Thoughts on addressing misinformation?

[Anonymous]

Republicans are constantly spewing lies/propaganda on DCUM. It has become ridiculous. Countering is pointless and doesn't stop the endless stream of BS.

Have you considered changing how you handle them going forward? Delete and block? Registered users for politics?

I know the issue goes way beyond DCUM but since you do have some control your platform I was wondering if you've thought about doing things differently going forward. Or maybe at this point you're ready to just cash out and retire?

[jsteele]

I am very much in favor of "delete and block" but posters have to help by reporting the posts. I am not able to find them all myself. Preferably, report the posts before 100 people have replied to them.

I am prepared to water my lawn with MAGA tears. Let them complain about censorship all they want.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:I am very much in favor of "delete and block" but posters have to help by reporting the posts. I am not able to find them all myself. Preferably, report the posts before 100 people have replied to them.

I am prepared to water my lawn with MAGA tears. Let them complain about censorship all they want.

OK. I wasn't sure if you'd report just based on that. I'm happy to report! Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

It seems to me that the flood the zone, distract, and sow division tactics are the biggest problem. This is designed to derail discussion and conversation.

Is there a way to temporarily block an IP address if when it hits N+1 posts in X period of time? N would be whatever number of posts is reasonable for someone not simply wanting to distract. X would be based on what patterns you see, maybe 12 hours.

Yes, troll farms, professional PR and political groups , and truly committed keyboard warriors will find ways to change IP addresses but it’s a hurdle for them to jump over.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that the flood the zone, distract, and sow division tactics are the biggest problem. This is designed to derail discussion and conversation.

Is there a way to temporarily block an IP address if when it hits N+1 posts in X period of time? N would be whatever number of posts is reasonable for someone not simply wanting to distract. X would be based on what patterns you see, maybe 12 hours.

Yes, troll farms, professional PR and political groups , and truly committed keyboard warriors will find ways to change IP addresses but it’s a hurdle for them to jump over.

I am doing a lot of that already. The more aggressive I am, the more false positives happen and the more innocent bystanders get blocked.

Many of the MAGA posters have likely been kicked off other forums and DCUM is their last resort. Because of their previous experience, they are well-versed in evading tactics aimed at blocking them. They present a challenge.

[Anonymous]

require registration for political forum? and just delete anything political out of that forum?

[Anonymous]

OP, how do you feel about the lies/propaganda spread by many left-wing posters? Are they also considered trolls? And don’t bother gaslighting with, “oh, Democrats don’t do that!” They certainly do. You just happen to agree with them - even if they’re spewing utter nonsense that none of you ever call them out on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you feel about the lies/propaganda spread by many left-wing posters? Are they also considered trolls? And don’t bother gaslighting with, “oh, Democrats don’t do that!” They certainly do. You just happen to agree with them - even if they’re spewing utter nonsense that none of you ever call them out on.

Examples?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you feel about the lies/propaganda spread by many left-wing posters? Are they also considered trolls? And don’t bother gaslighting with, “oh, Democrats don’t do that!” They certainly do. You just happen to agree with them - even if they’re spewing utter nonsense that none of you ever call them out on.

Examples?

Seriously? One recent example is the thread about Stephen King supposedly being kicked off Twitter/X. Oh, the outrage! The gnashing of teeth! Turns out, it was simply fake news (duh) and the thread was deleted.

Other examples are the insane posts claiming Trump will “round up black and trans people and put them in camps!” Again, more outrage and clutching of pearls. When citations are requested, sudden silence.

Another one is the fake claim that Trump’s administration will be stopping POC and demanding their “papers” to see if they’re citizens. WTAF? Or how about the claim that women will “lose their credit cards and right to vote”? I mean, do any of you have even the slightest idea of how utterly crazy you sound?

I could go on and on but there’s no need. You are fully aware of what I speak and the deliberately obtuse act / gaslighting isn’t funny or cute. It’s tiresome and hypocritical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you feel about the lies/propaganda spread by many left-wing posters? Are they also considered trolls? And don’t bother gaslighting with, “oh, Democrats don’t do that!” They certainly do. You just happen to agree with them - even if they’re spewing utter nonsense that none of you ever call them out on.

Examples?

Seriously? One recent example is the thread about Stephen King supposedly being kicked off Twitter/X. Oh, the outrage! The gnashing of teeth! Turns out, it was simply fake news (duh) and the thread was deleted.

Other examples are the insane posts claiming Trump will “round up black and trans people and put them in camps!” Again, more outrage and clutching of pearls. When citations are requested, sudden silence.

Another one is the fake claim that Trump’s administration will be stopping POC and demanding their “papers” to see if they’re citizens. WTAF? Or how about the claim that women will “lose their credit cards and right to vote”? I mean, do any of you have even the slightest idea of how utterly crazy you sound?

I could go on and on but there’s no need. You are fully aware of what I speak and the deliberately obtuse act / gaslighting isn’t funny or cute. It’s tiresome and hypocritical.

Np. Why are you here then? If you can't take it or don't like it there are plenty of places for you to go.

You won, remember?

Thanks, Jeff for all that you do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, how do you feel about the lies/propaganda spread by many left-wing posters? Are they also considered trolls? And don’t bother gaslighting with, “oh, Democrats don’t do that!” They certainly do. You just happen to agree with them - even if they’re spewing utter nonsense that none of you ever call them out on.

