FashBook and loved ones

Two things.

1) I concur with you that it's bollocks. The square root of no-one runs around schools in broad daylight chasing schoolgirls with a knife only to be arrested and then immediately released into the public again without a whiff of it being in the media or the accused even being named. It would be national news. This didn't happen so hard that it unhappened things that did.

2) Assuming for the sake of argument that it isn't bollocks, what are people expected to do with this information? Like and share? Any "potential risks to our kids" are already out there, knowing about one doesn't lessen the risk from the other 15 you don't know about.

Two more things.

3) Facebook isn't the problem. Your partner associating with morons is the problem.

4) Wash your blankets.

Always puzzled by these assertions that Facebook/Social media is a cesspit full of hate and nutjobs.

Mine isn't. I must be doing something wrong.

Read a topical comment on 'fesshole' just now, funnily enough...

I've spent 20yrs working for some of the world's largest social media firms and the fact is most people don't comment. So when the Internet is 'blowing up' about something, it's largely meaningless. Everyone would do well to remember that.

It's bollocks. Some random screenshot is not a verifiable source of anything.

If there are actually issues, the school will say something.

A few years ago I became aware at a Glasgow primary school about that old classic - rumours of a man in a van asking young girls if they wanted to see some puppies.

It was bottomed out by the police and it turned out to be a man who was looking for his lost dog.

Over the course of the next few weeks the rumour did a geographically clockwork spread round the local primary schools before reappearing at the same school, where it was again reported as a further corroborative sighting of the dangerous criminal.

If it lines up with their fears and worries people will believe anything, and no amount of tamping it down seems to help. "It's better to be safe than sorry" is the classic phrase.

Local Facebook is terrible for this. Every Christmas it's high alert because there's been guys trying car doors. "It's scary how common it is these days". Again, it's been happening forever, and happens all the time, but back in the day you only knew about it if it was in your street, and now you are aware of every ring doorbell sighting in a five mile radius.

2) Assuming for the sake of argument that it isn’t bollocks, what are people expected to do with this information? Like and share?

Pretty much.

It's a sensationalist engagement tool. Lots of people will skim read it, see the "like and share if you agree" and do exactly that. I unfriended a fair few people who were routinely doing that "like and share" with all sorts of sensationalist crap or similar "look at the fluffy [insert baby animal], like and share if you want to protect them..."

The targeted ads in advance of the Brexit referendum made use of a lot of this engagement stuff. Cambridge Analytica used a whole raft of "news" to find what people were sharing then created stories around "staying in the EU means polar bears will die / peados will chase your children / migrants will take your jobs; vote leave" targeted to the right accounts.

Weaponised scare-mongering.

Repeated recently with calls for the death penalty after the trial of the Southport murderer.

Worth doing a reverse image search on the pic in the screenshot to see if it's been lifted from somewhere else

The School would be the first to issue a statement on it's social media and emails to parents if this was true.  Local faceache pages are full of the village idiots.

Not sure what the real question is?

Are you asking if you should lock up your children until Facebook says it’s safe to go out again , or that your Mrs is nuts to be influenced by this , or nutters exist in the world, hopefully no one ever has the misfortune of being in front of one

My FB isn't a cesspit, but there's some nutters on the local Spotted groups.

Agree this is bollocks - we had a genuine incident of people hanging round a local school and trying to entice kids into a van and while Spotted went mental, the school and Police pages backed it up.

Subsequent similar posts have either been uncorroborated bollocks or a tragic custody dispute that got very out of hand.

See also regular reports of vans driven by Asian/Eastern European men going slowly looking at houses to steal your dogs.

Is my missus in the pipeline now? She really can’t fathom my attitude. She acknowledges FB is a cesspit, but its still one of her most used apps the veracity of the crap on there worries her less than the possibility some of it might be true…

Facebook is becoming a cesspool of clickbait and conspiracy theories... It may not have had the radical acceleration in this respect that Twitter had when Elon bought it, but Zukerberg's recent submission to Trump's aristocracy and the removal of fact checking has accelerated its descent into depravity somewhat...

But this isn't new... Facebook interference in the 2016 US election and the UK Brexit referendum was a known phenomenon, not by Facebook or its stakeholders itself, but by them sitting on the sidelines allowing the spread of disinformation by those with vested interests... I have watched friends that until even 2yrs ago were quite liberal, become rampant seething immigrant haters and vocal Farage/Trump supporters! It's ALL about the clickbait, and getting people to react to it!

