice or allow anyone to silence my voice when it comes to something like this, and i'm not afraid of what they'll do, but isn't so fucked that I could actually lose my job and have trouble finding another one for supporting the oppressed? Like isn't that just..disgusting?

Like what's that supposed to tell me other than majority of western countries are against us? It's not exactly surprising because I've known this, but everyone being VERY open about it is kind of tough to witness ngl.

Like this is not a complicated issue. if you have any morals and you're not biased against Palestinians/arabs/muslims already, then this is a very clearcut case. Israel is an apartheid state. Israel is and has been committing genocide and ethnic cleansing for literal decades and its been doing it long before Hamas came into the picture. Israel's war crimes and treatment of Palestinians is the reason Hamas even exists in the first place. you can condemn Hamas while also recognising that Israelis have no right to that land and that nothing justifies their never ending crimes. Palestinians are demanding for their rights ot live, be citizens, have rights and freedoms, and have their land that was brutally taken from them. None of those things are unreasonable.

You know what is unreasonable? the world deciding Israel is suddenly gonna be a thing and expecting Palestinians to just be okay with it. You know what is unreasonable? Palestinians being painted as the bad guys for "not wanting to share" when they literally shouldn't have to (especially because of the obvious scams of all those "treaties" and "agreements" that all gave every benefit to Israel)

Like the whole world literally let this happen and supported it and cheered for it. Some stayed silent but are showing their real colours (which those of us who haven't been blind have already seen) now.

We've got girls crying about how "they want to kill us T-T" at a university campus because people were protesting in support of Palestine, while a six year old boy was killed in his own home for being Palestinian. In the same country.

We've got celebs talk about how scared THEY are while 800 Palestinian children have been murdered.

We've got celebs posting "pray for Israel" while using pictures of Gaza in ruins or Palestinian children looking at rockets in the sky.

It's insane.

We had a protest for Palestine the other day. People were telling us to go back to our country. They were telling Palestinians to go back to their country.

....that's....that's what they want? Like we're very much aware of how much we're not wanted here just to be clear, and Palestinians across the damn globe would do ANYTHING to be able to go live in their homeland. except they can't. Israel won't let them. That's part of what we're fighting for. Any jewish person can go get a citizenship easily in Israel (even if they've never stepped foot in the country and none of their ancestors had either) but people who were born in Palestine or who's family owns property there can't get it in at all. It's absolute insanity.

I'm not sure how to end this but on every level this has been horrific. But despite that, the propaganda, the genocide, the threats, the whole world being against us, that's not gonna stop us from fighting for the oppressed and standing up for them. It's not gonna stop us from going out into the streets and no words can explain the bravery of everyone who continues to stand with Palestine but especially to the Palestinians who continue fighting and resisting (despite everything they've been through). Continuing to use our voices, donating, protesting etc... is the absolute least we can do and its our responsibility. and I truly, from the bottom of my heart wish the absolute worst for everyone who disagree with this. Like you guys are gonna pay for it. Maybe not today maybe not for many years maybe only in the afterlife (because I do believe in it) but it's gonna happen and every Israeli supporter or zionist is gonna deserve every second of it.

If you're silent, if you try to throw the "two sides" bs, and if you try to act like Palestine and Israel are in any way equal, you're included in this.

You're part of the problem.

Silence is compliance.

And screw every government that supports Israel in any way. Screw the double standards, the hypocrisy and the absolute cruelty towards innocent Palestinians.

I can't speak for everyone else but no matter what happens moving forwards, I'm never gonna forget this and I'm never gonna forgive.

I'm gonna keep trying to do everything possible which unfortunately is not much and thats frustrating on every level but I'm gonna keep doing it. feel free to unfollow/block me, but I'm not gonna stay silent about this ever. and I'm not gonna entertain any bigot or zionists either. it's gonna be a straight up block.

my asks are open, and my page is currently full of information, this site is as well, but I'm not gonna entertain those who clearly care very little bout genocide, because if you haven't opened your eyes by now, I doubt anything I say will change that. you're welcome to go through my blog or send me a polite ask (can't promise I'll get to it right away but I'll try) but I'm not tolerating pointless arguments that are basically me just repeating that Palestinian people deserve to live in their own country with all their rights and freedoms while the other person disagrees. I prefer not to argue with those who are depraved.

[mariacallous]

We've already discussed how the Israel-Hamas war is the latest conflict where people are poring over social media and news channels looking for updates on what, exactly, is happening. After all, whether it’s news about our neighborhoods or communities on the other side of the world, the web is where we go to find updates.

And it’s another reminder that misinformation is often big business, and it’s everywhere: fake news and fabrications, half-truths and obfuscations, and flat-out lies and propaganda. The rise in AI-powered deep fakes has only made the problem worse and increased the amount of untrustworthy content out there.

So is it actually still possible to filter truth from lies online? We don’t yet have a foolproof way of checking—perhaps that’s a task AI could be trained on next—but there are ways to limit the likelihood of being fooled.

Know Your Sources

Some online sources are clearly more reputable than others: It’s right to be more skeptical about a post by an unknown X user than it is about something from The New York Times or The Washington Post (or WIRED). That’s not to say citizen journalism can’t be useful, because it absolutely can, but be wary of taking it at face value.

It’s not just the source that’s important, it’s the number of sources. Like Bernstein and Woodward, you need to get information backed up and verified by more than one source whenever possible. If you’re looking at a video of an event, for example, look for more recordings from other people, taken from different angles.

If you’re not sure about a particular source, check its history—which is fairly easy to do on social media. Does their most recent post match up with what they’ve posted before? Are they posting a lot of generic content that can’t really be authenticated? How many followers do they have, and how are they interacting with them? These can all be useful factors to consider.

Check the Context

As well as checking the sources of particular stories, photos, and videos, examine the context around them. You can look at whether a video clip is one of a series, for example, or something that seems to have appeared out of nowhere.

Context can extend to whatever the content is showing. If it’s a demonstration, for example, check to see if there’s any other record of it elsewhere on the web and ask a few questions—do the photos and videos match up with where they’re supposed to have been recorded? Are there any pieces of evidence (like police uniforms) that tell you where this is happening?

Sometimes there are context tools built into the platforms themselves: You might see false information warnings on Facebook, for example, if a post has been flagged by other users. You might also see what are called community notes attached to posts on X (formerly Twitter), adding extra context about what has been posted. These can be useful signals to consider, though they're not fallible.

Spot the Patterns

Fake news is often designed to spread as quickly as possible: If something is shocking, inflammatory, or surprising, we’re more likely to pass it on to other people. On social media especially, that can quickly mean inaccurate content starts trending, which of course means it’s then shared by even more people.

With that in mind, look for posts that seem engineered to go viral—to provoke a reaction—rather than to provide information. Misinformation and fake news will often come without any real context attached, such as a source, a location, or an accompanying link that directs you to something similar (like a longer version of the same video or a related story).

Be particularly cautious with posts and media that are furthering a particular cause or course of action. Sometimes a little bit of cynicism is all you need—and sometimes you just need to take a beat and evaluate what you’re looking at again, rather than instantly assuming it’s correct and sharing it elsewhere.

Do Your Research

There are now several services dedicated to flagging misinformation and fake news reports. You may have heard of Snopes, which doesn’t just dispel urban myths, but also tackles contemporary news stories, complete with background and fact checks. Take, for example, this video that was incorrectly labeled as featuring a Palestinian flag, when it was in fact a Puerto Rican flag.

Courtesy of the Annenberg Public Policy Center comes FactCheck.org, which does exactly what its name suggests. It examines claims and counterclaims put forward by governments and other organizations and explains what’s true and not true about them. Here’s a story about an online video that misrepresented how Ukraine conscripted women into serving in the military, for instance.

There are other resources, including another fact-checking service from Reuters, that can be useful, especially when it comes to photos and video. There’s no guarantee that the content you’re unsure about is going to be covered by one of these sites, but it’s certainly worth checking.

[namedafterflowerstournament]

based off your recent post about anti-propoganda (which i agree, totally sucks btw. if your choice is so good, why do you have to crap on the other one?) i was wondering, why don't you like the hunger games? i personally haven't read the other book that was on the poll, but i just looked at the summary and it looks super cool!! i'll have to add it to my list

if this is a bad question/makes you uncomfortable feel free to delete it! i'm just curious, i'm not trying to be mean or anything. have a good day!! :)

Hi ! Thank you for the question ! As long as they're respectful, I don't think there are bad questions, at worst it would be a question I'd rather not answer and it wouldn't make it a bad question at all.

There are several reasons making me against anti-propaganda : people don't know the media they criticize and assume inaccurate things and manage to spread misinformation that way, it can hurt people's feelings when it's quite virulent, it's always easier to criticize than to praise, it encourages harrassment and can create a negative atmosphere and tensions around the polls while people declare which media in a poll is the shittiest.

About The Hunger Games, it's mostly personal but not only.

Just so we're clear, I don't hate the books.

Spoilers ahead.

Bear in mind, I was about 12 when I read the first book. I think I was 13 when I read the last one, since I'm pretty sure it was a while before the first movie came out

I loved the first two books when I read them. I was reading them at the same time as a friend and it was a lot of fun to compare our impressions and screaming at each other through texts as we get emotional about the parts the other had already reached.

It was one of those books I read at night while I should have been asleep, keeping an ear out for my parents so my book didn't get kidnapped by the authorities

[spoilers]

One of the complaint I have -which I didn't really have then because I was a white kid and not as sensibilised to the big issue of POC rep in mainstream media- is this :

There are two characters who are explicitely dark skinned in the books (it's been a long time so I may be wrong about one but I believe he was)

Both die in the first book. I know many characters die in Hunger Games, that's kinda the point, but I still don't think it was necessary.

The movies casted a Black actor for another character (I don't think the character's race was mentioned in the books, my bad if I'm wrong).

Well, I'm sure you'd find it conforting to find out he survived the 1st part of the trilogy.

He dies in the 2nd part, actually.

That's my biggest non personal issue with THG. I haven't actively looked into it, but I've never seen it mentioned in popular posts

The rest is more about personal taste.

I was romance-repulsed when I was in my early teens, to the point I avoided mushy covers and saccharine titles but I would also put a book back if there was the slightest hint of romance, knowing that if it appeared in the summary, it'd be very much likely to be splatered all over the pages. "girl meets a mysterious boy" had me running for the hills every damn time, no matter how much I liked the rest of the summary.

There wasn't the slightest hint of a mysterious boy in the summary so I was convinced it'd be safe and there'd be at worse a very secondary romance subplot.

Que nenni, cher ami. I really didn't expect the romance to be so centerfront and it annoyed the hell out of me because it was predictable af (you didn't even get the element of surprise, which would have made their relationship at least slightly more interesting and redeemable for little me) and I found Peeta very, very boring from the start. Even Arya and Eragon's relationship felt more interesting to me, and while I liked both characters, I was very much not into their romance

(Looks like it's unpopular opinions day. I can't say if I hated Peeta's guts on the spot because I knew a romance with the heroine was coming or because I really thought he was that boring, which is a book character's greatest crime. This isn't really antipropaganda. Peeta's not in the polls. As far as I can tell his name is a corruption of Peter)

I don't blame Suzanne Collins or the books. She didn't do the marketing and her only fault here was to have written a series too compelling for me to put it down despite my grudge against amatonormativity being thrown in my face all the time.