Examples?

Seriously? One recent example is the thread about Stephen King supposedly being kicked off Twitter/X. Oh, the outrage! The gnashing of teeth! Turns out, it was simply fake news (duh) and the thread was deleted.

Other examples are the insane posts claiming Trump will “round up black and trans people and put them in camps!” Again, more outrage and clutching of pearls. When citations are requested, sudden silence.

Another one is the fake claim that Trump’s administration will be stopping POC and demanding their “papers” to see if they’re citizens. WTAF? Or how about the claim that women will “lose their credit cards and right to vote”? I mean, do any of you have even the slightest idea of how utterly crazy you sound?

I could go on and on but there’s no need. You are fully aware of what I speak and the deliberately obtuse act / gaslighting isn’t funny or cute. It’s tiresome and hypocritical.

Were you one of the people saying that it was ridiculous to worry about RvW back in 2016?

Anyway, you can report misinformation if you find it?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:I am very much in favor of "delete and block" but posters have to help by reporting the posts. I am not able to find them all myself. Preferably, report the posts before 100 people have replied to them.

I am prepared to water my lawn with MAGA tears. Let them complain about censorship all they want.

Jeff, would this whole thread qualify as something we should report to you? The title of the thread is: "Harvard cancelled classes because they lost the election." It sounds as if HU--as an institution--cancelled all classes due to the election results. When you actually read the linked article (which is actually an opinion piece, not a news article), the first mention of cancelled classes is: "Instead of motivating students to take the results in stride, professors and administrators offered lemon bars, converted their offices into election processing spaces for grieving students, canceled classes, and made quizzes optional." So, it turns out that some professors cancelled classes; the university as a whole did not. It's not even clear how many classes were cancelled. Since it was an opinion piece, the author did not have to do any fact-checking or cite sources. A lot of bickering ensued, on both sides, without anyone bothering to verify the accuracy of the title--I'm not sure they even read the article. I think the thread was just meant to trigger the inevitable responses that it did, in fact, trigger. So, is this the type of article we should report? Just trying to figure out what is reasonable.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1240080.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:I am very much in favor of "delete and block" but posters have to help by reporting the posts. I am not able to find them all myself. Preferably, report the posts before 100 people have replied to them.

I am prepared to water my lawn with MAGA tears. Let them complain about censorship all they want.

Jeff, would this whole thread qualify as something we should report to you? The title of the thread is: "Harvard cancelled classes because they lost the election." It sounds as if HU--as an institution--cancelled all classes due to the election results. When you actually read the linked article (which is actually an opinion piece, not a news article), the first mention of cancelled classes is: "Instead of motivating students to take the results in stride, professors and administrators offered lemon bars, converted their offices into election processing spaces for grieving students, canceled classes, and made quizzes optional." So, it turns out that some professors cancelled classes; the university as a whole did not. It's not even clear how many classes were cancelled. Since it was an opinion piece, the author did not have to do any fact-checking or cite sources. A lot of bickering ensued, on both sides, without anyone bothering to verify the accuracy of the title--I'm not sure they even read the article. I think the thread was just meant to trigger the inevitable responses that it did, in fact, trigger. So, is this the type of article we should report? Just trying to figure out what is reasonable.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1240080.page

This is ridiculous nitpicking.

Harvard's undergraduate college is called the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The professors ARE the University.

The OP article is a pathetic rant by an immature kid who brought his diapers to a debate and embarrassed himself permanently in the Crimson archives, but if the Crimson tolerated publishing it, it's fair to cite it here.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:I am very much in favor of "delete and block" but posters have to help by reporting the posts. I am not able to find them all myself. Preferably, report the posts before 100 people have replied to them.

I am prepared to water my lawn with MAGA tears. Let them complain about censorship all they want.

Jeff, would this whole thread qualify as something we should report to you? The title of the thread is: "Harvard cancelled classes because they lost the election." It sounds as if HU--as an institution--cancelled all classes due to the election results. When you actually read the linked article (which is actually an opinion piece, not a news article), the first mention of cancelled classes is: "Instead of motivating students to take the results in stride, professors and administrators offered lemon bars, converted their offices into election processing spaces for grieving students, canceled classes, and made quizzes optional." So, it turns out that some professors cancelled classes; the university as a whole did not. It's not even clear how many classes were cancelled. Since it was an opinion piece, the author did not have to do any fact-checking or cite sources. A lot of bickering ensued, on both sides, without anyone bothering to verify the accuracy of the title--I'm not sure they even read the article. I think the thread was just meant to trigger the inevitable responses that it did, in fact, trigger. So, is this the type of article we should report? Just trying to figure out what is reasonable.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1240080.page

That thread has been reported but I have decided not to delete it. There is a problem when poster use indefinite titled such as "cancelled classes" because it is not clear whether they cancelled all or some classes. In this case, some classes at Harvard were cancelled. Therefore, the title is technically accurate, if possibly misleading. Therefore, I am satisfied with leaving it.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:I am very much in favor of "delete and block" but posters have to help by reporting the posts. I am not able to find them all myself. Preferably, report the posts before 100 people have replied to them.

I am prepared to water my lawn with MAGA tears. Let them complain about censorship all they want.

Oh the irony !