Fear is a control mechanism, and weaponising fear is very lucrative and good for business. Just ask Elon Musk if there's any such thing as bad publicity...

Facebook isn’t the problem. Your partner associating with morons is the problem.

Until recently I would have agreed and argued the case... But having witnessed Twitter's accelerated descent into depravity under Elon, and Zuck's final submission of control of Facebook to Trump, then I would now wholeheartedly disagree. Some of the cleverest people I know have been consumed by the algorithms designed to radicalise and enslave them to a cause. It's brainwashing, pure and simple, but it is happening full scale under the current far right wing cults! One of my very good friends who is not only very intelligent but a very high earner is now sharing "great replacement theory" mantra all over facebook and has been convinced into believing that immigration into the UK is all about wiping out white people, and that Keir Starmer is the ring leader of this cult designed to wipe him out!!!

Social media has destroyed the power of critical thinking, and is consuming even some of societies most intelligent people.

Question everything... Check your sources... Don't take anything for granted... If enough of us start doing this, then we will begin to rescue society back from the far right wing doom cults that are proliferating our society right now. But that's going to take a black swan event I fear to highlight to most people, just how much they have allowed themselves to be consumed by the doctrine of these cults, and history tells us that it usually takes a world war, a severe famine or a plague (COVID didn't do the job even!) to cause the required enforced socialism (think US economy under FDR during WW2) to cause the end of these cults and reignite social prosperity.

Strap yourselves in for a bumpy ride folks, the next 10-15yrs are going to be rough!

OP can I ask where you're located broadly?

Part of my research is on the far right. This exact conspiracy was doing the rounds in Cheshire last week. It is 100% false if it relates to a school in Cheshire/South Manchester

Can we stop with the “Facebook hasn’t been used to radicalize me, so what’s the problem” responses to stuff like this. Real damage is being done to many people, in many countries… you can be skipped but that doesn’t mean this isn’t happening, or that everyone it happens to only has themselves to blame… the owners of our public online spaces are to blame.

3) Facebook isn’t the problem. Your partner associating with morons is the problem.

You might have a bit of a point there, some of them are prone to accepting 'information' without questioning. I think perhaps FB is the catalyst. I'm probably just frustrated because she puts so much less stock in my judgement than the gossiping ****wits she had breakfast with, or indeed some strangers (presumably fans of Tommy tens names) on the internet.

I just can't believe that they're all unable to do a wee bit of surface level checking though, they're not all stupid (some do seem a bit given to more right of centre views though).

Trouble is if she's this bad at picking friends, what does that say about her choice of spouse?

Thanks Kelvin, I was about to say the same, but far less politely.

OP can I ask where you’re located broadly?

Part of my research is on the far right. This exact conspiracy was doing the rounds in Cheshire last week. It is 100% false if it relates to a school in Cheshire/South Manchester

Reading,  where of course we had the  Forbury Gardens attack in 2020 (amongst other things), so fear of knife crime is a bit of a pressure point with parents in the area.

The FB group apparently claimed it was a school in Tilehurst (an outer suburb, to the west of the town), and now apparently claims the "suspect" has been spotted roaming elsewhere in town... For clarity it is utterly pissing it down here right now so there's probably a real lack of potential victims, and pneumonia might do the vigilante's job for them in this rapidly evolving fantasy...

The targeted ads in advance of the Brexit referendum made use of a lot of this engagement stuff. Cambridge Analytica used a whole raft of “news” to find what people were sharing then created stories around “staying in the EU means polar bears will die / peados will chase your children / migrants will take your jobs; vote leave” targeted to the right accounts.

Weaponised scare-mongering.

Yep, gathering data for the next election, the problem with this targeted stuff is we don’t actually see it and are unaware of what total shite is being fed to our friends and family, till it’s too late.

Always puzzled by these assertions that Facebook/Social media is a cesspit full of hate and nutjobs.

I made the mistake of commenting on a nutjob thread that appeared on my feed for some reason or other. Since then my account has been absolutely awash with insanity of every shape and size, with topics I am actually interested in, political or otherwise, rendered invisible.  So up to a while ago I'd have agreed with you, but it only takes a small gap in the fence for the vermin to come swarming in.

It happens both ways and on all platforms... just the other day a thing was doing the rounds on reddit, 'Trump has made an executive order stopping all millitary assistance to Ukraine, effective immediatly' or words to that effect.

