• BygoneNeutrino@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    I’ve seen a lot of false flag operations on both Reddit and Lemmy, so none of this is surprising. In this instance, however, I think it’s just a joke.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I’ve been downvoted to shit this morning for daring to question this apeshit conspiracy theory, so for many it’s dead serious. They’ve been blowing up my inbox with angry replies.

      • BygoneNeutrino@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        I would just ignore the inbox. It has become so cheap to create automated fake accounts that what you see on the internet doesn’t reflect reality. On well-funded platforms like Reddit these misinformation bots need to at least act like rational individuals, but claiming to be a far-left liberal is enough for free reign on Lemmy.

        It sucks, but the Internet is still adapting to this new technology. I try not to let perceived peer pressure determine anything about me.

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          Are they really bots? I’m thinking it’s mostly just really stupid people. But who knows.

          • BygoneNeutrino@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            Some are bots, but others are real people that were influenced by the bots . The Asch Conformity Experiments suggest that up to 35% of the population will adopt what they perceive to be the majority opinion.

            In psychology, the Asch conformity experiments were a series of studies testing the Asch paradigm, directed by Solomon Asch, studying if and how individuals yielded to or defied a majority group and the effect of such influences on beliefs and opinions.

            Groups of eight male college students participated in a simple “perceptual” task. In reality, all but one of the participants were actors.On the first two trials, both the subject and the actors gave the obvious, correct answer. On the third trial, the actors would all give the same wrong answer.

            -Wikepedia

              • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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                3 days ago

                It makes sense, our inputs are imperfect and our brains are always interpreting and correcting. As a social species we use other people’s perceptions as another error correction method. We missee, mishear, misread, misremember… regularly

                • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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                  3 days ago

                  Yeah, I guess I’m weird because while I’m definitely influenceable, I cannot see a world where I just swallow unlikely “facts” just because some people say them confidently. Unless those people are experts in a field or something, which is pretty opposite to online randos.

        • mr_sunburn@lemmy.ml
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          3 days ago

          I try not to let perceived peer pressure determine anything about me.

          Wow! Do you wear pants?