General awareness message about social media sites and PROC

[Oniya]

This is your periodic reminder that X/Twitter and Facebook are flaming dumpsters as far as reliability.  Elon has gutted the 'Trust and Safety' department at X/Twitter, and the blue check-mark only means that someone is forking over a monthly fee to make their posts look more legit.  Facebook really isn't much better.

As a result, using a tweet or a Facebook post as a source can be very risky.  Bad actors will re-caption videos and images, present clips out of context, or pretend to be 'journalists'.  The posts they make will tug at all of your preconceived ideas about what's going on, enrage you, and urge you to spread their message.

Don't fall for it.  Especially if the post you're about to quote confirms all the terrible things, and especially if 'no one else dares to show this'.  Many news sites include Fact Checking pages these days.  Reuters has one.  So do CNN and AP News.  You can also take matters into your own hands.  If someone claims to be a journalist, Google their names.  Look for their byline.  Check the news outlet they claim to work for to see if they even show up there.  Use TinEye to verify stills (something uploaded in 2021 can't be something that happened this week.)

The rules around Elliquiy cover all the forums. This means - being civil, polite and respectful of participants is just as important in discourses as it would be in a social thread.  Be aware of what you post and how it is phrased so that it is less likely to seem confrontational.  If you spot a false claim, feel free to notify Staff of the specific claim (especially if multiple points are raised in the post you are reporting).  If you have a link to a fact-check site, that's also awesome - it saves us having to search through the proliferating B.S.

Please do not take the bait and rather let staff handle the matter in order to keep the threads civil and respectful towards everyone.  This message is not intended as a 'gotcha' moment.  It should not be used as a 'gotcha' moment.  This is a reminder that we are all human, and all fallible.

[Jumpercable2]

So how biased are the staff on this site in terms of political leanings?

[Oniya]

I would suggest you read the remaining stickies in this board.

[Jumpercable2]

So it's pretty much all-leftists?

[Oniya]

If you're looking for people to troll, this isn't the site for you.

[Jumpercable2]

I'm seriously asking. Is this site's staff balanced from both sides of political issues? Or does it lean more to one side than the other?

[Oniya]

We are adults.  We behave like adults.  Political leanings don't factor into that.

[Jumpercable2]

Well, I can't help but notice all the PROC threads are showing a lot of bias to one side.

[Jumpercable2]

Look, I just want to make sure I can find a discussion about sensitive topics without being swarmed by people who go out of their way to demonize anyone who doesn't agree with popular opinion.

[Rinzler]

Why not just stay here for the RPs and discuss sensitive topics off site? It's not like there's a paucity of places on the interwebs to talk politics.

Personally, I think the PROC board is rubbish and that this site could do without it. The consensus, however, regards it as a useful holding pen for discussions which might otherwise poison the other threads. I don't buy it meself, but it at least gives a good indication of the esteem in which the PROC board is held.

Just avoid it as best you can. If nothing else, it offers a good exercise in resisting (and sometimes failing, in my case) SIWOTI syndrome.

[Oniya]

Let me put it this way.

We have members from around the world.  We have member of a variety of religions, ethnicities, genders, sexualities and political leanings, from what Americans refer to as 'conservative' to at least one actual communist. 

They exist.  We acknowledge that they exist.  That is not open to debate.

There have been civil conversations in this board on multiple 'sensitive topics'.  There was a recent discussion about the impact of abortion restrictions.  While not everyone agreed, the conversation was not a dumpster fire.

If you participate in this portion of the forum, you will be expected to use sources to back up your opinions.  People will respond with sources.  As this sticky indicates, social media postings are frequently unreliable on all points of the spectrum.  You will be expected to avoid logical fallacies, or risk someone pointing out those fallacies. 

I will refer you to Rule 11:

If your issues are such that you continually disrupt the social fabric of this site, you may also be asked to leave.

[RedRose]

Frankly if you think this isn't the right place to discuss, don't

[Ssttarsifjsjdjx]

Hi

[The Old Wolf]

a bit of levity I briefly forgot the header for this particular forum and kept reading PROC, and I read it as Peoples Republic of China and could not figure why it was being referenced so often........ jeez

[Oniya]

I've done that once or twice myself - in both directions.