My immidiate thought reading it was 'not supprised, but really?' nothing on the major news outlets... turns out it was BS, but it was spreading like wild fire for a day or so, it seems to have been shut down now as I'm not seeing it any more.

Can we stop with the “Facebook hasn’t been used to radicalize me, so what’s the problem” responses to stuff like this.

I often wonder when claims are made like those, that maybe they are part of the cesspit so don’t see it. I don’t mean those on here for clarification.

The photo you’re talking about is probably the same as the that has been shared on Facebook comments pages I’ve seen, none of those posting it have been able to say where they sourced it.

Trouble is if she’s this bad at picking friends, what does that say about her choice of spouse?

Hmm more worrying is yer missus is being radicalised 🙂

Trouble is emotive subjects around kids tend to make people go fruiti-loop , whether it’s fact or fiction .

Especially after the unthinkable happens and there’s currently a few people who are quite happy to run with this currently and stir up the racial hatred for their own benefit, future votes or even clickbait to just use it to put more adds in your face :-(.

The photo you’re talking about is probably the same as the that has been shared on Facebook comments pages I’ve seen, none of those posting it have been able to say where they sourced it.

I think what you have are lots of adjacent bubbles, they pick local FB groups with middle-aged, parents fitting the broad demographic profiles and insert a few shit posters. There's not real appetite for checking or verification, responses are immediate and emotional in nature.  And while there might be no direct fallout, it contributes towards those group member's picture of the world and plays on their fears, obviously to nudge them rightwards...

Well said @kelvin !

Much less serious than some of the info but close to home for me...
My Mum (thankfully) doesn't do FB but the local group is highly vocal and critical of the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, parking permit zones etc and they've spent years sharing all sorts of conspiracy shite on FB which people have screenshotted and posted on the community WhatsApp group (which she is on).

So, indirectly, she's been exposed to all this:
15-minute cities
ambulances have been delayed by 18-hrs and 47 people have DIED as a result of these road closures
cyclists are using the closed roads as a racetrack and have mown down 29 elderly people
the disabled are dying in droves because their carers are now stuck in permanent gridlock and can't reach them...

It's all total bollocks but she's been swept along with it. (The roads are not closed at all, there's one filter, you can still access everywhere except for driving through one single junction). No fact checking, no critical thinking - they see a photo of an ambulance parked at this LTN filter and immediately claim it's been blocked from attending a disabled war veteran in distress, like and share if you think the council should be locked up for crimes against humanity.

It's causing serious rift since I work in transport - every video call we have ends up with her ranting about traffic, bloody cyclists (no road tax you know?!), gridlock, it's a socialist conspiracy...

Without that FB nonsense, she might be a bit miffed about having to drive this way instead of that way when she leaves the area but otherwise wouldn't care.

So up to a while ago I’d have agreed with you, but it only takes a small gap in the fence for the vermin to come swarming in.

Yup and its something which has been noticed by researchers (including facebooks own).

The algorithms seem to have rabbit hole tendancies where if you make the mistake of interacting with a moron you get a triple helping of similar crap which if you continue to interact gets more and more nutty.

"Carol’s Journey to QAnon" being facebooks study. They dont seem to have fixed it.

The algorithms seem to have rabbit hole tendancies where if you make the mistake of interacting with a moron you get a triple helping of similar crap which if you continue to interact gets more and more nutty.

YouTube has similar far-right / conspiracy "suggestions" seemingly as a default. Classic example is that looking for educational stuff on astronomy, space exploration, the planets etc will invariably throw a host of Flat Earth / moon landing bollocks at you.

Humans have got rabbit hole tendencies. The algorithm just exploits them.

• The reason that social media have been half hearted about content moderation is because if they do it, it kills their business model.
• Similarly if they stop it serving up crap (which again is doubtful that they can actually do) then it kills their business model.

Facebook is full of right ring AND left wing crazies.

Doppelganger by Naomi Klein is the book that you want to read for a great overview of the online conspiracy and disinformation world.

@mjsmke - true, although I believe the right slightly out number the left.

Doppelganger by Naomi Klein is the book

Yup, I would also recommend broken code which looks specifically at Facebook and its problems managing content.

Heh funnily enough I’m just binning my FB off.

Have a listen to ‘The Rest Is Classified’ latest podcast, they discuss China classing the brain as the new warfare front and how they’re hacking and ‘weaponising’ algorithms to subtlety brainwash people. Sounds tinfoil-hatty but really makes you think (heh!)

although I believe the right slightly out number the left.