I ignored the budding romance the best I could and kept reading. I enjoyed reading the books. My friend did too. She was #teamgale. I was #teamidon'twantanyromanceinthesebookspleasejustmakethemallfriendsorsomething We had great times criticizing Peeta's every move. The good old days. (Yes I'll stop talking about the poor guy, I think you got the message. Look I'm sorry if you love Peeta like 90% of the fandom, I just don't)

So yes, I managed to mostly not feel too concerned about the most boring romance I've ever read by then (if it's any consolation, I didn't read romances so that's a rather bland statement) and rolling my eyes at the "real or not real" stuff. I'm sorry but I found the inevitability of their relationship quite irritating (which means it probably was great forshadowing for anyone without aro tendencies)

Nevertheless, I was young and had hope.

More seriously, the 1st two books were nice enough. The third...

It felt messier to me. I couldn't decide if it was something the author wanted us to feel as we got closer to the end and signifiant losses impacted Katniss' judgement or if I've grown out of love with the writing style.

Some of Katniss' decisions in her grief were quite questionable but we were meant to question them (well I hope so) so I was mostly fine with it. Mostly. I also felt like she made unnecessary 360° shifts on some occasions

Full disclaimer : I'm not a fan of third books of mainstream dystopia trilogies aimed at teens (i didn't think the Maze Runner and Divergent had satisfying endings -okay I do think the latter was not as good as the others too but that's a personal opinion- for example). I struggled with Endgame's 2nd book and I can say the same with the Lorien Legacies and found Partials' 2nd book disappointing. So, I'm more of a first book type of girl when it's about sf for teens

Well I think I've turned around the bush for a sufficient time so let's get to the part that made me slam the book shut and go to bed instead of rereading passages I liked.

The controversial ending.

Yes, we knew it was coming from the start.

It was gutting nevertheless.

Now I'm a bit older, I get that Peeta didn't bully Katniss into having kids but the formulation made me feel sick at the time.

That wasn't my issue, really.

My issue was I read the epilogue and felt like it was a trap, with Katniss having to resume her life surrounded by mementos of the Games, instead of being allowed to run away and start anew somewhere nobody would have ever known her or looked for her, so she could heal in peace. I thought she deserved that. It felt for me like she'd been robbed of a second chance at life.

That's one thing. The other is a lot more personal and gave me even more grief.

I've fooled myself into thinking that maybe for once a book was aimed at me. As someone not interested into romance at all, I'd hope the heroine might be like me.

Despite all the clues to Peeta being written as her love interest, I've hoped that in the end she wouldn't pick any of the boys. That she'd be tired of them and decide she was better alone romantically speaking. That the heroine would get her happy ending and it'd have nothing to do with a -bland, may I add- love interest (especially a male one, when all 9th graders know that boys have cooties, duh)

That was a very bittersweet ending to me, because I saw too much of myself into Katniss and that I was at an age I was trying to figure out what my life would look like and the answer seemed to be "get a boyfriend like everyone else" and it felt like a betrayal. I was so, so angry about the ending.

So yes I have a quite complicated relationship with the books, but while I think the POC rep could definitely have been better dealt with, the rest is on kid me for not having her expectations met. I can't really blame Collins for not having written the "amatonormativity doesn't have to be the only/right ending/answer ; there are other ways etc." rep I so desperately needed as a questioning teen.

Ah and I didn't like the first movie (and have decided to not watch the others), which is why I don't necessarily used pics in the polls but I probably will for the main bracket. I wasn't a fan of the casting or decors or of the adaptation work to be honest but to each their own and I've seen much worse.

THG isn't a bad series in itself. I have issues with it that probably have roots into systemic racism and also just me getting my heart broken

As for the Wayfarers series (The Long Way To a Small Angry Planet is the first book), it is lovely ! A great soft sci-fi feel good space opera series with queer, disability and POC rep

I hope I've satisfied your curiosity here because that was quite a rant, op

[smute]

As someone who has covered misinformation through dozens of major news events, I know that people flock to social media during a crisis for many reasons. Maybe it’s because the mainstream news doesn’t feel fast or immediate enough, or because the crisis has put them or someone close to them in harm’s way and they need help. Perhaps they want to see and share and say something that captures the reality of an important moment in time because they don’t know what else to do when the world is on fire. Misinformation and manipulation often spread for the same reasons, slipping into the feeds of those who believe it can’t hurt to share a startling video or gruesome photograph or call for aid, even if they’re not sure of the reliability of the source.

When war goes online, the churn of good and bad information is supercharged by the stakes. While state-sponsored information wars existed well before the invention of the internet, social media has enabled all kinds of propaganda and dangerous falsehoods to rapidly reach millions. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for example, livestreamers and scammers reposted old videos to TikTok, claiming they showed the latest from the front lines, in order to get views and trick people into donating to fake fundraisers.

Journalists have had a difficult time following up on video-fueled updates about the situation in Gaza circulating on social media because it is extremely dangerous to be reporting in the region right now. Many news outlets have reporters working from Israel to cover the conflict. Correspondents on the ground in Gaza are trying to keep themselves and their families alive during the Israeli bombing campaign in retaliation for the Hamas attack.

[...]

[The SIFT method] is meant to be a quick series of checks that anyone can do in order to decide how much of your attention to give what you’re seeing and whether you feel comfortable sharing a post with others.

The SIFT method breaks down to four steps: “Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context.” That “Stop” step can do a lot of work during a major, violent conflict like the Israel-Hamas war. People get engagement on questionable or untrue posts during breaking news by tugging on your emotions and beliefs.

So if a video, photograph, or post about the war seems to confirm everything you’ve ever believed about a topic or makes you immediately furious or hopeful or upset, stop yourself from instantly sharing it.

Then, investigate the source. This can be done pretty quickly. Click on the account sharing the thing you saw and glance at their information and previous posts. You’re not launching a full-scale investigation here. You’re just trying to get a sense of who has ended up in your feed. Next, find better coverage. That means you open up a bunch of tabs. Is this being reported anywhere else by trustworthy news sources? Has this claim been fact-checked? And finally, trace the source. Open up the news article and run a search for a phrase in the quote you’re about to share. See if you can find that image attributed elsewhere, and make sure the captions describe the same thing.

[...]

Online falsehoods need attention and amplification to work. You might not have a big account with a ton of followers, but every reshare matters, both to the circle of people who see your posts online and to the engagement numbers for the original post. Interacting with something on social media — whether a cautious share “in case” it’s true or a repost to point out that something definitely isn’t — signals to the site’s algorithms that you’re interested in that content. In other words, outrage shares are still shares, even if you’re talking about a bad analysis, an unsourced photograph, or an outright lie.

[nickyhemmick]

A Very Stressed American Jew here again,

Hi! Thank you for taking the time to respond to my ask and yes, I’m someone who loves hearing as many perspectives as possible so I’d love some sources from you. I also very much appreciate the fact you are being very careful to only reblog posts that are anti Israel, not antisemetic (which is frankly a breath of fresh air, the internet has been a bit exhaustingly full of both antisemitic & Islamaphobic content these past feel days as I bet you’ve seen)

I’ve also been to Israel on a Birthright trip. We met people who ( both Palestinian and Israeli) on various sides of the conflict and learned a ton about it, from both perspectives which I was lucky to have the opportunity to do. We even went a little into the Gaza Strip to talk to these people running a pro Palestine peace movement and it was so important to me hearing those stories.

I never said they were on equal footing militarily, they definitely are not, Israel definitely has that advantage. But you are incorrect about Israel always being the aggressor since 1948,they’ve defended themselves about as often as they’ve attacked. Isreal is a small country comparatively to the ones surrounding it, so it makes sense it defends itself heavily in case of an attack.

I 100% agree that there are too many people who are compliant with the mistreatment of many Palestinians! I’m not anti #freepalestine at all! I get why that is a thing. But I also stand with Israel( but that does not mean I condone every action they take. ) Overall I think the situation is extremely complicated and some sort of compromise should be reached.

It’s just been very frustrating to see so many people reblog things on a situation just bashing Israel because so many others are doing it. Especially when then don’t know what they are talking about or using big buzz words that they don’t know what they mean, or spreading misinformation. It’s been on both sides and has been very very draining. I just want peace and some sort of solution. It makes me extremely happy you know what you are talking about and can debate politely yet happily about it. The internet has been so ‘ either agree with me 100% or you a bad person’ about this so it’s refreshing to see you are not like that.

I’ve done a lot of research into it from as many perspectives as I can get my hands on.

Some extremest Israelis are hurting Palestinians

Some extremest Palestinians are hurting Israelis

Both sides are throwing rockets at each other and it’s terrifying.

Both sides claim the other side is brainwashed

There is so much biased propaganda out there on both ends it’s hard to know what is truly happening.

I know people living in Israel who have sent me videos they’ve taken of rockets flying over there heads and I’m so scared for them. I’m so scared for all the innocent people caught in the crossfire on both sides.

Thank you for a more nuanced response and I’d love some of your sources,

A Very Stressed American Jew

Hi anon, 

I wasn’t going to respond to this until after my math final tomorrow but I’ve spent the past two days thinking of your ask and the things I wish to articulate in my answer. 

I am going to start here: how can you say you support Israel but say you are also pro-free Palestine (as in, you said you are not anti free Palestine). In my opinion, these two ideas cannot coexist. Simply because, the entire establishment of Israel has been on violent, racist, colonial grounds. 

(Super long post under here guys)

You said you don’t support all Israel’s actions, and definitely, just because you support something doesn’t mean you can’t criticize it. However, in my opinion, if you do not support Israel’s actions against Palestinians there’s not much left to support? I admit this is a very biased view as I am Palestinian, but many things that people support about Israel have existed before its creation: as in, these are things and qualities that have existed in Judaism and are not due to “Israeli culture.” There is no Israeli culture. There’s Jewish culture--100%. But there is no Israeli culture, because Israel does not only steal Palestinian land, but Palestinian culture, too. Such as claiming Levant food is Israeli; hummus, ful, falafel, shawarma. I mentioned food from this article I know is culturally and traditionally of the Levant, and has been for centuries, it is not something that has come to culinary creation in the past 73 years. 

I do not think this is a complicated issue. I said that in the previous ask and I’ll say that again. Saying it is a complicated issue is trivializing the deaths of innocent Palestinians, the violent dispossession our ancestors endured, and the apartheid they live under. I hope if anything comes from this discussion it is you removing the “it’s a complicated issue” phrase from your vernacular. 

