Yup. Conspiracy theories aside, the bot problem is an actual hard problem to solve.

“the left” is not a monolith. A lot of people have various relationships with"the left". I don’t identify with “the left” much because I disagree, strongly, with being put in a groupthink box. I happen to have some beliefs that the groupthink box on the left has vhemently and painfully attacked me for. But I also REALL REALLY REALLY think the right is wildly wrong, because they’re being simplistic, stupid, and very very corrupt. And I STRONGLY object to corruption. I happen to genuinely and unironically love my country and the promise of a fair chance for all. I love clean water. Clean air. A healthy wilderness ecosystem you can spend time in. Hard work that does good for the world. I love the freedom to research, honestly, and speak freely and without fear.

I don’t see the right sharing some key parts of those values these days. But I’m concerned the left has become too inactive, too sullen, too much a party of victims who lash out reactively.

Don’t have a solution yet except to vote.

I don’t feel like I’m constantly sorting through low quality bot shit to find a human with authentic human expertise.

I do miss the long chains of wordplay, the sense of humor and fun. But Reddit gave that up for ragebait ages ago.

It’s a LOT easier to make bots fake being human than it is to detect bots faking being human.

Welcome! It’s WAY quieter over here because it’s mostly people, not bots.

I would tell folks on Reddit to come to the fediverse but I deleted all my reddit accounts.

In theory this is non-harmful. In practice this is part of a fantasy escalation ladder that leads bad places. Your actions are led by your thoughts, and you are the thoughts you feed. In reality it’s a good thing to not feed thoughts of abusing children.

I’d note that I’d be similarly uncomfortable with people buying hyper-realistic dolls to practice amateur torture on, but I’m ok with people buying silicone dolls to practice tattoo art and wound stitching on. The difference being intent, which is a line I’m equally unhappy with the government drawing. Someone slicing up a slab of silicone shaped like a baby because they have a desperate desire to hurt babies that they are actively feeding into is bad. Someone practicing stitching up silicone babies after injuries because they always wanted to be a doctor and never got the chance is healthier and fine. It’s the “what are you feeding with this action?” Problem of governance.

Jesus fucking wept that’s gross

I probably just need to buy a fair phone at this point.

Perfection isn’t always feasible for everyone. Sometimes harm mitigation is the right step.

Dehumanizing the enemy! You would make a great Nazi. You’re already partway there!

The fact of our administration going full fascist does not reduce the fact of other fascist regimes who still hate our guts.

“ethical hacker” is not defined as “someone who only hacks in fear of law”. That’s my point. Hackers with ethics do lots of shit. Some of them work within the law, some of them work sideways to the law, but your code of ethics and your legal code aren’t quite the same thing, and you assuming they are is surprising.

Girl Tech?

Bro.

Stares in old lady

Dude, do you want individual hacking to become illegal? Because people who are not hacking daily are prone to forgetting that some hackers don’t actually act maliciously.

Also, yes, some hackers are ethical and do care. Not you, obviously. But some.

Awesome analysis. Thank you!

A year ago: yes.

Today: nope.

Oh look, fake social media accounts used. Fantastic. No gaps here!