It is more that they are promoting the right wing ideology, it isn't just an accident of the algorithm any more, it is deliberate act to shape the political landscape for the benefit of the super wealthy.

YouTube has similar far-right / conspiracy “suggestions” seemingly as a default. Classic example is that looking for educational stuff on astronomy, space exploration, the planets etc will invariably throw a host of Flat Earth / moon landing bollocks at you.

Ain't that the truth...if I hunt out some of what I would call 'proper documentaries' you then get suggestions served up with a load of 'aliens built the pyramids' crap thats better suited to be on a 3am on the history channel!  Either that or a bunch of lazy crap where someone has spliced up a load of other 'real' documentaries and added thier own voice over... urgh...

Can we stop with the “Facebook hasn’t been used to radicalize me, so what’s the problem” responses to stuff like this

It's a valid question to raise though. Like MCTD my Facebook is a nice place, a few too many ads, ok a lot too many, but other than that it's my friends doing running and bike stuff, some holiday snaps and pictures of their pets. There's some unsolicited stuff in there but that's mostly WRC clips, fail army stuff and chess puzzles.

So why do some people get far right stuff and some of us get rally cars and board games? Serious question. I have a vague interest in rallying and chess but I'm not in any groups or anything for them. I do have an interest in conspiracy theories (interest does not imply belief) and love a good UFO/yeti/time traveller story but I don't get those on my Facebook

Part of the problem with social media is that if you dare to "swim against the tide" you get a right roasting or worse, even happens on here to an extent, so most of the sensible voices are never seen or heard in the real sess pit viral shit

I've just been told a local councillor has posted on the group and says they're going to follow up with the police to find out details... I remain sceptical.

Serious question.

If the algorithms were open/transparent we could look and tell you. But who knows why content is aimed towards you or not. You could be lucky. Miss out due to age. Geographic location. School. But most likely it’s a combination of networks and proximities… and you don’t choose all your network, unless you’re the type blocking all your relatives and workmates no matter what. So, yeah, partly luck. Not all down to your own behaviour. Despite the way some smug posters seem to believe it is.

Can we stop with the “Facebook hasn’t been used to radicalize me, so what’s the problem” responses to stuff like this. Real damage is being done to many people, in many countries… you can be skipped but that doesn’t mean this isn’t happening, or that everyone it happens to only has themselves to blame… the owners of our public online spaces are to blame.

OK, seems fair....but .

There are people typing above who have seen the same shit as the OP's wife and have not been drawn in. Many of us are able to see through it. Why? Or rather what is wrong with these people that can't step back and take a rational overview before falling for thinking it's true? What makes them the mugs they are? In this case is it that the OP is predisposed to think the world broadly safe so see this stuff and immediately doubts it and this little dit has unveiled a deep seated distrust of the world around her so she is predisposed to be all histrionic?

There's an obvious correlation to broader politics and 'high profile' political figures. There are clearly some very unpleasant people out there yanking chains, but by god do 'we' make it so easy for them.

Many of us are able to see through it.

It’s like scams. Many of us can see and avoid the majority of scams. But the right one will get you eventually. Don’t look down on those who fall for the ones others can avoid. Everyone can be scammed. But blindspots vary. Remember that it is scammers and those who allow them to operate who are the problem, not people who get caught up in their plots.

It’s a valid question to raise though.

It isnt really though if you spend anytime looking at it. I recommend "broken code" for an indepth read. Failing that the various articles from Jeff Horwitz and others from about 2019-20 on the "facebook files" show the problem.

If you dont really interact with facebook and just use if for very limited purposes then it will probably be fine. Mine is because I barely use aside from a few clubs/companies which cant be arsed with an alternative option. Start interacting beyond that though with friends of friends and good chance it will end in tears.

I would say start looking for facebook groups on conspiracy theories but I would feel bad since chances are it will ruin your account.

@crazy-legs

Not having a go at you, but are all those examples of LTN actual responses or are you just summarizing and putting your own spin on it for effect?

Do two wrongs make a right? 😉

There's a potential credibility gap that the village idiots can resort to if "we" (the leftish/sane people) aren't scruplous in our "own reporting" of whichever form of reporting that takes (and that includes here). I do like good take down though 🙂

I would say start looking for facebook groups on conspiracy theories but I would feel bad since chances are it will ruin your account.