This is not complicated. A journalist reporting the death of martyrs only to discover that of them include two of his brothers is not complicated. The asymmetry of Israel vs Palestinian armed forces is not complicated, nor is the asymmetry in Israeli vs Palestinian suffering (which I will get to later). It is not complicated.  Destroying the graves of martyred Palestinians (or just in general, the graves of the dead) is not complicated. Little children being pulled from the rubble, children being forced to comfort one another as they are covered in the ashes of their decimated homes, attacking unarmed citizens in peaceful demonstrations (you can find videos before this attack where they were playing with kites and balloons), destroying an international media office and refusing to allow journalists to retrieve the work they are spending every waking hour documenting but claiming it was because it was a hide out for a “Hamas base,” fathers who are trying to cheer their frightened children up only to end up dead the next day, while many Israeli have the privilege and the option to go to hotel-like bomb shelters is not complicated. 

This brings me to my next point: the suffering of Palestinians cannot be compared to the inconvenience of Israeli’s. On one side, you have children who are happy to have saved their fish in the face of their homes and lives being decimated behind them to Israeli’s in Tel Aviv having to cut their beach day short to get to bomb shelters. You have mothers and fathers ready to set their lives down for their children to save them from bombs to Israeli’s enjoying their brunch only after making sure there are bomb shelters there. You have Palestinian children being murdered to blocking out the sound of sirens in the safety of your bomb shelters. (The first picture of the Palestinian child is not from footage of the recent problems). You have the baby lone survivor of a whole family recovered from rubble. His whole family, gone, before he ever had the chance to realize that he even exists, while Israeli’s decide to flee out of the country,(Translate the caption from Twitter, it checks out), or have to leave the shower due to sirens. Who is really suffering? 

I won’t sit here and pretend like the thought of rockets flying over my head, no matter which side I am on, is not terrifying. It is. It’s scary to just think about. But Israeli’s have protection beyond Palestinian’s, they have sirens to warn them (Israel does not always warn Palestinian building members that it is about to be bombed), they have the Iron Dome, they have simply the threat of nuclear power (which I am not saying Israel would use, but the simple fact they have it would make me feel a lot better if I were an Israeli citizen) and they have bomb shelters. What do Palestinians have? Hamas? That smuggles its weapons through the ocean? That only ever reacts to the action Israel instigates? And yet Gazans are branded terrorists and that it is their fault that they “elected” a terrorist organization that only was ever created due to no protection from any armed country? (There are so many links I want to add in this paragraph but it is simply impossible for me to add everything I want, a lot of what I’m referring to can either be found through a Google search, or you can stalk my Twitter account, all that I am posting now is about Palestine, and will include sources of things I cannot add in just this one post.) 

Look, I see myself in the genocide happening in Palestine right now. I see myself in this ten year-old girl. In this three year old girl. I see me and my family in videos of cars being attacked in Ramallah and Sheikh Jarrah (I cannot find the Ramallah video, should be somewhere on my Twitter), I see my father in the countless videos of fathers crying out for their children, of kissing the corpse of their loved ones (again, translate the Tweet, the man holding the body is saying “just one kiss”). I see my grandfather in videos like this (old footage). I see my younger brother, I see my grandmother, my mother, my aunts and uncles and cousins. I see myself and my life and my family were my father not lucky enough to get a scholarship to the UK and out of Palestine, were my maternal grandfather not been lucky enough to make it to a refugee camp and build a life in Jordan. I have an unbelievable amount of privilege to be born into the life I was born in to, in terms of I do not have the threat of bombs and violent dispossession around me, and I do not even live in the US. I have privilege and sheer luck that my parents were able to go to the US so that me and my brothers can be born, because now I have both the protection of the most powerful country in the world while at the same time being part of a people to have suffered so generously the past seventy-three years. 

On the other hand, you saying that Israel has “defended themselves about as often as they’ve attacked. Israel is a small country comparatively to the ones surrounding it, so it makes sense it defends itself heavily in case of an attack,” I offer you this question: why are they using military grade guns and stun grenades in mosques to “defend” themselves from rocks? And before you mention that Hamas hit Tel Aviv, I remind you that Hamas did that due to the violence in the Al-Aqsa mosque square and the attempted ethnic cleansing in Sheikh Jarrah. The violence didn’t begin with us; the violence was brought out of Palestinians in resistance to the generations of oppression we have endured and the attack on Palestinian Muslims during the holiest night of Ramadan. Hamas has since asked for a ceasefire multiple times and Israel is refusing. New reports say there is a possibility of a ceasefire in the coming days, but Israel could have decided this a long time ago and spared many lives. (Remember, no matter what resistance we make, Israel is the one in power).

Israel has been the aggressor since 1948. Just read up about the Nakba! 700k Palestinian families were dispossessed violently. The only reason Israel was established at all was because it simply declared it was now a country and the US and many other countries recognized it as such. (Of course, there are many other historical details here, like the British Mandate of Palestine, the Balfour Declaration, the Oslo Accords and many others. I am aware of them but these are for a different post all together). My paternal grandfather was a little younger than me when Israel as a state was created. The hostility that followed was due to this independent declaration being listened to over Palestinian voices. 

Here is a very, very simplified analogy, one that can also answer some people’s questions as to why Palestinians (not Arabs, we are Palestinian before we are Arab) did not like what happened in 1948 and why they refused a two-state solution (that Israel was never going to go through with anyway). (I am also aware other Arab nations got involved, and that is perhaps what you mean when you said they had to defend themselves, but my response to that would still be we didn't start it, that we only responded to it).

Let’s say you are a farmer. You have many fields of trees, ones you have taken shelter under from the sun since you were a child, or hid behind when you wanted to avoid your parents when you misbehaved. You have seen your trees grow from a seed, to a sprout, to a flower, to a large, beautiful tree with fruits the size of a fist. You pluck the fruits from one tree, and make a jam from it. I don’t know how to make jam but I know it takes a lot of energy. So, you make this jam and from it, produce a lovely, mouth-watering pie. Once it has cooled from the oven, you take it with you outside your balcony just so that you can admire the years, months, weeks and hours this one pie has taken to be created. Suddenly, a stranger walks past and yells to you, “That pie looks delicious, I want it!” And you, shocked at their boldness but ready to share, say, “I will give you a bite.” But the stranger says, “No! I do not want a bite or a slice or whatever you want to offer me, I want the pie!” And they grab it from you. You and the stranger start screaming at one another about who the pie is for, who is allowed to decide what happens to it, and who you can share it with. Then, another stranger comes by and says, “Why all the problems? Let’s cut the pie in half and the both of you can share it!” But why should you, who has spent years cultivating the fruit and grain inside this pie, share it? Why should you give up half of the 100% that you already owned? Of what you already had? So you disagree, and now a crowd has formed around you. “What’s the problem?” someone in the crowd calls. “They don’t want to share their pie!” another voice says. Then you become branded a selfish, mean bastard. Again, this is a super simplified analogy, so don’t take it too seriously, but I am trying to show you why Israel is the aggressor.

In addition, I do not know too much about the Birthright program, just that American Jewish people are sent to Israel, all expenses paid. I tried my best to find the Twitter thread but I read it so long ago, about an American Jewish person who went on their trip and they talked about the propaganda that they were exposed to on that trip. I can’t say for sure that it is true, because I haven’t been on it and never will, but that is the first thing I thought of when you mentioned your Birthright trip. Either way, I think it is still great you went and saw the country. However, I must ask you this: are the people you met ones you, yourself, sought out, or ones you were organized to meet?

Now, I haven’t been to Gaza, so I don’t know what you really saw or didn’t, but did you speak to Palestinians who lost their homes to airstrikes? Did you speak to siblings, parents or children of loved ones who had been lost beneath the rubble of buildings and towers? Outside of Gaza, did you speak to Palestinians that live in poor quarters? Ones who have been victims of an IDF soldier shooting them, or who have family members who have died from such attacks? Did they take you guys to Ramallah, to Nablus, to Beit-Imreen, to Jenin, to small villages in the West Bank, far away from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv? Did you speak to people there? Ask them their stories? Because if you did I have a very hard time believing you still think Israel is “defending” itself.

I’ve been to Jerusalem, many times, even Tel Aviv and Jaffa and Haifa. All the times I visited Dome of the Rock there were IDF soldiers with huge guns strapped to their person, standing menacingly outside the courtyard. For what? Genuinely, genuinely for what? It is nothing but an intimidation tactic. The same way we are not allowed in through the airport. If you could see the struggle some Palestinians actually go through just to get into Palestine, through the land border, you would be disgusted. I love Palestine, it is my ancestry land, it is my culture and tradition. But I always hated going to visit because I knew the way to getting there would be hell.

My father worked in Tel Aviv through the first Intifada. My maternal grandfather was forced out of his home in the Nakba and was forced to leave behind his belongings and the orange trees that have been in his family for generations. Hell, the town they lived in was destroyed! It doesn’t exist anymore except in the memories of my aunts and uncles, who never even saw it, but just heard of it from their father!

I’m not saying there aren’t Palestinians who are racist and anti-Semitic (though, tbh, I will direct you here for that) and who support Hamas in killing Israeli’s, but talking about how there are many “extremist” Palestinians who are hurting Israeli’s and in the next line say there are extremist Israeli’s who are hurting Palestinians is not correct. There are extremist Israeli’s killing, lynching, stealing the houses of Palestinians, and there are Palestinians who are fed up and fighting back. (I am not talking about Hamas vs the IDF here, I am talking about the citizens). I have not seen one reported death of an Israeli due to Palestinian violence (if you have, from a trusted source, send it to me), but I have seen countless of the other way around. I have seen images of charred little bodies, of a baby being dug out of the rubble, of a child’s body that had been so mutilated that you can literally see the insides of their body coming out. (I don’t know if it’s on my Twitter, I didn’t want to save that shit). If this was my country I would be absolutely ashamed of myself and my people and what they are doing in the name of my protection. So you have to forgive me, and forgive other Palestinians, who don’t give a fuck about Israeli’s having anxiety over rockets flying over their heads when we see these images. Where is the protection of our kids? Why does no one seem to mention them except when mentioning the poor, innocent ones in Israel? At least more than the majority of them have their parents to comfort and rock them. At least many of them will probably be saved of ever having to be beneath the rubble of a destroyed building, or digging in it, to hope to find the parts of their parents or siblings just so that they can bury them. Just the links from the start of my answer is enough to support what I am saying.

I have soooo much more I can say, like how Israel uses religion to distort the image of what’s going on (tbh, just check my Twitter for that: language is EVERYTHING), but you didn’t mention religion in any of this and so I won’t either. The only reason I decided to respond to you in such length was because you have been one of the few respectful anons in my inbox in the past few years of me being on here talking about Israel, so I appreciate that from you. 

