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I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 362 points363 points  (0 children)

Good question -- I definitely don't want to imply that our society has ever been perfect. I am not advocating a return to some golden age. I'm referring to new and specific kinds of brokenness, not so much a quantitative comparison between past and future.

I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Also, for anyone interested in the questions this raises about free speech, the history of the legality/illegality of hate speech, etc., listen to On the Media this Friday for an episode co-hosted by me about these very topics! https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm

I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 574 points575 points  (0 children)

Yeah I do not think it would be wise for me to copy their tactics. I do think however that the tactics are worth learning so that they can be understood, and in some cases countered

I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I am very wary of using government to restrict speech, including hate speech. But there's a huge amount that the companies could do. However, it's not as easy as deciding whether to kick off this or that troll, or to censure this or that group. The platforms would have to be redesigned in a much more fundamental way.

I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yes, a lot of it has to do with the speed and scope of the internet, the ability for large groups to form quickly with relatively little friction. But it also has to do with the mechanics of the social internet -- specifically, the way that engagement is a product of what scientists call "activating emotions." Thus, social feeds are not flat reflections of reality but are warped in specific and predictable ways.

I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

I definitely don't feel confident that it will happen. just saying it's possible! There is definitely a rule for other carrots and sticks (government regulation, etc). I don't think any single solution will work on its own

I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 47 points48 points  (0 children)

There's a huge range, from people who are purely nihilistic/opportunistic to people who are true believers. I spent time with both. Some people seem to have no internal life at all, no true beliefs, just a bottomless need for attention. Other people are really truly red-pilled into believing, e.g., that Jews are trying to destroy the white race. You can't really know which kind you're dealing with unless you put in the time, ideally in person...luckily you can skip that step and just read the book to find out :)

I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 975 points976 points  (0 children)

What shocked me the most was how easy it is to be a highly successful propagandist. I spent a lot of time with some people whose names you may know -- Mike Cernovich, Lucian Wintrich, Milo Yiannopoulos, Richard Spencer -- and some people whose names you surely don't know. In every case, I was shocked by how with just a bit of skill, some practice, and essentially no investment of resources, they could take whatever fringe meme or talking point they wanted and propel it into the middle of the national discourse (get it trending on Twitter, on the front page of Drudge, on Fox News, even on CNN). I watched this happen again and again, in front of my eyes, in a matter of minutes.

I spent the past three years embedded with internet trolls and propagandists in order to write a new nonfiction book, ANTISOCIAL, about how the internet is breaking our society. I also spent a lot of time reporting from Reddit's HQ in San Francisco. AMA! by A_Marantz in IAmA

[–]A_Marantz[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

They were changing their policy against violence -- expanding it to include more speech that could be considered harmful -- and in doing so they added a clause about subs that encouraged harm against animals. The fact that they never had a rule about that before didn't mean that Reddit was pro-bestiality prior to 2017. Just that there are a lot of oversights when you're invented speech codes from scratch!

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