I've avoided that because I just know it will be all flat earthers and anti-vaxers and not, for instance, a serious discussion about what the latest release of files on the JKF assassination says. I'll wait for some more reputable journalists to read them all and then read what they have to say about it (there's far too many for me to read!)

There's a YouTube channel on them which I follow, a semi-serious one, but he does spend a lot of time trying to debunk various conspiracy theories, and usually they're rubbish. But as he says 'if we can disprove 99% of them, that makes the other 1% all the more interesting' Have a look for things like MK Ultra or Paul Bennowicz if you want some which turned out to be true. But most are, at best exaggerations, mostly erroneous, and sometimes just deliberate deception.

I’ve avoided that because I just know it will be all flat earthers and anti-vaxers and not, for instance, a serious discussion about what the latest release of files on the JKF assassination says

Which is the problem. You did but you need to be erring on paranoia (somewhat ironic when we are talking about conspiracy theories) about tracking  and be not looking inside facebook at their groups and then also using a private browser, minimum , to try and stop facebook tracking you in order for it to decide you aint prone to that crap.

Even then you are dependent on the reputable journalist not linking to someone with "look at this idiot" since if you click on it you start getting served that crap.

I do like conspiracy theories but I treat it like porn. Only in a private session and on vpn and to be honest the serious players can still probably track me.

I do like conspiracy theories but I treat it like porn. Only in a private session and on vpn and to be honest the serious players can still probably track me.

Reminds me, your subscription to my special site is due to renew....

Reminds me, your subscription to my special site is due to renew….

I have sent you the money in Trump memecoins. Admittedly at the top price but its counts, right'?

See also regular reports of vans driven by Asian/Eastern European men going slowly looking at houses to steal your dogs.

Must be the gypsies day off!

I think statistically your kids are more at risk from you than some shadowy random paedo, that never makes facebook tho

I think statistically your kids are more at risk from you than some shadowy random paedo

Prob best that Cookeaa doesn't float that to his missus, she'll only forward it to her friends and knowing Reading, by the morning his house will have been burnt down.

See also regular reports of vans driven by Asian/Eastern European men going slowly looking at houses to steal your dogs.

They’re almost inevitably gonna be courier delivery drivers desperately trying to find houses, probably in the dark, with indistinct numbers  or no numbers on the door. It’s particularly difficult for them at my end of what is quite a long road, because the numbering doesn’t follow  the conventional odd/even on either side of the road. On my side it runs 125/127/129/131, etc, and 175/177/179/181 on the opposite side. I was tracking a parcel one evening, and watching for the van, and I saw it pull up outside so I went outside, and the driver was trying to find my house on the other side of the road, I had to call to him to come back up to me.
This whole social meeja shitstorm is spoiling what used to be a fun way to pick up useful information and keep in touch with people.

I don’t use Fb much, just a quick browse every now and then and checking for updates from my archery club, but I see enough bullshit posts spreading all sorts of fake news and conspiracy bullshit that it rather poisons things I see posted on here sometimes, when there’s no emoji or other qualifier to give a clue to how serious the poster is about the tone of the posts, which can lead to the occasional awkwardness.

There are people typing above who have seen the same shit as the OP’s wife and have not been drawn in. Many of us are able to see through it. Why? Or rather what is wrong with these people that can’t step back and take a rational overview before falling for thinking it’s true? What makes them the mugs they are? In this case is it that the OP is predisposed to think the world broadly safe so see this stuff and immediately doubts it and this little dit has unveiled a deep seated distrust of the world around her so she is predisposed to be all histrionic?

People want simple answers to are actually quite complicated problems... They can't (or don't want to) process that there's a whole host of complicated issues coming together to cause whatever problem it is that they are experiencing, and that to fix the problem is even more complicated and will take real time and effort...

So somebody inevitably gives them a scapegoat...

And they then begin to blame all of their problems on the scapegoat...

And they start seeking confirmation bias on social media... Which the algorithms then duly indulge.

And they start to question their "legacy media" sources because they no longer provide them with the confirmation bias they seek, so they seek alternative conventional media sources... (of course, GBNews being run at a massive loss to its owners has been no barrier to its continuation, given the vested interests in its content!)

And then they are fully ready to start arguing with anybody who contradicts what they know to be true... They are now plugged into the Borg, fully assimilated, ready to sacrifice themselves for the greater good that is their right wing death cult!

Trust me when I say, that intelligence is often no barrier to being drawn in to all of this crap!