As promised, some more sources: decolonizepalestine is a good place to start if you haven’t used it already, it has reading materials, myth busting, and more. Here is a map list of destroyed localities from pre-1948 until 2017, run by two anti-Zionist Israelis. Here and here are the articles I promised of a former IDF soldier-turned Palestinian activist, I read these two last year in June and remember coming out much more informed than before I read them. I suggest looking into the writer and his organization, which, if I remember correctly, collects accounts from previous IDF soldiers. I would suggest not to follow Israel and the IDF accounts on any platform, or any Israel times newspaper, simply because they will not tell you the truth. In fairness, you do not have to follow any Palestinian Authority accounts (which I am not even sure there are), but to follow on-ground Palestinians like Mohammed El-Kurd, who has been speaking out since he was 12 (he is now 22) and he is part of the families in Sheikh Jarrah. I have noticed that this and this account have been translating Arabic headlines and tweets for non-Arabic speakers, I have just started following this person but their bio says they are a Palestinian Jewish person so I am interested in their view of things. You can also follow Israeli’s on-ground and see their perspective on things, but I would also advise to compare the Palestinian and Israeli side of things from the people, and critically analyze the language used in each case. Also, this article references Jewish scholars opposed to the occupation (I have not looked into them myself but I plan to after my exams), and Norman Finklestein is another great Jewish scholar to look into if you haven’t. Twitter is better than Instagram and Facebook, so I would stick to getting live-info from there, Twitter does not censor Palestinian content as much as Insta and Facebook so you’re more likely to see things there.

I will end this by saying I personally do not see any other option for peace than to give Palestinians our land back. Whether we may be Muslim, Jewish or Christian, it has always been and will always be our land. I only hope to see it free in my lifetime. 

Free Palestine. 

[teamsarawatshusband]

Do you think there is a chance that WYB really believes in China's innocence in this? If people in China don't have all the information, then maybe he also doesn't know what is happening.

Okay, I’m gonna be very careful in how to answer this.

First of all, I don’t know him in person (obviously), so I can never know 100% what he does and doesn’t believe. Much like with any other celebrity.

My assumption on what he believes in this is based on what I know about his life and how that might potentially affect his thinking in matters like these. It is also based on what I know from my personal connections to Chinese citizens and what they have told me about politics and human rights affairs in the past.

Since Yibo is living in China, there is a big chance that he doesn’t have access to all the news regarding this specific political situation. So I do assume that he most likely doesn’t know the details of what’s going on in regards to the human rights violations and why exactly Nike spoke out against the government of his country.

However, he is very familiar with the business side of working with brands and he has had political situations affect career decisions in the past. So I can’t help but think that he knows things are fishy.

He must know that brands, especially big corporations like Nike, don’t make business-damaging statements against a whole country like this without global pressure. Let’s not forget, Nike like any other company, first and foremost has to think of their marketability and consumer’s trust. So, Yibo must know that consumers (not governments or political institutions but regular people) all over the world are watching the news and demanding that companies such as Nike take a stand. So, I’m assuming he knows that, in the eyes of the global population, based on their sources of information, the Chinese government is doing something bad.

Whether or not he believes this information to be true is a different question.

Now, if Yibo had lived his entire life in China, had grown up with the censorship and propaganda of the Chinese government throughout his life and not aware that this is different in other parts of the world, then I would assume he’d believe it to be false.

However, he has lived in South Korea for several years. So he did have access to a non-Chinese point of view on politics and life in general. He also has traveled to other countries professionally, both as a singer as well as an actor. He must know that independent sources of information are much easier accessible in other countries. He must know that the amount of freedom to publicly criticize a government or state personal opinions varies largely from country to country. I am convinced he is aware that censorship and deliberate spreading of misinformation is a common political practice in China. So, based on that, I do assume that he takes information from Chinese news with a critical mindset that doesn’t simply trust and buy into everything that is served to him.

He also has witnessed political situations affect his or other co-stars’ careers. He used to be in Uniq which, as all k-pop bands, suddenly wasn’t allowed to appear on Chinese TV anymore, even though they hadn’t done anything wrong. And a big change of course of action like that was kept all hush-hush in the entire Chinese media. He must know that this wasn’t fair, that they innocently fell victim to political agendas. An entire career, fanbase, performance platform simply taken away from all of them, one second to the next, and they hadn’t caused it and didn’t have any say in it either. Are we really assuming that they simply took that blow without wanting to speak out and fight for the success they had worked so hard for?

The 227 situation was very similar. The international success of one Chinese series brought so much traffic to AO3, that the Chinese government noticed it as public platform depicting values that they didn’t want China to be associated with. More importantly, a public platform with content that they couldn’t control. So they went and blocked it. And who had to suffer the blame? The government? Of course not. Xiao Zhan, who hadn’t done anything other that be an actor in the series. Because of this he lost so many marketing deals and job offers that people believed his career was over for good. All while doing nothing wrong.

Yibo, as the second main actor in the same series, 100% saw all of this go down. He knows that Xiao Zhan hadn’t caused any of it, knows that he was blamed unfairly. He also knows that remaining silent under those circumstances will only cause more harm to a career and public reputation. He knows that the only option is to say what you are expected to say, regardless of what you think.

And, I mean, based on all the situations that I have been in in my life, where I was forced to say something against my will, and based on knowing Yibo to be quite headstrong and having a competitive mindset... I just can’t picture him going, “Well, they make me say this. So, I believe it too.”

Now, based on what I have heard from people that I personally know IRL, I think some of the things that my aunt and uncle have mentioned left the biggest impression on me. My uncle is European but has lived and worked in China for decades now. My aunt is Chinese, grew up in China and only after meeting and marrying my uncle has traveled out of the country.

My uncle is very outspoken about life in China. When talking to him in person, he will tell you everything he personally experienced, including things like tax evasion, people avoiding police charges with hush money, countrywide blocking of messaging services and email providers, copyright frauds as legitimate business endeavors, illegal confiscation of items by police/border control etc. etc. etc. Basically, the gist of his reports is, “In China, if you are a regular person, you have to be aware of this, work around the corruption/unfairness and, most importantly, not make a big fuss about it. If you are somebody with money and powerful connections, you can buy yourself out of any situation. Unless if you stand in the public eye, then you’ll be used to make an example of  - under the guise of a just and law-abiding country.“ He will tell you all of this, while over here. Never when in China. Because he knows the consequences.

My aunt is a lot quieter on the matter. She never directly spoke out against Chinese politics and never directly called out the issues of censorship and corruption. But she often asked, “Are we really allowed to say this here? Back home we can’t.” And when I talked to her about specific political situations she confirmed a lot of things with small examples from her experience. While my uncle is mostly angry when speaking about those things, my aunt is primarily careful in her phrasing. She very clearly loves her country dearly (who wouldn’t it’s a beautiful country with wonderful people), and she is very pained by how it is governed, and how that governing affects both the people living there as well as how China is perceived in the world.

I have never spoken to them about celebrities or specific entertainment issues, but what I do know from them is, if somebody in China is a public figure with success and a bit of wealth, they will:

- most certainly be aware that their government’s actions are often unjust and based on corruption and personal gain

- be forced to side with said government or, if they refuse, forced to retire for good

- have to do propaganda related work. Either, if they (or somebody close to them) did/said some non-government-compliant things, for people in power positions to overlook those, or in return for specific freedoms they wouldn’t get to enjoy otherwise.

Especially the forcing of propaganda jobs on public figures, I can’t help not relating that to Yibo.

Just compare some of his songs... “無感 Wu Gan”, for example, with his recent “青春恰时来 - Youth Comes in Time”.

Wu Gan is musically progressive, sounds fresh and goes with the genres and types of music Yibo has shown to love before. And he officially wrote it himself. Youth Come in Time, which he released but was neither composed nor lyrically written by him, sounds like a polar opposite. Musically, it sounds like what you would hear in a 90s advertisement.

And looking at the lyrics, I mean... that song has lines like “strengthen the country”, “we stand in the front row”, “I am with my country”, “the Chinese stage is taking off” - how is that not propaganda?

Do we really, genuinely think that somebody believes in this, even though in the songs that he wrote himself, and has stated to be about his own personal experiences, he says stuff like, “don’t become a puppet whose feelings are manipulated by others”, “every day there’s someone going on and off stage - just remain emotionless”, “You’re famous but you have no works and the voices scolding you only get worse”, “I’ve trapped myself and I can’t make my goals distinct”?

Do we?

Really?

I’ll leave that up to you.

[anexplanationofunfortunateevents]

democracy was on the ballot and it won

I am a slow-boring-of-hard-boards realist about politics. I am delightedly surprised when I get what I want AT ALL. Months and months ago, I said that my number one issue in this election was the desperate need to put the brakes on democratic backsliding in the United States. I’m not sure how to process the fact that I’ve started to get what I wanted even before the transition.

There is a real path forward for democracy reform in this country. EVEN WITH an aspiring autocrat doing everything he could to rig this election, EVEN WITH a pandemic raging, EVEN WITH malicious foreign actors still trying cause problems, EVEN THOUGH we still have not restored the Voting Rights Act, EVEN WITH all the structural imbalances built into our creaky eighteenth-century constitutional system:

Voter participation went way up! People voted over the course of several weeks from the comfort of their own homes, or on weekends, or on Election Day. And because people took responsibility and spread out their votes like that, it was safer to go to polling places. That was a huge collective choice to prevent a lot of suffering and even some deaths.

A big part of why they could do that is the enormous number of citizens who rallied to work at the polls so that the retirees who usually do the job could sit this year out.

Cities and states around the country took the time they need to count carefully.

Media gatekeepers, for the most part, had the discipline and the patience to be helpful to users about what we knew and what we didn’t. If anything, they’re erring on the side of being too cautious. This is after weeks of most media gatekeepers having the discipline to debunk a disinformation campaign by Trump’s allies and Russian backers, instead of aggressively participating in it.

Social media companies took the most aggressive countermeasures yet against election misinformation.

The person who got the most votes is also the person who won the election, which is pretty cool!

That is a huge improvement from EVERY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY. Just in terms of how well the election itself was administered, my only major criticism is that we still did not do something called risk-limiting audits. In the case of an election, audits are basically a carefully calibrated statistical smell test. They’re not a recount. They are a reliable and cost-effective way of figuring out if a recount or some other type of scrutiny should be done for the sake of public confidence in the results – and that makes them a cost-effective deterrence against any bad actors who are considering sabotage. Audits are important whether an election goes your way or not, just like smoke detectors are important whether your building catches fire or not.

But that absolutely should not take away from the fact that we overcame all the new problems that were introduced this year and took some big steps toward solving a lot of old ones – despite the best efforts of Trump and all his enablers. Imagine what we could do under an administration that is helping democracy revitalization instead of aggressively hindering it.

The easiest way for us to make the most comprehensive change would be to win the Senate, which would allow a Biden administration to pass a revitalized Voting Rights Act and restore legitimacy to the federal courts. If you have any time or money to spare in the next few weeks, consider sharing it with the two excellent Democratic candidates in the Georgia Senate runoffs.

