Welcome to the real world; where the bullshit is made up, your credentials don't matter, because at the end of the day it all comes down to trust.
Unfortunately for these researchers, they are finding that just removing content or flagging it as misinformation only gets you trust from a small slice of the overall pie. You have to ask; "Why do these people trust this stuff even after we've debunked/deleted it?" It isn't because the Wayback Machine exists and serves it; it's because of the central inequitable divide that exists in our society. Think about it. You have two fundamental groups of internet users right now. Those that have enough influence to get things removed from the Net at large, and those who don't have a chance in hell at achieving the same. Do you really think that those for whom the Net exists as an incorruptible store of truth, under constant attack by those with a vested interest in shaping the narrative, will ever accept anything remotely resembling strategic takedowns of information or overt attempts to shape the narrative? No. They won't. The info will get out there and find other spread points. Until you get people on a more equitable footing where common experience is more or less the same; fault lines in landscape of trust will be utilized to cleave apart any sense of consensus. Look at the degree of political polarization at work in most countries at the moment. This is not a unique phenomena. It reoccurs at every level of human life. In schools, families, churches, neighborhoods, towns, cities, etc.
I'm pointing this out, because I believe a lot of people may have an instinctual draw to the idea that "Well, we'll just make the Wayback Machine do something about it!" That is a terrible idea in any way shape or form. It isn't that misinformation exists or is recorded somewhere that is the issue in keeping these memes alive. It is that given fundamental differences in the social landscape of trust, people will entertain different things as plausible. In order to "get everyone on the same page" you basically have to resort to redefining "everyone" to "everyone who will agree with me, and finds credibility in the same ways I do". That redefinition at it's core has led to more atrocity than anything else on the planet. Maybe I'm just getting paranoid lately; but this article set off quite a few alarm bells in the back of my head than I'm comfortable with. I'm seeing rather pootentious connections being made that are making me rather nervous.
Stay safe out there everyone. We're all in it together. Now is not the time to exploit for the sake of streamlining the process of sentiment engineering; or to make anyone else feel marginalized or alienated; even if deep down we feel like they are being buffoons.
Unfortunately for these researchers, they are finding that just removing content or flagging it as misinformation only gets you trust from a small slice of the overall pie. You have to ask; "Why do these people trust this stuff even after we've debunked/deleted it?" It isn't because the Wayback Machine exists and serves it; it's because of the central inequitable divide that exists in our society. Think about it. You have two fundamental groups of internet users right now. Those that have enough influence to get things removed from the Net at large, and those who don't have a chance in hell at achieving the same. Do you really think that those for whom the Net exists as an incorruptible store of truth, under constant attack by those with a vested interest in shaping the narrative, will ever accept anything remotely resembling strategic takedowns of information or overt attempts to shape the narrative? No. They won't. The info will get out there and find other spread points. Until you get people on a more equitable footing where common experience is more or less the same; fault lines in landscape of trust will be utilized to cleave apart any sense of consensus. Look at the degree of political polarization at work in most countries at the moment. This is not a unique phenomena. It reoccurs at every level of human life. In schools, families, churches, neighborhoods, towns, cities, etc.
I'm pointing this out, because I believe a lot of people may have an instinctual draw to the idea that "Well, we'll just make the Wayback Machine do something about it!" That is a terrible idea in any way shape or form. It isn't that misinformation exists or is recorded somewhere that is the issue in keeping these memes alive. It is that given fundamental differences in the social landscape of trust, people will entertain different things as plausible. In order to "get everyone on the same page" you basically have to resort to redefining "everyone" to "everyone who will agree with me, and finds credibility in the same ways I do". That redefinition at it's core has led to more atrocity than anything else on the planet. Maybe I'm just getting paranoid lately; but this article set off quite a few alarm bells in the back of my head than I'm comfortable with. I'm seeing rather pootentious connections being made that are making me rather nervous.
Stay safe out there everyone. We're all in it together. Now is not the time to exploit for the sake of streamlining the process of sentiment engineering; or to make anyone else feel marginalized or alienated; even if deep down we feel like they are being buffoons.