Always puzzled by these assertions that Facebook/Social media is a cesspit full of hate and nutjobs.

Mine isn’t. I must be doing something wrong.

TBH, there's someone in Facebook HQ trying to work out how to get you to use Facebook how they want you to. Which means clicking randomly on adverts, liking nutters pages, clicking on conspiracy theories, turningpoint links, liking Jordan Peterson videos, clicking on Andrew Tate videos and posting a comment calling him a nutter. The more you engage (whether positive or negative) the more money they can make from you.

See also regular reports of vans driven by Asian/Eastern European men going slowly looking at houses to steal your dogs.

To be completely fair, we actually do get a couple of vans driving around locally, nicking anything that's not nailed down. One or two of them get arrested every now and again, it's a family from the next town over who've probably been doing similar since the days of the horse and cart...

Last thing they (almost) got away with round here was the great snow shovel heist, where they were caught selling nicked snow shovels in the local supermarket car park when we had an unseasonably heavy fall in November, and no one could find their shovels.

They also got themselves stuck in a farmyard after they'd failed to steal a quad and some jerry cans of petrol a couple of years ago.

They aren't smart people.

For the reasons you suspected the story will be wholly or substantially nonsense.   There are various algorithm and human related reasons why such stories propagate so well.  I see shit like this on the FB group from the neighbouring town where virtually anything goes; I had a legitimate reason to join and now stay out of morbid curiousity because almost everyday someone posts something crazy.  It has got worse since “anonymous posts” became a thing.  About once a month there will be some kidnapping / dogthief / paint on road = burglary target type nonsense.

What is particularly odd about your wife’s story is the suggestion that a man CHASING girls at a school whilst in possession of a KNIFE was released on bail.  I’m not saying the criminal justice system never gets this stuff wrong but if the story was substantiated I think the prospect of bail is low.

TBH, there’s someone in Facebook HQ trying to work out how to get you to use Facebook how they want you to. Which means clicking randomly on adverts, liking nutters pages, clicking on conspiracy theories, turningpoint links, liking Jordan Peterson videos, clicking on Andrew Tate videos and posting a comment calling him a nutter. The more you engage (whether positive or negative) the more money they can make from you.

Yep it’s not always Facebook being evil, the algorithm that shows all the cat pics doesn’t really know anything about cats and just keeping’s finding more content  like that  or things/people  you’ve previously engaged with to show you more cats and slip in something new (which just happens to be made up local fantasy news or some hate guff  ) and squeeze some more adverts.

People are literally self radicalising themselves when the real intent is to serve more temu adds to sell you more tat 🙂

TBH, there’s someone in Facebook HQ trying to work out how to get you to use Facebook how they want you to. Which means clicking randomly on adverts, liking nutters pages, clicking on conspiracy theories, turningpoint links, liking Jordan Peterson videos, clicking on Andrew Tate videos and posting a comment calling him a nutter. The more you engage (whether positive or negative) the more money they can make from you.

Actually - I don't think that's true. Or rather, if it is - a lot of that is 'our' failure.

There is definitely someone (probably upward of a thousand someones) trying to get us engaging - clicking, pausing & reading/watching and commenting..........on anything. Anything that keeps us there making imprints on adverts. I don't think it's actually in Facebook's interest to have us engaging in tossy nonsense specifically. It just turns out that 'we' engage more readily with it than more banal stuff. The algorithms see what titillated us last time and titillated people a bit like us and feed us more of that. See also cats driving HGVs like a gansta and pretty ladies skipping (maybe that's just me).

Just maybe they know us better than we think we know ourselves....

Have a listen to ‘The Rest Is Classified’ latest podcast, they discuss China classing the brain as the new warfare front and how they’re hacking and ‘weaponising’ algorithms to subtlety brainwash people. Sounds tinfoil-hatty but really makes you think (heh!)

Arthur C. Clarke wrote 'I Remember Babylon' in 1960. It's basically this ^ . A short story, worth reading for how spot on he was in principle, if not in the technology used as it was describing a future not far from there. The general point of TV being the drug of the nation, etc - facebook or tiktok are the new media for the same problem.

Actually – I don’t think that’s true. Or rather, if it is – a lot of that is ‘our’ failure.