We should be realistic about the situation: we’re probably not going to get to do it the easy way, at least, not until after the midterms. But we’re not going to be doing it the hard way any more. The hard way is what we’re doing now. We’re about to get a Department of Justice that opposes civil rights violations and enforces what’s left of the current Voting Rights Act. The intelligence and military cybersecurity units are going to be able to work with the administration instead of around it. And we aren’t going to have to deal with a 24/7 fusillade of lies and voter intimidation coming from the Oval Office. To spin out the “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” metaphor: we’ve been running a marathon uphill carrying forty-pound backpacks. We’ve reached the top where the path levels out, and someone just took our bags and gave us protein bars.

And while we have our protein bars, let’s look around, because the view is as clear and as beautiful as it’s going to get. Donald Trump had every intention of wrecking American democracy, and the entire Republican party had every intention of supporting his aspiring dictatorship. And, while Trump himself is and always has been a clown, the person occupying the Oval Office is the most powerful person on the planet. Actually, that’s an understatement. Since Truman gave the order to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, our technology has grown stronger and our government has concentrated more and more power in the executive branch, which means that every holder of that office has arguably been the most powerful person in the history of the world. Every other holder of that office has at least wanted to think of himself as using that power for the advancement of democracy and humanity. Donald Trump affirmatively tried to use all that power to entrench himself there permanently.

We stopped him. We stopped him peacefully. We stopped him without further harming the many vulnerable people he holds hostage in a hundred different ways. We stopped him not by elevating an equal-but-opposite charismatic demagogue for a two-men-enter-one-man-leaves smackdown, but by building a vibrant, heterogenous coalition and finding competent, experienced, principled leaders who respect that coalition in all its raucous power. We stopped him, in short, by choosing to do democracy.

That feels good today and it’s enormously consequential. It is also proof of concept. It is something that can happen, because it has happened.

Something that political scientists and democracy advocates have been saying for the past few years is that Trump has been a propaganda gold mine for dictators. They use him as a cautionary tale against liberal democracy or even against hoping that things can ever get better: see, even the Americans are no better than we are! Dictators can artificially insulate themselves from accountability in the short term, which makes them ill-equipped to think about backfire. Train your people’s eyes on the aspiring American autocrat, and they can all see his humiliating fall.

To our sisters and brothers around the world, from Idlib to Hong Kong, from São Paolo to Moscow, and along every wide country road in between: this is the only true thing your oppressors have ever told you. We are no better than you are. We are no more suited for or entitled to liberation. Look what we have done. Imagine what you can do.

There’s kind of a false dichotomy going on where people swung from “Trump is going to successfully rig the election for himself” pessimism to “oh, Biden only ousted an incumbent by a freakishly large margin, it wasn’t an immediate electoral college landslide, why did Trump get so close.” This take has set in before deep blue California and New York have come close to completing their mail-in ballot counts, which tells you that it isn’t serious, but it’s also beside the point. Trump succeeded in making the election unfair. If he hadn’t illegitimately put a whole lot of thumbs on the scale in his favor, if we’d actually had the free and fair election we deserved, I think he probably would have lost in a landslide. We did the work and showed up in numbers that were ultimately too big to rig. That led to victory, although not a victory you can quantifiably measure against the dozen or so American elections that were more or less free and fair. That doesn’t mean the rigging didn’t happen or have any impact. It means we beat the spread. As the world’s most prominent train enthusiast once said, that is a big fucking deal.

A government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the earth. One day soon, it may even exist. That is our charge. That is our choice.

So take a moment to recharge. Enjoy the view. Breathe. We got work to do.

[countrysunshine]

The Pandemic Gave Us a Very New Vocabulary

China announced the first case of a Novel Coronavirus in December 2019. (Covid-19). In late 2019, it had spread exponentially and was declared a pandemic in March 2020 by World Health Organization. Modern quarantine measures, such as lockdowns, curfews, banning community gatherings, cancellation of scheduled social and public activities, closure of mass transit networks, and other travel restrictions, have been implemented internationally to halt the spread of the COVID19 virus. These have impacted the majority (if not all) of the world’s population, dramatically altering what was previously considered normal and complicating aspects of everyday life that were previously easy and uncomplicated. Many people’s daily life has been drastically altered, and “normal” ways of life as we know them have been suspended indefinitely as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed catastrophic threat to human civilization in terms of health, environment, and lifestyle. The primary impact of the virus is on human health, including direct respiratory system injury, compromise the immune system, aggravation of underlying medical conditions, and ultimately systemic failure and death. Furthermore, as quarantine or isolation has been imposed that involves separation from friends and family, as well as a change from normal daily routines, it jeopardizes the social, mental, and spiritual health of individuals.

When the virus spreads, so does the risk of misinformation and false evidence, which the WHO refers to as an "infodemic." The internet has become a common resource for learning about health and researching one's own health condition before claiming, "I am healthy!" without testing its legitimacy. So, what does health mean to you? Considering our current normal environment., does your own view of health changes? Are you one of those individuals who share fake news to scare? How and why should you avoid doing it? Do you keep yourself informed? Why do you think it is relevant to be informed and learn our current health status in this time?

As we embark in this new normal, the term “health” has become stereotyped. Health appears to be a straightforward concept, but as we draw closer and attempt to define and explain it, the solidity disappears. In this feature, health will be defined along with health education in a new normal setting.

Health is dynamic and ever-changing. Each person has their subjective definition of health. However, traditionally health has been defined in terms of the presence or absence of disease. As for the World Health Organization (WHO), “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social, and spiritual well-being and not merely the absence of disease.” The four dimensions of health are physical, mental, social, and spiritual.

Physical- characterized in terms of functional status and the capacity to perform a wide range of activities, including self-care, household work, and leisure activities.

Mental- focused on anxiety disorders, positive well-being, and self-control

Social- developing relationships with others, both with people in immediate surroundings and with the larger community through cultural, spiritual, and political activities.

These dimensions are all interconnected, which means they affect one another. If one dimension is affected, the other will follow as well. For example, if an individual tested positive for the virus, some of his/her daily activities will be restricted. Must also avoid social environments so that he/she does not infect others, which may lead to feelings such as depression.

In this new normal setting, stereotyping health would be, not being infected by the virus. Being negative with the virus could mean that an individual has strong innate immunity with a good diet and healthy lifestyle thus enable them to perform daily living activities. We can then conclude that an individual is healthy. Nonetheless, health is more than just biological elements or social role performance and absence of the virus; it is a complex balance with the world setting and the “ability to live physically, emotionally, and socially.”

Health in the new normal setting is linked to governmental regulations. COVID-19 is a public health crisis that has imposed steep obstacles. The pandemic response poses significant challenges for the physical and mental health and social wellbeing, which are essential cornerstones of overall health. These measures have disproportionately impacted the marginalized and disadvantaged populations-especially those living in poverty, working in the informal economy, or lacking stable housing-threatening sustained access to the essential determinant of health.

Orders to “stay at home” impoverish societies by limiting public life keeping individuals out of it. The general populations freedom to move freely has been limited. The social isolation associated with the new normal setting has been shown to have a negative impact on a variety of mental health indicators. Loneliness, for instance, causes mood swings, depression, and an increase in overall mortality. Health necessitates more than disease eradication; it must be described and interpreted holistically since health is a human right that must be rendered clear.

However, although the negative outcome of this new normal setting is immense, we can also say that health is much like the yin and yang concept. Whereas yin represents darkness and positivity, and yang presents light and activity like improved hygiene. These concepts are necessary to maintain life’s balance and harmony. Health is greatly influenced by personal feelings—energy, comfort, and the ability to perform. Also, health is personal but an elastic concept and must not be compared to a species-wide baseline, but a personal phenomenological baseline. If an individual has the capacity to adapt well and maintain balance, stress and resultant disease, or limitation of action including social capacity are minimized.

In a new normal environment, health can also be defined as instrumental. The idea of health as an instrument is a different way of describing a contribution to society, both individually and collectively. In short, we are talking about how an individual's behavior and decisions that can affect improvements in health status. My ‘being healthy and keeping my family healthy is an instrument for preventing the spread of this disease in the population. Coronavirus does not only affect the elderly and others who are medically vulnerable. We are aware that it has the potential to impact and us. As a result, it is also our mutual duty to prevent the virus from spreading from person to person.

Pandemic is a word that if misused can cause unreasonable fear or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over leading to unnecessary suffering and death. As the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps across the world, it has been accompanied by an enormous misinformation which the WHO described as an ‘infodemic’. At a time when reliable information is vital for public health, fake news and propaganda about COVID-19 is spreading even faster than the facts and is just as dangerous. It is important to protect the public false information.

At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, health officials provided alerts and recommendations via various channels such as television and infographics on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This was often accompanied by the implementation of safety parameters on people's movement, which led in some degree of success in combating the virus. Some preventive measures, such as social isolation, regular hand washing, wearing face masks, and avoiding close contact with sick people or suspected Covid-19 cases, reduce the risk of infection with COVID-19. However, putting these steps into effect regularly is a major challenge.

Hence, health education may serve as a catalyst for the public to be informed to avoid risking their lives from the spreading  ‘appears to be true news’ ,  to promote behavioral change and empower communities which will assist them in adapting beneficial habits in this long battle against COVID-19 while we are in the new normal setting. Health education is not just for individual’s benefit but also that of others and to provide resources and opportunities to make such changes.

Some people may claimed they were at low to no risk because they underestimated the severity of the issue.

Therefore, improving people's habits necessitates motivating people to incorporate preventive behaviors in their everyday lives by supplying them with a clear rationale. The health education and information should be structured in a way that is understandable to the public and can connect with their own experience, but it should also be timely, factual, and acceptable to the relevant subgroups in the population.

At this time of the global pandemic, all of us can be a health educator. It is critical to remain an advocate for those in the society that are especially vulnerable—those who are facing this pandemic with all the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with it—in the context of existing mental health and related social challenges in this new normal setting. However, let us all be responsible and fight misinformation. Let us help and guide each other to pave a new path forward to the return of day amidst differences of behaviors, habits, and perspective.

[darwinforthewin]

MODERN FIXATION

          If you’re reading this, it’s too late. Your device has already taken you. It’s going to be up to you now how easy or hard it will be for you to fight the urge to stay on it. One thing is for sure, technology is inevitable. From the very moment you tried reading this, you were already enjoying the benefits of technology. You used technology to do something that you wanted. Besides, you wouldn’t even be reading this without technology. Everywhere you go, whatever you do, there is technology. Technology has already become an essential part of our everyday lives and whether you like it or not, social media is a huge part of it.

           Now, social media is vitally useful in various ways. In fact, this is what helps us survive nowadays. Looking for jobs, finding solutions, deciding on what to eat, searching for a place to live, and most especially, getting connected with the people we know. Social media satisfies the needs of humans of having the desire of being part of something big. As a result of this, social media specifically produces identity that is akin to mob mentality allowing humans to be hyper-connected and unable to spend their time with real family and friends. (Koo, 2015).

           For students like me, social media is a must. There is no way you can efficiently accomplish a group task without using social media. Students of today were raised in an increasingly media-rich environment. (Perse & Lambe, 2017). It is inevitable for them to use any form of media for communication, connection, research, and many more. However, this could lead students to the overuse of media for it will inevitably be part of their everyday needs. Social media users specifically Facebook users tend to admit their excessive normal, usual, or planned amounts of time online. (Koo, 2015) Certainly, social media users like me are unable to take control of their online activity; hence, leading them to have negative academic, professional, and social consequences.

