It was wonderful, Charlie, to have your voice, perhaps my favorite, as part of my subscription to the NYT. I will miss you because there is simply no way that the additive subscription model fo newsletters is ever affordable for me. It's a surprise and a disappointment that you've moved your voice to serve the elite when it used to serve all of us.
Excellent beginning: I look forward to being able to propose ideas occasionally and have others comment but only if they semi-accurately identify themselves. Ted Todd (new Hope PA)
Hi, my name is Frank and I am not a paid subscriber. I read so many newsletters I cannot afford to pay for everyone of them. Concerning the newsletter about online trolling and misinformation, there is a thing or two that was not discussed.
About information bubbles:
1 people hardwired to want to fit in, the problem is not just information in a bubble but the fact that it can resemble a social circle and human nature of wanting to adhere to this social situation.
2 people usually have a hard time understanding that they are bad, criminal of just plain wrong. They rationalize after the fact and by that normalizing for themselves what they are doing.
3 when confronted with a lot of manipulation trolls or propaganda from dictators, one would expect people who know this is going on, to not trust this misinformation. The problem is that a very chaotic, uncertain and even scary place gets people chaotic, uncertain and scared. When a person is in such a situation and mental state and trying to decide what is reliable, that they become much more conservative, they put their money on the status quo or a even a strongman. This is what you see happening in Russia, Kremlin associates use a technique where they are not just spreading false information but so many false truths as possible, especially when these different 'truths' contradict eachother, chaos and uncertainty are the target and not simply lying.
Excited for this! RE: seeing how the sausage is made/ "what did they read during the research process" is important for trust. In a low-trust media ecosystem, readers need these extra data points to counter the undercurrent of doubt. In a world of unfiltered hot takes, where everyone thinks they're an expert, knowing how somebody actually informs themselves provides invaluable context. This applies to other users, too (does this person, with their strongly worded comment, actually know what they're talking about? Have they ever read about it?), but especially so to the people with the biggest megaphones. Are you *really* an expert? Are you actually objective? Have you made an effort? Etc. It's a big part of the context collapse problem, too, imo, and how we can filter through the info pollution. Don't tell me what to think, also give me context for how to think about it. In school they always harp on you to "show your work". Could save the internet and our information commons if that was as important online.
It was wonderful, Charlie, to have your voice, perhaps my favorite, as part of my subscription to the NYT. I will miss you because there is simply no way that the additive subscription model fo newsletters is ever affordable for me. It's a surprise and a disappointment that you've moved your voice to serve the elite when it used to serve all of us.
Excellent beginning: I look forward to being able to propose ideas occasionally and have others comment but only if they semi-accurately identify themselves. Ted Todd (new Hope PA)
Hi, my name is Frank and I am not a paid subscriber. I read so many newsletters I cannot afford to pay for everyone of them. Concerning the newsletter about online trolling and misinformation, there is a thing or two that was not discussed.
About information bubbles:
1 people hardwired to want to fit in, the problem is not just information in a bubble but the fact that it can resemble a social circle and human nature of wanting to adhere to this social situation.
2 people usually have a hard time understanding that they are bad, criminal of just plain wrong. They rationalize after the fact and by that normalizing for themselves what they are doing.
3 when confronted with a lot of manipulation trolls or propaganda from dictators, one would expect people who know this is going on, to not trust this misinformation. The problem is that a very chaotic, uncertain and even scary place gets people chaotic, uncertain and scared. When a person is in such a situation and mental state and trying to decide what is reliable, that they become much more conservative, they put their money on the status quo or a even a strongman. This is what you see happening in Russia, Kremlin associates use a technique where they are not just spreading false information but so many false truths as possible, especially when these different 'truths' contradict eachother, chaos and uncertainty are the target and not simply lying.
I’m a paid subscriber. Waiting for my link ✌️
I am a paid subscriber to Galaxy Brain.
When will I receive my Sidechannel invitation? Will I have to pay for Sidechannel or does my payment for GB take care of it.
Good luck.
Really intrigued by this experiment - appreciate your writing to begin with, but this is also a big reason that I subscribed!
A worthy objective -- "not extractive but generative"
Excited for this! RE: seeing how the sausage is made/ "what did they read during the research process" is important for trust. In a low-trust media ecosystem, readers need these extra data points to counter the undercurrent of doubt. In a world of unfiltered hot takes, where everyone thinks they're an expert, knowing how somebody actually informs themselves provides invaluable context. This applies to other users, too (does this person, with their strongly worded comment, actually know what they're talking about? Have they ever read about it?), but especially so to the people with the biggest megaphones. Are you *really* an expert? Are you actually objective? Have you made an effort? Etc. It's a big part of the context collapse problem, too, imo, and how we can filter through the info pollution. Don't tell me what to think, also give me context for how to think about it. In school they always harp on you to "show your work". Could save the internet and our information commons if that was as important online.