It is true, and our failure is human nature - we react more to conflict and reaction is engagement and engagement drives clicks and value. Know yourself.. know you're being triggered and walk away from it, all we do by engaging with any of it is make the app more valuable or powerful. There's no such thing as trolling the alt right 'for balance' etc, what you're doing is increasing engagement on RW topics or posters and feeding the algorithm to that effect. Engaging with the positive stuff is fine but sooner or later someone you know starts posting 'that' stuff.. just have to ignore it or mute it.

I don’t think it’s actually in Facebook’s interest to have us engaging in tossy nonsense specifically

I'd say it is in their interests now, now they know how this stuff works. There's a lot more going on in chaos, take away facts and let people debate .. they don't benefit from establishing the truth or limiting how far things go, only regulation or laws can control that. I expect you're right that whatever creates the most value is what they want, they'll find what pushes your button eventually. Where's your passion, what gets you fired up? That's what'll get you to click. Unfortunately it's highly likely to be something that makes you angry or defensive rather than smile, or at least something where you want to engage with 'the other side' of a POV.

Reading through the above I worry I've made my Wife sound unhinged, She's not she's just suceptable to a rather specific form of manipulation (as are we all in some way or another).

This morning I asked for an update, apparently the Phantom has been spotted in Prospect park... I asked if there had been any further verification or if she recognised the names of any of these "witnesses" she admitted to becoming a bit more sceptical of the whole thing, but she's still telling the kids to be extra cautious on their way home later...

To me that feels like goal achieved for the culprits, true or not, my missus and people like her feel that little bit less comfortable and a bit more suspicious of their own community.

At the same time I worry I'm a bit mansplainy on these topics which has the effect of making her less inclined to examine her online bubble.

Her media habbits were of course formed in a differnt age, before the Zuck had even thought of comparing the relative hotness of ladeez...

The people on the facebook groups I'm on and occasionally contribute too are remarkably sane and balanced: no problem. However, I've learned to avoid the general feed; it knows me too well which leads to doom scrolling like munching through a box of excellent chocolates but knowing it probably isn't good for me, or the planet or society in general. 50s rock music, classic rally cars, French movies, history, archeology, science... .

I'd say that anyone who thinks that they specifically are immune to this stuff is just deluding themselves. It just affects you in a way that you're not aware of.

It affects me too, which is why I've gone cold turkey on all social media.

STW  forum is social media, Kramer. 😉

@Edukator - it doesn't have an algorithm deciding what we see.

The people on the facebook groups I’m on and occasionally contribute too are remarkably sane and balanced: no problem. However, I’ve learned to avoid the general feed;

Aye, most are MTB for me and run nicely. I did join a new veteran group on Sunday, backed out of there pretty quick, cesspool is an understatement.

I sometimes click on posts that appear in my feed just to see the lunacy that goes on, keeps me grounded and reminds me to mark and avoid.

 I don’t think it’s actually in Facebook’s interest to have us engaging in tossy nonsense specifically.

No, they just want us to engage. And tossy nonsense that appeals to the widest possible demographic is the best sort of stuff to engage with. Doesn't even matter if you post and say "boooo, this is tossy nonsense" you've still engaged...

No, they just want us to engage.

It is much more than that, as cambridge analytica showed, and they haven't been sitting on their hands for the last 8 years since then.

To me that feels like goal achieved for the culprits, true or not, my missus and people like her feel that little bit less comfortable and a bit more suspicious of their own community.

A fearful population is a compliant one!

Divide and conquer…

At the same time I worry I’m a bit mansplainy on these topics which has the effect of making her less inclined to examine her online bubble.

Most likely, although I don't see a huge gender divide in the reposting shit without thinking about it, I do see a gender divide in people telling others that they are idiots for reposting it!  There's definitely a generational divide in people understanding that some stuff is just totally made up.

Guy in my cycling club has just started sharing a Facebook link showing the Southport Stabbing perpetrator is the son of a Rwandan warlord. That Kier Starmer represented and fought tooth and nail to keep in the country, during his time as DPP.

Thankfully a few asked him to fact check it and verify, the source. But he likes the narrative so ignored it!

Sorry, playing catchup.

The School would be the first to issue a statement on it’s social media and emails to parents if this was true.

To be fair, the School would likely be the first to issue a warning on its social media and emails to parents even if this was false.

So why do some people get far right stuff and some of us get rally cars and board games? Serious question. I have a vague interest in rallying and chess but I’m not in any groups or anything for them.

Look at the company you keep.

you don’t choose all your network, unless you’re the type blocking all your relatives and workmates no matter what. So, yeah, partly luck

Of course you do. If you can't excise arseholes from your life then you've only got yourself to blame.