          Since technology plays an important role to me as a student, and to me as an individual, it is without a doubt that I need it every single day. With this, I can pretty much relate myself to the portrayals of young people using social media in the documentary The Social Dilemma. Even if it is not for the purpose of education, I still spend most of my time on my phone, if not, have my phone by my side, at all times of the day. This is because certain gadgets nowadays are most effectively and conveniently used for entertainment, communication, security, and most especially, for an emergency. Despite this, I grew up and was raised with the discipline to put limitations in everything. It has been part of the house rules that when we eat or when we spend time with family, we do not use our phones unless it is of great urgency and importance.

           The documentary The Social Dilemma reveals an essential portion of what you need to know inside the digital space. You may not have known yet but technology is getting way bigger and more advanced than you could have ever imagined. Everything you see on social media, what you’re seeing now, what you’re reading, what you’re looking at – all these are just tiny fragments of what the internet actually is. The Social Dilemma presents you with the adverse effects of technology and how it can actually be used as a system of manipulation that leads people into believing something that is not true. Because of the freedom that we can access in social media, businesses and politicians tend to overexploit the platform which, in effect, they use to create false publicities and deceptive propaganda that results in an overall sense of illusion for the vulnerable users of social media. After all, social media itself is a form of business.

           With the power of technology, I believe businessmen and politicians will continue to use it in the same way they are using it now. This is because technology has no limitations. As businesses, social media platforms earn through the running of advertisements. The only way they can grow their business further is to improve their method of revenue which is what they are doing now: use of cookies and personalization of advertisements. Anyhow, businesses need people and people need businesses. What makes the market mutually efficient for both parties is through the use of social media. As was mentioned in the documentary, people are the products of social media and that is how it really works. The time you spend on social media. which is the time you spend for your personal benefit, equates to earnings for the platform. Businesses will continue to advertise, whether it is for manipulation or promotion, because from the very nature of it that is how it works; this is explained by a common economic principle that nothing really is for free.

          As for politicians, the spread of fake news and cyber propaganda is prevalent. However, I believe that it will not be as prevalent as what it is now in the future. This is because social media nowadays, especially Facebook, have developed a capability to detect news or articles that portray false news, misinformation, and any suspicious posts and activities. Facebook created Temporal Interaction EmbeddingS research (TIES) as an effort to improve its detection of fake accounts and misinformation and the enforcement regulations. This has enabled the company to eliminate more than 135 million fake accounts in April 2020. This may not have completely removed all existing fake news due to diverse engagement, but this serves as a stepping stone for Facebook and other social media platforms to build a system of rectification on the issue of information fallacies across the internet (Hutchinson, 2020). Therefore, yes, the politicians will still try to take advantage of technology in the future because they have the freedom to do so, but the movement has already begun for it to battle upon in this respect.

          In the end, it may be beneficial for us to use technologies in our everyday lives but it is still part of our responsibilities to put certain limitations to it. Additionally, it is part of our due diligence to verify the information we encounter in the digital space. When you buy a certain product in the mall, you check whether it is fake or original before purchasing. This goes the same when you encounter articles, news, or any information on social media. You always have to verify the information before buying into it. This action must always be kept in mind when you browse the internet. Failure to do so can lead to detrimental repercussions that influence you and your decisions on life matters. Businesses and politicians will always try to play tricks on us but the only way we can push back against unethical practices of using social media is through our actions ourselves. Engaging our critical thinking skills and educating people about social media literacy are our best tools to defend ourselves from modern harm.

           There are certain lines from the film that give a powerful impact. One of these lines is “If you’re not paying for the product, then you’re the product.” This statement is indeed agreeable. Like I said in the previous paragraphs, nothing is for free. Everything has an opportunity cost and trade-off which is an economic principle. Even when you say you have free lunch available at the canteen, falling in line to get it is the cost of it. This is why if you are not paying for a product, then you should already expect that something from you is taken in exchange. Another line from the film states that “There are only two industries that call their customers 'users': illegal drugs and software." To me, this can be associated with the same effect that comes with both industries: addiction. Both drugs and software impart chemicals that trigger the release of dopamine or our happy hormones from our brain. When we use drugs, our neurotransmitters from our brains detect a sense of pleasurable experience in which it changes the behavior of our brain in a way it increases the odds of us repeating the activity again and again; thus, it goes the same with our usage of the software.

           There is another line from the film that I find to be agreeing with. It was the line that says “Social media is a marketplace that trades exclusively in human futures." This is evident from the many circumstances the film presented. The one reason why social media knows exactly how to keep you engaged on the platform is that they analyze your behavior pattern. And when they know the kind of behavior you have; they move on to advance their trading scheme. They sell your personal data and give them to large companies which is why there exist personalized advertisements as you scroll through your media feed. The last line from the film that hooked me is the statement: "The very meaning of culture is manipulation." Since our culture is filled with social media and the internet, it can be deduced that everything can now be tracked and monitored. People can now easily manipulate you into liking something or into having different sets of views, may this be in business or politics. As long as social media exist, so does manipulation. Our culture has become associated with the use of technology. It now depends on how we perceive information online that guides our beliefs and that what makes us who we are.

  Personal SWOT Analysis Worksheet

          Illustrated above is my personal SWOT Analysis. I would say that the political, economic, and social factors are crucial to my growth. Because of these factors, I can determine steps that I can take to maintain my sanity and to improve on what I am lacking. The technological factors play a significant influence on the political, economic, and social factors found in both of my opportunities and strengths. This is because technology boosts everything around you, most especially in a time of a pandemic. Although I cannot go out because of COVID-19, technology allows me to stay connected with my friends and keep myself updated with the nation’s news. Because of technology, distance learning has been integrated into educational institutions to continue the delivery of education to all students like me. However, technology also contributes to factors under threats. Technological factors reduce personal interaction and increase the odds of people getting influenced by fake news considering that people, nowadays, turn to social media to obtain news. 

           With all the aforementioned circumstances, I would say that there are similarities and differences between my personal assessment and what the documentary, The Social Dilemma, says about the influence of technology on our lives. In a similar aspect, both my assessment and the documentary have presented significant improvements in daily lives with technology such as communication, research, broadcasting, data exploration, labor, and many more especially in a time of difficulty. On the contrary, both my assessment and the documentary presented adverse effects of technology specifically on our mental health and decision-making. This just goes to prove that technology is not always what it seems.   

References:

Hutchinson, A. (2020, August 26). Facebook Outlines New System for Detecting Fake Accounts and Misinformation Based on Interactions. https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-outlines-new-system-for-detecting-fake-accounts-and-misinformation/584228/.

Perse, E. M., & Lambe, J. (2017). Media effects and society. London: Routledge.

Koo, G. S. (2015). Lights and Shadows of Digital Technologies. Makati City: Church Strengthening Ministry, Inc.

[itsniroboy]

Week 6 - Activism and Protests

Activism has been an important part of human revolution for quite a while, considering that people in various eras of the world have tried to bring about change, be it political or social by holding campaigns in support of what they believe in. But Digital activism emerged with the rise of Internet and gave each user the ability to express their feelings out loud for people all around the world to see and for independent activists around the world to use the internet and digital tools to build their community, connect with other similar-minded people outside their physical surroundings as well as lobby, raise funds and organize events(Rees, 2020).

Social Media and Activism

Social media and activism have been going hand in hand since the early 2010’s most notably with the 2010 Arab Spring demonstrations. Starting from this, social media has played a big part in mobilizing activist campaigns all around the world. At forefront of the tools of social media that have been used to raise awareness, none has been more potent than the #hashtag!

A hashtag for those who are not familiar, is kind of a label given to types of content to make it easier for people to come across whenever a search is done, so it helps others interested in a specific topic come across content of the same kind easily. In the sphere of activism, especially digital activism, the hashtag has been proven hugely significant in mobilizing the movements worldwide, and they gone to inspire countless social activist movements like #TimeUp, #Metoo and #BlackLivesMatter among a plethora of others.

Campaigns launched through activism

Over the years, there have been a huge number of campaigns that were launched all around the world and social media has been used extensively in order for these campaigns to expand its reach and gain traction among people. From Facebook rally invites, petitions on change.org and powerful hashtags, using social media tools like these have become the norm for many social activists(Peters, 2011).

To say that there have been a lot of activist campaigns launched would be an understatement because there’s so many campaigns being launched all around the world whether be it local or international. But I’ll be focusing on, in my opinion, the 2 of the most talked about and shared campaigns in recent years, them being the Hong Kong protest and the George Floyd murder and it’s influence in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Hong Kong Protests

You’ve got to be living under a rock if you haven’t at least heard about the protests that have been going on in Hong Kong which started in June of 2019 as a means of standing against the proposed legislation bill of the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill. This prompted massive but largely peaceful protest in Hong Kong to start with people voicing for the withdrawal of the proposed bill. But since then, the protests have snowballed into a pro-democracy movement with Hong Kong’s citizens demanding complete autonomy from China.

What started as mostly peaceful protests, moved quickly to social media because of the many arrests and brutality shown by the Hong Kong police towards the protesters, so to remain anonymous and avoid arrest, many activists used social media to spread awareness on the situation going on in Hong Kong to the rest of the world. Many users shared pictures and videos of the police brutality and injured protesters in various social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to gain support from people around the world. Media outlets and people around the world joined in to help the people of Hong Kong share the news of protesters struggles by sharing pictures, videos and messages of support with hashtags such as #FightForHongKong and #FreeHongKong(Lijiam, 2019).

Black Lives Matter Movement

This movement began all the way back in 2013 with the killing of Trayvon Martin at the hands of police officer George Zimmerman in Florida. Trayvon Martin who was 17 years old at the time was a young teenager of the black community and was gunned by Zimmerman just on the grounds that he felt that Trayvon was looking suspicious. This erupted the black community in rage at the loss of an innocent life and the discrimination against their community. Another similar incident occurred one year later with another killing of an unarmed teenager named Michael Brown by a police officer, prompting the black community to take to the streets and often leading to angry confrontations with the police.

But the killing of George Floyd on May 25th 2020, took the movements to heights never seen before. The circulation of the horrifying video of George Floyd being pinned down and being not allowed to breath which ultimately led to his death, made not only the black community but people all around the world erupt in anger and disgust at the brutality done by these 4 uniformed men.

People took to social media to demand the arrest and punishment of the officers involved in the incident and when immediate action wasn’t taken, people started creating petitions and pressuring the government to take action ultimately leading to the arrest of the officers involved.

The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was used heavily in all the posts and media circulated through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This also saw the emergence of more cases of police brutality against the black community being shared all across social media gaining support of millions of people who joined the movement.

