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Comment by DevKoala | Hacker News Reader

Social media is absolutely seeding these behaviors by leaving content discovery to engagement algorithms that push individuals further down a specific ideology without considering any ethical factors.

For example, I consider myself a centrist and yet whenever I log into YouTube account all I see are far right recommendations. I don’t have a Facebook or Twitter account, but I remember they behaved the same with their content discovery.

Read this study which goes further into the debate.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-020-00950-y

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I understand what you're saying, in that platforms need to hone their algorithms to serve actually relevant and useful content to it's users but there is also the other side, where the consumers of content need to understand what they're ultimately consuming. I can't help but bring up the countless studies that violent video games do not make kids more violent. Can the same be said for content consumed on social media? At what point is content "extreme" and at what point is it just content? Whose to draw that distinction? There are very obvious examples of extreme content but there are, I'm assuming, many more subtle ones that are possibly impossible to police.

"Centrist" is just a euphemism for right wing.

I don’t agree with you, but you sound like a textbook example of the modern left.

The right in America has been pulled so far right your likely more right wing then you think you are. Now you're using attempting to use left as an insult. You get right wing media suggested. "center" in America is basically the right that wants to act like there aren't major social issues in the country. You might want to step back and reevaluate your views. What left wing things do you agree with

It isn’t an insult, I was pointing out the tribalistic attitude the modern left takes towards individuals who won’t consider themselves leftist.

You know nothing of my policy preferences or whom I voted for, yet because I said I consider myself a centrist you catalogue me as right leaning.

Even if we were to agree in policy, and I bet we most likely do, I just can’t say I belong to any of these extremes that see everything in absolutes.

> was pointing out the tribalistic attitude the modern left takes towards individuals who won’t consider themselves leftist

Do you not see the irony of what your accusing me of doing with what your saying? I'm not a self described leftist (though that is a right wing internet troll thing to say) I just have my opinions

American politics have gotten pulled so far to the right, center is pretty right wing. Idk how you can deny that? That's all I'm saying. Even if you don't, other wise sure prove me wrong explain how your actually center.

> American politics have gotten pulled so far to the right, center is pretty right wing. Idk how you can deny that?

80+ million of us Americans voted in record numbers for the left leaning candidate, our biggest media platforms promote left leaning message, right wing individuals have been censored, etc.

Maybe not everybody in the United States is left leaning, but I wouldn’t call this a politically right leaning country.

Also, the only irony I see is that this thread continues. You already alluded I reply like a ring wing troll. Perhaps it’s better we both disengage as this is going nowhere.

your not reading what I'm writing

left: |---|---| right

left: |-------|-------|right

edit: i cant get the lines to line up, the beggining of the first line is supposed to be like two dashes over

the right has gotten more extreme than the left has gotten extreme. if you think your in the middle, your really just right wing becasue the right has gotten insane. thats my point. your free to prove me wrong when ever by explaining your thoughts on policy though

Your argument is based on a perception of America favoring right extremist ideology. Meanwhile for every popular extreme ideology on the right there is a counter extreme on the left ideology.

We have people advocating for extreme capitalism and people advocating for a socialist regime. Opposed citizen militias such as Proud Boys and Antifa. Individuals who want a wall around the country and people who believe in open borders. The examples don’t end there.

We have extremes with plenty of support on both ends and unless you can bring data that indicates there is a concentration of individuals in one side, you cannot infer America is becoming far right, or assume that the center is skewed to the right.

I'm not talking about America overall leaning. I'm talking about where the concentration is

Antifa isn't real, that is right wing media fear mongering

The extremes of the left wing in America isn't winning races. But the extreme fringe of the right wing is. Look at who won and lost primaries.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/26/opinion/sunda...

That first image shows what I'm talking about. America's left is center, the Republicans are all the way on the extreme right. If you think your an American center, your on the right

> Antifa isn't real, that is right wing media fear mongering

I wonder who these guys are then:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/look-whos-still-rioting-1161127...

>Antifa isn't real, that is right wing media fear mongering

You better tell that to the lefties that label themselves antifa. What isn't real is a group called Antifa, but the anti-fascist (and anti-capitalist) movement, otherwise known as antifa, is real.

"Anti-Fascists", who are ironically more fascist than they people they fight against.

It's misleading to compare an ideology with an actual organization like proud boys like he did above. That's something right wing media does

tayo42 i'm sorry to say this but I genuinely think that you're out of touch with the reality. maybe you ought to get out some more and actually interact with people.

As someone who supports gay rights, women's rights and freedom of speech I always find it funny how I am suddenly alt-right because of the freedom of speech part of my approach towards life.

I consider myself a centrist because I find that there is a very pernicious and unacceptable part of the left fermenting in the last decade or so.

Pretty much.

Who are you talking about when you say "the left"? cuz in the US there are barely any leftist politicians.

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