At the same time I worry I’m a bit mansplainy on these topics which has the effect of making her less inclined to examine her online bubble.

Instead of questioning her feed, start from another angle, in a couple of weeks time say you have had a good documentary recommended to you, and sit down and watch "the social dilemma" together.

Then from time to time, just highlight a news report about misinformation or and how the lack of fact checking is destroying the truth etc. "have you seen this, Trump is claiming that immigrants are eating pet dogs in Springfield, what a ****ing moron he is"

Don't criticise what she is doing, just every now and then highlight what is going on so she can join the dots.

See also regular reports of vans driven by Asian/Eastern European men going slowly looking at houses to steal your dogs.

Just wait until they notice the flour or chalk on the pavement or the zip ties on lamposts!!!!!!! A sure sign that the badduns want to kill your baby robins and steal your job and  jump ahead of you in the queue for a GP appointment.

AFAIK there's evidence that people don't care about the veracity of things on social media, and that training them to spot untrue things makes very little difference.

People are addicted to likes and shares.

But as he says ‘if we can disprove 99% of them, that makes the other 1% all the more interesting’ Have a look for things like MK Ultra or Paul Bennowicz if you want some which turned out to be true.

...

People want simple answers to are actually quite complicated problems…

These two posts are really the crux of the problem.

Firstly, that 1% fuels the crazies.  A stopped clock is correct twice a day.  The anti-vaxers scream about vaccines not being 100% safe or 100% effective when no-one with any credibility ever claimed otherwise.  Someone had an allergic reaction once therefore we're obviously injecting poison into our children for, IDK, who only knows what reason.  You could say the same of Paracetamol.  One of the potential side-effects of consuming peanuts is "death."

MK Ultra was a real thing and deeply troubling, but that doesn't add credence to the notion that Bill Gates is using 5G for mind control experiments.

Secondly, whilst people absolutely grasp for simple answers to complicated questions - this is one reason why religion is attractive to many - people also tend towards answers that align with their already established beliefs.  As the OP states, the alleged perpetrator in this tale was wholly predictably brown and beardy.  Do we suppose the same story would have done the rounds at the same rate if it was a white bloke in a suit?  ****stani grooming gangs are a disc race like and share if you agree, but in something like 85% of rape cases the accused are actually white men.

Pop quiz hot shot: Did you just believe that statistic without questioning its validity?

(I think it's correct, but I'm working from memory.)

she admitted to becoming a bit more sceptical of the whole thing, but she’s still telling the kids to be extra cautious on their way home later…

As I said before: why?

A known nonce is surely less of a threat than an unknown one. Shouldn't they be being "extra careful" as a matter of course?

People are addicted to likes and shares.

I do think addiction to social media is a very real problem.

Secondly, whilst people absolutely grasp for simple answers to complicated questions

Isn't there some thing in the way our human minds work that looks for pattern recognition, good in past evolutionary times, but easy to abuse with modern technology, nudge psychology etc

iirc marketing in the 60's in the US learned a lot from the German propaganda from WWII, after the Nixon fallout the republicans started feeding the marketing lessons back into political propaganda. There are quite a few good books and documentaries on this stuff, but the whole subject would make me far too anxious about life to get too deep into it, I already feel I am going a bit down that path now.

As I said before: why?

I don't know, I don't have any special insights I'm just her Husband...

TBH I'm fine with my kids being careful as a general habit (and I think they mostly are), they seem generally to consider the bosses' warnings unnecessary, so her requests for extra care to be taken are either met with eye rolling or biting sarcasm.

It's not about the pedophiles.

It's about her feeling part of the in group.

Update:  Just had a Google and the local Rag has latched on:

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/24887912.man-reportedly-chasing-girls-knife-reading/

I suspect zero journalism beyond reading some Facebook at this time...

Been watching 'in case' as my sister and her kids live in Tilehurst

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/24888424.police-give-update-reading-man-seen-carrying-knife/

So seems not without substance, however entirely possible that the chasing kids bit is a blow-up of the actual report.

And wrt the report,

Officers arrested a 30-year-old man at about 8.10pm, on suspicion of possession of a knife blade/ sharp pointed article in a public place and using threatening/abusive/insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment/alarm or distress.

"on suspicion of possession of"

Nothing actually says they were chasing people WITH a bladed weapon, as in brandishing it specifically. Or that it is an ongoing event.