thebokehwokeh2

I don't understand what Bevin means by this. Is he being sarcastic?

> Yes, extremist bigots do tend to favor deplatforming: they just want to deplatform a different group.

> Surely we can behave better than the bigots?

In a vacuum, I'd agree. As in, in the real world, I would agree. If this were a true human contact based forum, the voice of many regular, busy people will always trump the voice of a few raging bigots. Culturally, we've moved past that; at least in urban centres where this sort of discussion could actually happen.

On the internet, it is different. Posting on the internet is gamified. The rules are simple. To get more influence, you need to be upvoted/favorited/hearted. If your opinion sucks, you are downvoated/blocked/etc.

It's simple, right? But it's also very easily gamed via astroturfing/botting/upvote-downvote farming/influence manipulation. Case in point, any political subreddit prior to the general election in 2016.

Because of this fact, any attempt at good faith discussions in popular forums simply do not exist anymore. Just take a look at how many garbage posts are at the top of any popular subreddit vs actually insightful posts.

Politicians who use these to gain grassroots support have learned to game the system. And enterprising individuals from all over the world are flocking to them. There is big business in upvote/downvote farms, botnets, and influence manipulation via social engineering. Clearly none of these is done in good faith.

Places that have been deplatformed are not always simply people who harbor alternative opinions from the norm. They are places or groups of people who wilfully try debase discussion via the aforementioned methods.

There are bad actors on all sides of any discussion, but it seems to me like organized bad faith is always at the core of the most toxic, polarized places on the internet.

To fix polarization, we must fix the gaming mechanics of these places. More moderation for cheaters is priority number 1.

I'd argue that in this case, it deplatforming absolutely worked in the way intended. There are 2 factors at play here. People who are willing to argue in good faith, and people who are simply trying to put forth an agenda regardless of what anyone says.

Those who likely moved to Gab and Voat and 4/8chan are likely persons that fit the latter description. There is no need to even have discussions with people like these on the internet. The best is for them to be deplatformed and continue their self flagellation. They are simply too far gone. If anything, these sites will probably radicalize, but it will also be easier for authorities to keep tabs on particularly dangerous accounts.

The concept of deplatforming is to protect the integrity of good faith discussion. The key idea there is "good faith". Persons like the aforementioned Milo clearly do not engage in any concept of good faith discussion. IMO there is no need for any discussion base like reddit or facebook to protect these types.

I'm sure it was successful in Vancouver. It's elsewhere where it was losing money.

Assuming now that we are past the point of no return and the world has gone mad voting in people who will do the opposite of what is necessary, what is left to do?

Do we all simply wait for the inevitable like frogs in a slowly boiling pot? I guess I could practice survival skills but I'd rather die than live in what I expect will be absolute hell come 20 - 30 years.

The most obvious one and one which I believe would systematically kill illegal immigration is simply penalizing businesses which employ illegal immigrants. Either with harsh fines or even possibly jail time.

ICE is simply trying to pull weeds when what you need to do is kill the root. Illegal immigrants come because of many reasons, but primary is to cheat the system that legal immigrants use to find a better life.

If you make the job opportunities sparse, you kill the desire at the root. Open borders is a problem, especially in today's climate change world but it exists because people are willing to employ illegals for below market rates. It's the worst of all worlds for all, except the employer who gets off with cheap labour.

If we do this, we'll finally see if the xenophobes put their money where their mouth is and take back the jobs illegal immigrants have "stolen" from them.

Immigration enforcement, yes. ICE immigration enforcement though?

> This government agency is actively committing numerous crimes and human rights violations, in contravention of both US and international law. ICE conducts random violent raids throughout the United States, invades communities and workplaces with military equipment, detains busses and trains, and arrests people solely on the basis of their perceived nationality, skin color, or native language. Their agents lurk outside of schools in order to abduct the children of immigrants and force their families to surrender themselves into custody. ICE imprisons people in deplorable and unsanitary conditions and denies them medical care. They separate the children they imprison from their families and offer them for adoption by others via agencies with shady histories. ICE agents subject both the adults and children they imprison to horrific physical, psychological, and sexual abuse. They continue to commit these heinous acts in defiance of multiple judgments issued by US courts and condemnations by humanitarian organizations. Many people, including children, have now died in their custody.

I understand some people just don't like immigrants for many reasons outside of racism/bigotry/xenophobia. Economics and culture being two of many reasonable reasons to dislike immigration.

But having a wing of government acting like the taliban does nothing but empower actual racist/xenophobic/bigoted individuals to enact their deepest sadistic fantasies on these people. This is clearly not simply immigration enforcement.

I support immigration enforcement. I do not support ICE. Supporting ICE is supporting and empowering racism and xenophobia full stop.

Seeing that you use "woke" as a slur, I take it you are pro-ICE?

When people say this, what exactly does this mean? If you break Google up into Gmail, Search, Calendar, etc... what stops those from within, who have intimate knowledge of the innerworkings and HR related matters within Alphabet as a whole, from simply secretly colluding and sharing resources off the books?

Absolutely agreed. My current job is far and away the least technically challenging/complex/interesting work I've done in my 15 year career but it's the most monetarily successful because of stellar sales and marketing and support teams.

Unless you're audience is as technical as you are, the layperson on the street will not know the difference between 2 products given numerous similarities. They NEED to be told that one product is better and just want to talk to a real person to explain how the damned thing works.

Good UX is primary. Good code is secondary. When good UX and good code fail, good human interaction is what is the kicker.

Stickiness of brand also depends on the target audience. For brands who seek premium audiences, this is true, but for mass appeal lowest-cost persons, such as those who use all of the aforementioned listed, because of the lack of competition, brand is hardly a factor.

Given the complexity of building these services, and the lack of comparable competing options, you are left to begrudgingly accept what you're left with.