this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2023
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Ngl, I kinda hate when people say “online is not real life.” I mean, technically that’s correct, but liberals said that to argue against Bernie’s popularity in 2016/2020 while conveniently ignoring that the reasons for his non-election stemmed from an electoral system designed to protect against the will of the people.

But am I incorrect in assuming that since the ubiquitous internet is fairly new, we don’t have enough information to determine whether normalizing bigotry and the most horrific shit imaginable under the guise of free speech, we probably shouldn’t run that risk? Obviously people don’t say this shit irl because they’d get clapped (and they do).

But what do y’all think? Is this like a super niche field of sociology? It’s fascinating to me, I’m curious if the medium changes that in any noticeable way

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[–] Teekeeus@hexbear.net 5 points 2 years ago

Online isn't real life in the sense that most people are lurkers online and the majority of the posting/commenting (or even voting, e.g. like/dislike/react) comes from a minor percentage of the IRL population

The problem is that the large body of lurkers can still read the extreme deranged shit that is posted by the small body of posters