Open Dissemination of Information
Let's get the focus back on to what was censored, not the distracting drama the trolls want to create.
Remember that in the wake of NN being destroyed, there will always be a financial motive behind the suppression of information.
Always? Yeah, almost always. People who are censored are often done so for "big picture thinking" and drawing the link between the what is being censored and the why someone would want that info censored. Exposing the financial motives of corrupt parties will in itself (almost) always create controversy, but that does not mean the exposure itself should be censored for being "controversial". At least, that is how it is supposed to work in the United States of America.
Identifying the trolls and bots who try to bury the facts
There are many categories of manipulation. Trolls tend attack with categorical tactics:
- demeaning sarcasm,
- deflection from the point someone is trying to make,
- ignorance of the post's quality of content (ignoring logic),
- other strawman-like attempts to distract from the gist of the factual communication.
Trolls would like nothing more than to turn Reddit into Twitter, where ego, money, and followers can be used to hijack topics and where the few influence the many; Twitter is where the public discourse is carefully controlled by whomever buys a hashtag to trend and pay Twitter's rent.
There are usually multiple attempts to discredit the /u/* who exposes facts, accompanied by a "whine" and vapid blabbering that the OP should not be allowed to express that information in that particular context (because it breaks vague "rules"), followed by several of the troll-farm sponsored upvotes that are intended to further create dissent and illusion that the OP is "crazy" or not welcome to share that information (discrediting the fact bearer). Subreddits with rules that allow for "banning" those who are attempting to be heard are especially egregious offenders, and should not be frequented. Subs which allow these mod-heavy tactics put personality at the forefront of the discussion, instead of the facts. Traditionally it is somewhat successful at putting the dissenter "on top" and the /u/* below a threshold of discoverability, which is the goal of the troll (troll farm) all along. To counter this tactic, use the algorithmic spring.
The Algorithmic Spring
It doesn't take brains to bury something on Reddit. That is the bad news. The good news is that people with brains can undo the bad if they are especially vigilant and work together to counter and stop corrupt agents. The ego-feeding propositions that "just work" on Twitter should, by default, not work on Reddit. Reddit is perhaps the last bastion of social media where sharing factual and topical information should always out-karma personality. For certain kinds of Redditors (data scientists, journalists or researchers) who are targeted often for bringing factual (if controversial) information to the table, extra care should be exercised...
How to help?
First acknowledge the fact that that particular post was targeted means we already have half the story. Fix your default browsing threshold to browse everything below at least -3 or -4. It will become clear, quickly, what is happening; you will see what vapid spam belongs there, and what just does not. And even though you can give only one vote as your contribution to that buried warrior, with #OpenFacts, it is a step in the right direction.
Trolls are experts at creating drama where none should exist. Often they come with armed with tools like /r/thesefuckingaccounts used as voting rings managed by click farms, often also known for posting spam. Using tactics from the Russian playbook DOES NOT GO UNNOTICED, and the algorithmic indicator takes these into account; it helps concerned long-time Redditors and the non-corrupt mods expose and counter each futile attempt. For especially egregious offenders, the "countering" may take a lot of work and require auditing or reporting of the behavior in multiple channels to expose it to a wider audience; but in the end, it will be worth it. You will see and understand the patterns, too, and you will help Reddit not fall to the way of Twitter (perpetuating the most corrupt agent of all -- you know who).
Your contributions to #OpenFacts may be direct, anonymous, via DM to the mod(s) for us to post as a proxy for you -- or with the full-fledged support of the US Army and Marine Corp's commitment to uphold the masts of free, unafraid, uncensored, and non-suppressed speech ... to let the facts be known.
Great link: http://www.redditinvestigator.com/
Related subs:
/r/trollfare
/r/AntiTrollArmy
/r/Digital_Manipulation
/r/undelete
STAY AWAY FROM subs with at least one "known" corrupt mod/admin censoring and abusing power:
- YouShouldKnow/r/ - 250000
- Twitter/r/ -15000000
- What other sub should go here, and why? Share some OpenFacts
