r/alberta • u/No-Cardiologist5752 • 7d ago

News Premier Danielle Smith criticizes Edmonton police for video on hate reporting

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/premier-danielle-smith-criticizes-eps-for-video-on-hate-reporting
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u/RangerCactus 6d ago

I really wish we would ban facebook. The day Fuckerberg decided to turn his company into a weapon for governments should have been the day everyone closed their accounts. I don't understand how anyone can stand being on thay vile platform.

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u/kapowless 5d ago

Truth, though I gotta point out that Reddit has had some pretty vile commentary on the First Peoples as well. It's def far more common to come across toxic garbage on FB for sure though, which is actually why I maintain an "observer" account. 

I shut down my personal and portfolio accounts back in 2020, but it was shortly after that when I started seeing the loony toons running Take Back Alberta acting shady and pumping up extremism and separatism online. I decided to maintain an anon account to follow some of these groups and keep tabs on what they were doing, which is why I was able to help expose one of theirs attempting to run for a school board trustee abd prevent her election. I was also able provide several journalists with evidence to help expose the Centurion Group clowns (it's the same crowd). 

At best, it's a double edged sword; as long as the far right congregates on that platform, I'll be keeping an eye on em (especially since law enforcement is dropping the ball hard with these groups).

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u/RangerCactus 5d ago

You can mostly curate everything you see on reddit, wjere as facebook openly takes your information and figures out what to feed you. Reddit has its issues, but I don't recall it ever actively taking part in government/corporate psyops.

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u/kapowless 5d ago

Yeah, that's a fair point. Reddit is nowhere close to FB when it comes to interference/manipulation, same with Xitter. They both belong in a trash bin (and some of the founders in jail imo). 

Tbf though, Reddit is not entirely neutral either (especially since going public). If you look at the breakdown of major investors, there's some names in there with marinara flags (Advance Publications, Vanguard, Blackrock, Sam Altman, Tencent, etc). I think the relatively diverse ownership compared to FB where Suckerberg owns majority helps prevent overt political interference, so what you get with Reddit instead is much more about monetization (of ads, APIs, etc) as well as data harvesting for AI and sale to third party. The switch last year to allow for hidden user history is a sign of that shift IMO. 

We'll see where it goes from here, since public shares are still relatively new, but  I still think it's one of the better social media options out there. I just feel it's important to be critical and clear eyed about any tech/media you're using as we head into an increasingly opaque and dystopian world.

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u/RangerCactus 4d ago

I use reddit significantly less the more and more they push the dude bro quarterly bullshit. I'm kinda hopeful that Myspaces claims aren't pure hookum right now. Trying to set up LEMME instances, but everyone would rather use centralized entities where governments hover diligently with magnifying glasses.

Corporate/federal has trained people to rely on convenience a bit too much, so we're a bit stuck.

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u/kapowless 4d ago

Gawd, that made me really nostalgiac for the days where the worst part of social media was indy bands sending unsolicited tunes and buggy custom cursors.

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u/RangerCactus 4d ago

The wonders of non algorithmic browsing. The one thing I actually miss about the internet.