Conclusion

There is no denying that protests and activism has given people a voice to express their opinions on various issues going on in their countries and around the world, these being not only political but even mental and environmental issues have been tackled through activism. And social media has provided a significant influence on the way people can express their opinions. But as with everything there are drawbacks to this, where misinformation and corrupt propaganda can thrive so it is important for us as users to properly navigate through these issues.

References

Anderson, M., Toor, S., Raine, L. and Smith, A., 2018. Activism In The Social Media Age. [online] Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. Available at: <https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/07/11/activism-in-the-social-media-age/> [Accessed 11 October 2020].

Rees, A., 2020. Digital And Online Activism | Responsibility. [online] RESET.to. Available at: <https://en.reset.org/knowledge/digital-and-online-activism> [Accessed 11 October 2020].

Lijiam, S., 2019. Through Hong Kong Protests, Social Media Has Become A Battleground. [online] The Journal. Available at: <https://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2019-09-04/pop-culture/through-hong-kong-protests-social-media-has-become-a-battleground/> [Accessed 22 October 2020].

Shao, G 2019, ‘Social media has become a battleground in Hong Kong’s protests’, viewed 12 October, 2020, <https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/16/social-media-has-become-a-battleground-in-hong-kongs-protests.html>.

Peters, M 2011, ‘A Brief History of Online Activism’, viewed 12 October, 2020, <https://mashable.com/2011/08/15/online-activism/>.

[4pz]

((personal update))

most won’t read till the end and i don’t blame you. you’ve been programmed not to. summary, i’ve been taking a dopamine detox. here’s why.

before i put this out there, i’d like to say i am human just like you. these thoughts stem from observing majority but not everyone. i’ve been guilty of all these doings at a point in time and most likely will be in the future. no human is perfect. this is just my way of adding some perspective to our imperfections..

so i know i’ve been publicly quiet for a few years now. this is because of personal events as well as gradually becoming more uncomfortable with the behavior we’re allowing as a society.

in my opinion, we are subconsciously controlling each other. we are addicted to short term dopamine infused feedback loops.. as humans its in our nature to want people to like us. gratification from others is the strongest drug there is. but think about how dangerous it can get when there’s several platforms with millions of constantly active users that could instantly feed you with a like, love or thumbs up etc. not just one person in front of you saying they like you but potentially millions of people saying they like you. i imagine that would leave your subconscious thinking, what do i need to do next for more people to like me? that thought is the first sign of you being controlled.

not only are we competing with each other for validation, but the demand for content vs appreciation scale is far out of balance. what happens when you take an impatient market combined with a fixation of dopamine infused approval, you get more product with less substance.. in a world where all media and information is available at a touch of a button/screen, this naturally makes us more and more impatient. therefore, when it comes to “content”, we’re empowering quantity over quality. gradually decreasing what humans accept daily while over saturating all markets. this can be dangerous.

i thought deeper into why we allow this. what i call the more of less theory. simply put, there’s only so many ways of doing something, while there are countless amounts of people trying to do the same things. that’s why nothing is truly original. everything is a newer rendition (hopefully improvement) of an already existing idea. this literally applies to everything.

as innovation is dying and copying is thriving, i’ve become even more lost in my search for “truth”. i started to realize that there honestly is no truth when it comes to the correct way to live. it really comes down to all power remaining in the eye of the beholder.. to get more honest, most are just chasing quick gains rather then long term change. this goes back to blaming our vastly growing impatience. not to mention the easier route will always appear more appealing then the harder route. which now brings me to my concerns with social media.

insta(nt gratification from strangers) isn’t entirely healthy, for me at least. read that both ways.. not only do we value outside opinions more then we should, we start to lose who we really are at the expense of others approval. the longer we spend scrolling the easier we are influenced. the more we see how “influential” beings are living, the more we naturally become envious of that lifestyle. slowly we start attempting to become more and more like the figures we look up to until we don’t even know who we really are.. now a’days it seems like most don’t even know how to form an opinion without first checking what everyone else thinks.

social media is one out of many forms of dopamine that we rely on to get through the day. we create false realities to distract us further and longer from our actual realities. we share the best and hide the rest. we thrive off of the approval from others to reassure us from our own insecurities. we tear each other down at times to feel some sense of control. we watch self improvement videos rather then actually implementing them in our lives. we distort our perception of others based on their online identity. we base our own worth on our social identity, status, and class rather then our actual character and values. we constantly spread biased misinformation, since everyone has the ability to voice any opinion they please, which leads to mass propaganda and solidifies the expiration of truth. we justify unproductive behavior and lie to ourselves over and over until we are eventually fine with it..

now i’m not saying all dopamine is bad all the time. we need some form of reward when we do something good. i’m just saying it seems most need a significant amount of dopamine in a short timespan to feel okay. this can be dangerous.

in my short 22 years, i’ve spent countless nights overthinking and analyzing the complex world i was put in. very confused on determining what’s actually right from wrong since we’re all born the same way but live drastically different lifestyles. one person could be completely supportive of something while another being completely against it. so far the 2 best overall attributes i’ve found to guide my compass is perspective and balance.

so, why update us after so long of silence just to be more silent? well because i felt the need. a personal update seemed appropriate in this interesting time we’re all experiencing. if i help give one person just a little perspective and awareness leading to a little more balance n possibly some happiness, then i feel i’ve done my part.. please may we all unify and do our part to promote love and equality! we have the power, we are the future and i will forever remain obediently yours.

coming full circle, i would have never made any social accounts had i not pursued a career as an artist. i have a lot of unreleased music, ideas and poetry created. still currently creating.. making impactful art that no one else understands fills me with joy and purpose. wether thousands of people experience it or i continue to keep it to myself, either way it has always been therapeutic to create and revise. i may release content again to the public if i feel compelled to. could be in a few months, could be a few years or could be never. whatever it is, i’d like to thank anyone who’s ever given me any time of day, in any sort of way. i love you, all of you..

i’d also like to apologize to the ones i didn’t treat properly in the past while growing up and losing myself as a person. with how complex life can be, at times you may find yourself caught up in things that don’t really matter. i have spent a good amount of time recognizing my mistakes, accepting them and learning from them to better myself everyday going forward. i hope you understand and one day grow to forgive me if possible.

lastly, i value your time and hope you do as well. that’s kind of why i wrote all of this. if you’ve made it this far, you’re special. you’re interested in programming your life to be a little different. a little better. after this, will you continue scrolling or start a new journey? most people say just do what makes you happy. if scrolling makes you happy, who am i to stop you? i’m just another human on my pursuit of happiness. X staY up -Z

[campb1ws-blog]

The Reasons For Junk News

There are three main reasons that junk news spreads so quickly across social media, according to an article on the Oxford Internet Institute website (link at bottom). Junk news is defined as false content, conspiracy theories, and political propaganda. The three reasons are algorithms, advertising, and exposure.

The first reason is the algorithms. The same techniques used for business marketing is now being used for political messages, regardless of whether the information in the message is true or not. The problem is that the algorithm knows what you like and continues to fill your feed with similar content. This is done to increase your engagement with posts, but it also increases bias. If you only see things that you agree with politically, you receive no diverse viewpoints or anyone challenging your political ideologies. The algorithm can also continue to provoke outrage if a person has a history of engaging with posts that create outrage. I think the algorithm on websites like Facebook and YouTube can specifically harm users because it can throw them into a loop of negative content that furthers their bias toward the opposing political party. For example, on YouTube, you may be recommended only left-leaning political commentators. This is possibly one of the main driving forces of the hyperpolarization we are currently experiencing in the United States.

The second reason is advertising. Social media is free to use because our personal information is sold to advertisers. Advertisers then use this information to target you with personalized advertisements. A political organization can use this system to target potential voters and influence an election. Also, viral content is rewarded in this current model. This is because more people are seeing the advertisement attached to the content, therefore increasing revenue for the creator AND the website. This encourages clickbait, content designed to attract attention. Clickbait can be seen by many people in a short amount of time, regardless of the accuracy of the information being spread. Since the website is profiting, they may be slow to take down misinformation. I often see clickbait advertisements with no real information being offered. The goal is to get a person to read through a whole article, having to click to the next page for each new paragraph, seeing new ads each time.

The third reason is exposure. People can choose what they expose themselves to on social media. For example, a person who identifies with the Republican party may only follow newspapers and people who share the same ideologies. If we intentionally ignore information that may challenge our beliefs, we risk increasing our political bias. I notice this happening with cable news currently. Republicans watch Fox News and Democrats watch CNN. I find it interesting to flip back and forth from CNN and Fox News. They often are discussing the same piece of news, with both stations mostly highlighting only how bad the other political party is dealing with the issue.

I think social media algorithms used in the U.S. should be regulated by the federal government. First, a person should have the right to request the data points collected on them, to clear and restart the algorithm at any time, and to opt-out of political advertisements. A person should have the right to see the data points collected on them because it is their data. I do not think it is right to keep the Big Data industry so much of a secret. I think they hide this information to prevent outrage over the scale of surveillance used. Second, I think someone should be able to restart their algorithm for content suggestions because if you watch just one political outrage video, you may continue to have similar videos in your suggestions. I think it is only right to allow a user to clear their history and start fresh. Lastly, I think that a person should be able to opt-out of any advertisement that contains any political message. This would allow a better user experience for people who may want an escape from political drama.

In conclusion, social media can spread misinformation at a rapid pace. Algorisms, advertising, and exposure all play off each other to spread junk news quickly. Social media can be an extremely powerful tool, but the current business model also makes it possible for junk news to spread at a pace like never before.

https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/blog/three-reasons-junk-news-spreads-so-quickly-across-social-media/

[incarnateirony]

1/ Hey! I was really hit by something you said. Internalized Homophobia is genuinely a thing and something I have experienced myself - which was all levels of terrifying. I don't have a narcissist bone in my body and came around to it pretty quickly and faced it. As a bisexual woman, it was hard for me to come to the grips that I would do that - even unconsciously.

2/ That being said, I wonder why so many of us cling to what representation we have instead of demanding more/better. Or I know that some do, but some people are just fine without. If it wasn’t for you, i wouldn’t have ever realized how horrible those numbers really were. And I don’t want to EVER make that mistake again. So are their easy terms to watch out for when seeing reports that may be misleading…. Like Jess’ often are?3/ Outside of my own research - which how do you even know all this??? youre unfairly crafted for this??? don’t mind me, ill just be over here chilling, wanting to pick your brain. (And now I’m rambling). Anyway, do you have any advice on reading a possibly misleading piece on this particular subject - with all the numbers and maths and shit - and thanks for being you! (Sorry for the long winded messy question, my bad fam)

Hey Nonnie. First of all apologies if I miss like, any part of this because I’m currently dealing with the allergy-born flu of a lifetime and just had the wild tear-streaking adventures of Ears, Nose, and Throat fuckery but this was such an interesting anon I’m gonna TRY to answer it rather than leaving it to sit.

Now the fact with internalized homophobia is it’s a pervasive cultural issue. It’s almost impossible to be completely free of it but in our awareness of that we can start making motions to be better, for ourselves and for others, and change that landscape. The refusal to acknowledge the impact that culture has had on us lends to propagation of the damaging narratives day to day.

