Hacker News Reader

Comment by noobermin | Hacker News Reader

>moot shut down /pol/ (aka /n/) before, twice, on a whim because he didn't like the content

Hate to bring /b/ into my hn, but newfriends, who make up the majority of the /pol/lacks don't even know this.

It is also an ideal ground for groups with bad intentions to manipulate folks. Who is actually operating those keyboards? What are their actual motives?

> Who is actually operating those keyboards?

Your usual neighbour's 18-year old son.

> What are their actual motives?

For the 'lulz' of course.

> For the 'lulz' of course.

So how does one distinguish between a genuine kill-all-the-scum Nazi, and a child who's pretending to be one, for the lulz? You get lulz from people who get upset. And you get lulz from people who agree with you. It's a win-win.

Ultimately, there's no way to tell. It's a textbook example of Poe's Law. And indeed, there's no observable difference. Maybe everyone behind Nazi sites are in it for the lulz. And/or for the money, or fame. You get the same fucked up social impacts, either way.

When they start dressing the part, take part in torch carrying marches shouting slogans about mass murder.

Maybe. But many of them could still be in it for the lulz.

I mean, many gangbangers are fundamentally after lulz.

That doesn't mean it is something we need to either encourage or condone.

No, it's not. But it helps to put the phenomenon in context. The anomie of the young, especially young men, has always been hazardous. But now, with the Internet, it's chaotic around strange attractors. Such as the alt right. And ISIS. And undoubtedly other stuff that I'm not aware of yet.

Yes, this is all true. So you recognize there is a problem with 'angry young men', the question then becomes once these angry young men decide to band together guided by smart old men who aim to use them as tools in their arsenal whether or not you hold them responsible. Once they're over 18 as far as I'm concerned they are fair game. Old enough to vote: old enough to think.

I agree. But there's more to anomie than anger. Angry young men have always been canon fodder. But now we have cynical young men who are posing as angry, but really just in it for the lulz, who can organize themselves through the Internet. It's a new dynamic.

> but really just in it for the lulz

I am really not convinced of that. I believe they have been marginalized by society and this is their way to regain their relevance. The fact that that conveniently plays into the agenda of those that would like to see the world change in that way as well but who do not have sufficient agency to do it themselves doesn't help at all.

Anyway, we've seen this movie before and it did not end well back then, I wonder how many people saw the trainwreck happening in slow motion and realize they were powerless to stop it. It's like an explosion or an avalanche. Once sufficient activation energy has been added the end result is inevitable, even if you as an observer of the first act feel the need to warn of the impending disaster it will happen anyway and you're going to be along for the ride until a new stable configuration has been reached at a lower energy level.

I agree, and love that language :)

Re lulz, maybe spend some time reading the chans and Encyclopedia Dramatica.

Do you think various groups trying to influence politics and culture would try to manipulate this impressionable group? For the lulz is an easy way to sweep aside the very real, and likely, possibility that state actors manipulate these anonymous boards for their own ends.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com