It’s not like an invisible gayness nuke went off in each generation that makes gens Y and Z identify more openly LGBT than X and baby boomers. It’s a shift in our dialogue, and our willingness to realize we shouldn’t be fit into a mold that more and more of us realize are literally just constructs of a controlling culture. There’s no giant like, gay mutation hitting these generations. It’s people being more and more prone to explore this within themselves and realize it’s okay, and it’s going to be something through this generation, and the next, until we can completely cast away those shackles.

As for misleading narratives, honestly, almost anybody can spin facts if they’re choosing to only cite partial reports. For example, sure! The CW looks #1 gay! Until you choose not to cite the “must be put into context” part and take a peeksie at what’s on the axing block and why that surge even took place. Anyone using that as a “stop fighting for more” tool is someone to be wary of, for whatever reason, whether they’re LGBT or not.

Also just look for discrepancies in what they’re citing. For example, “anon” sent in that “CW is 16% above the LGBT population of the US”, rather than the actual numbers, that 16% of their characters (at current, not minding the huge bundle that just got canceled with the appended disclaimer by GLAAD) are LGBT. Well, 16% minus 16% equals zero percent, so that would require there being zero percent of people in the US being LGBT. Rather than, within GLAAD’s own report, them citing a specific census that put it at 20% identifying LGBT in that age bracket. 

And that’s fine. Conservative estimates are safe estimates to work from before pushing forward into more liberal estimates. It’s a talking point, similar to how Bobo talked about conservative LGBT talking points earning more initial platform in media than hopping straight to the far edge of the pool, even if it’s more of a “necessary evil.” But also look for other studies that are decently credentialed, find other reports, see where the liberal edge of these censuses do lean.

The greatest protection of yourself that you can do is cross-checking on your own time. Don’t trust any one source to give you everything. Do some digging. That’s the best thing you can do. Social media gives us great power to spread information, but at the same time, equal power to spread misinformation or in the very least intentionally skewed information. It’s the literal nature of propaganda. And whether it’s hets or people with subconscious internalized homophobia propelling that information around, it’s a very real thing when it comes to LGBT issues.

As for me, well, I guess I’m “just crafted for this.” Marketing and media is my thing. Numbers tend to be heavily related. Demographics. LGBT studies unto themselves aren’t my personal focus, and I admit that, but it’s adjacent and related and I, as an LGBT individual who endeavors to break free of the cultural marginalization that we aren’t only boxed in, but actually chain ourselves into – it’s at least something I do look into, and I never just look at the now. I look both at the road so far and where that leads us fruitfully ahead. Or unfruitfully, if we aren’t mindful and watchful.

Maybe it’s my inner hermeticist peeking out on that front, too. It’s all about breaking our own shackles and no longer being prisoner to what any culture, or dogma, or propaganda, or god will tell you about where you belong. It’s all a part of the same thing in the end, ne?

Everybody take some lessons from 14.20.

Challenge everything.

I’m serious though just about anyone trying to figure out how to think outside of the box needs to realize what the box is, because it tends to be beyond what you think. Persona 5 is an excellent exercise for you to mindfuck yourselves and start breaking linear culturally induced thought patterns even if it’s painted in a high fantasy spread because you won’t even realize you’re in the box with your cultural dances until you’re getting thrown outside the box.

Or just really, REALLY think of the moral and ramifications of 14.20 on a cultural level.

[orbemnews]

Extremists Find a Financial Lifeline on Twitch Terpsichore Maras-Lindeman, a podcaster who fought to overturn the 2020 presidential election, recently railed against mask mandates to her 4,000 fans in a live broadcast and encouraged them to enter stores maskless. On another day, she grew emotional while thanking them for sending her $84,000. Millie Weaver, a former correspondent for the conspiracy theory website Infowars, speculated on her channel that coronavirus vaccines could be used to surveil people. Later, she plugged her merchandise store, where she sells $30 “Drain the Swamp” T-shirts and hats promoting conspiracies. And a podcaster who goes by Zak Paine or Redpill78, who pushes the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, urged his viewers to donate to the congressional campaign of an Ohio man who has said he attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington on Jan. 6. All three spread their messages on Twitch, a livestreaming video site owned by Amazon that has become a new mainstream base of operations for many far-right influencers. Streamers like them turned to the site after Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms clamped down on misinformation and hate speech ahead of the 2020 election. Twitch comes with a bonus: The service makes it easy for streamers to make money, providing a financial lifeline just as their access to the largest online platforms has narrowed. The site is one of the avenues, along with apps like Google Podcasts, where far-right influencers have scattered as their options for spreading falsehoods have dwindled. Twitch became a multibillion-dollar business thanks to video gamers broadcasting their play of games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. Fans, many of whom are young men, pay the gamers by subscribing to their channels or donating money. Streamers earn even more by sending their fans to outside sites to either buy merchandise or donate money. Now Twitch has also become a place where right-wing personalities spread election and vaccine conspiracy theories, often without playing any video games. It is part of a shift at the platform, where streamers have branched out from games into fitness, cooking, fishing and other lifestyle topics in recent years. But unlike fringe livestreaming sites like Dlive and Trovo, which have also offered far-right personalities moneymaking opportunities, Twitch attracts far larger audiences. On average, 30 million people visit the site each day, the platform said. Twitch “monetizes the propaganda, which is unique,” said Megan Squire, a computer science professor at Elon University who tracks extremists online. She said it was as though listeners of the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who died in February, were donating in real time and chipping in greater sums whenever Mr. Limbaugh shared more controversial ideas. “You can turn the dial up and down and turn the flow of money up and down by saying certain things on your stream,” Ms. Squire said. At least 20 channels associated with far-right movements have started broadcasting on Twitch since the fall, according to data compiled by Genevieve Oh, a livestreaming analyst. Some are associated with QAnon, the false theory that former President Donald J. Trump is fighting a cabal of Democratic pedophiles. The channels range from intermittent broadcasters with several hundred views to ones that go live nearly every day and attract thousands of viewers. In a statement, Sara Clemens, Twitch’s chief operating officer, said QAnon users were only a “small handful” of the seven million people who streamed on the site each month. “We will take action against users that violate our community policies against harmful content that encourages or incites self-destructive behavior, harassment, or attempts or threatens to physically harm others, including through misinformation,” she said. Twitch viewers support streamers through monthly subscriptions of $5, $10 or $25 to their channels, or by donating “bits,” a Twitch currency that can be converted to real money. The site also runs advertisements during streams. The platform and streamers split the revenue from ads and subscriptions. It is difficult to determine how much money individual streamers earn from their Twitch channels, but some of the far-right personalities have made many thousands of dollars. By viewing chat logs of streams that denote when a new user has subscribed, Ms. Oh has tallied at least $26,000 in subscriptions for Ms. Maras-Lindeman since December and about $5,000 in “bit” donations before Twitch took its cut. Ms. Weaver has earned nearly $3,000 since she began streaming regularly on Twitch in March, according to Ms. Oh’s tally, and Mr. Paine has made at least $5,000. Those numbers do not account for money made in other ways, such as through Square’s Cash App or Ms. Weaver’s online merchandise store. Twitch generally has stricter rules than other social media platforms for the kinds of views that users can express. It temporarily suspended Mr. Trump’s account for “hateful conduct” last summer, months before Facebook and Twitter made similar moves. Its community guidelines prohibit hateful conduct and harassment. Ms. Clemens said Twitch was developing a misinformation policy. This month, Twitch announced a policy that would allow it to suspend the accounts of people who committed crimes or severe offenses in real life or on other social media platforms, including violent extremism or membership in a known hate group. Twitch said it did not consider QAnon to be a hate group. Despite all this, a Twitch channel belonging to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, a white nationalist organization, remained online until the middle of this month after The New York Times inquired about it. And the white nationalist Anthime Joseph Gionet, known as Baked Alaska, had a Twitch channel for months, even though he was arrested in January by the F.B.I. and accused of illegally storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Twitch initially said his activities had not violated the platform’s policies, then barred him this month for hateful conduct. Ms. Maras-Lindeman and Mr. Paine are Twitch Partners, a coveted status that grants improved customer support and greater options to customize streams. Twitch vets these channels to approve what they do. The company’s website says partners should “act as role models to the community.” Ms. Maras-Lindeman, who is barred from Twitter, averaged about 3,000 viewers a broadcast in March, and her live video broadcast quickly became one of the 1,200 most popular channels across all of Twitch. Her streams are often akin to extended monologues about current events. Sometimes, the “O” in her “ToreSays” username is replaced with a fiery “Q,” and she uses the slogan “Where we go one, we go all,” both symbols of the QAnon movement. She has encouraged her viewers to find legal avenues to throw Ohio legislators out of office because, she said, they were elected using illegitimate voting machines. “You want a great reset? Here it is. We’re going to do it our way, and that’s by eliminating you,” she said during one January stream. Aside from money made on Twitch, Ms. Maras-Lindeman’s fans donated more than $84,000 for her birthday through a GoFundMe campaign. She said the donations went toward a new car, medical treatments and a lawyer. In an email, Ms. Maras-Lindeman disputed the characterization of her as a member of the far right and said she did not advocate violence. “It is not a crime to discuss science and challenge popular current narratives or express my thoughts and opinions,” she said. On a recent stream, Ms. Maras-Lindeman addressed questions emailed to her for this article. She said she was a “centrist” who was simply encouraging her viewers to become more politically active. Mr. Paine’s channel has more than 14,000 followers and is rife with conspiracy theories about vaccines and cancer. In one stream, he and a guest encouraged viewers to drink a bleach solution that claims to cure cancer, which the Food and Drug Administration has said is dangerous. Last week, he referred to a QAnon belief that people are killing children to “harvest” a chemical compound from them, then talked about a “criminal cabal” controlling the government, saying people do not understand “what plane of existence they come from.” Mr. Paine, who is barred from Twitter and YouTube, has also asked his Twitch audience to donate to the House campaign of J.R. Majewski, an Air Force veteran in Toledo, Ohio, who attracted attention last year for painting his lawn to look like a Trump campaign banner. Mr. Majewski has used QAnon hashtags but distanced himself from the movement in an interview with his local newspaper, The Toledo Blade. Mr. Majewski has appeared on Mr. Paine’s streams, where they vape, chat about Mr. Majewski’s campaign goals and take calls from listeners. “He is exactly the type of person that we need to get in Washington, D.C., so that we can supplant these evil cabal criminal actors and actually run our own country,” Mr. Paine said on one stream. Neither Mr. Paine nor Mr. Majewski responded to a request for comment. Joan Donovan, a Harvard University researcher who studies disinformation and online extremism, said streamers who rely on their audience’s generosity to fund themselves felt pressured to continue raising the stakes. “The incentive to lie, cheat, steal, hoax and scam is very high when the cash is easy to acquire,” she said. Source link Orbem News #Extremists #Financial #Find #Lifeline #Twitch