50501 on Reddit temporarily shut down over astroturfing (?); struggling on Facebook

It seems the 50501 movement is facing some predictable problems on commercial platforms.

On Reddit, the 50501 subreddit has temporarily shut down over abuse. This comes after reports from users that the community is "obviously being astroturfed". No word as to when it will be back online.

It seems things are not much better over at Facebook, where there is apparently frequent calls to stop protesting this and that, with a Reddit user commenting that the group "feels like it's imploding".

This is hardly surprising given how commercial social media has repeatedly shown itself to be easily manipulated, but it's still fascinating that it's bad enough to shut down the whole Reddit community. Although we are certainly in a better place over here we are not immune: Make sure to be vigilant and to report suspicious activity.

If anyone is on Facebook, maybe now is a good time to give people there a few pointers towards Lemmy/PieFed.

29 comments

THAT
MEANS
WE'RE
WINNING
Fuck em
It will always feel like it's imploding, online. Go meet up with the people. They're not imploding.
- Yup. The battle is in the street, and that's the only place it could be.
  Another question is where the discussion should be. Maybe there's a lesson to be learned from Occupy Wall Street, taking the discussion in the streets as well.
- Oh, I'm imploding, i assure you.

Worth noting that we're getting astroturfing here, as well. Astroturfing is difficult to moderate because individual instances of it can be very subtle, but in large quantities it can be overwhelming.
- Call every apologist, sanewasher and denialist out. Publicly, so other people can see how their statements are horseshit.
  
  The problem I know I'm guilty of, is not checking usernames frequently, on reddit it felt pointless because of the sheer number of users. I've gotten better about paying attention though and tagging users I often see spouting bullshit lol

any "movement" will never really gain traction and make things happen because of the vast majority of everyone's absolute refusal to ditch platforms run by oligarchs. and even if something did start getting off the ground, then guess who owns every one and every zero you've ever sent or received on that platform? hint: literally the people you're taking action against
"i would leave ________, but everyone i know uses it!!!! waaaaaah!!"
indeed...so here we (STILL) are
- Might be true on social media, but maybe it's a blessing disguised as a curse. If people felt like posting on social media actually solved anything, that would be even worse.
  The only thing social media is good for is getting people into the streets. That's the only place a movement can actually make things happen.
  
  getting people into the streets
  which will come to a screeching halt the instant people start getting arrested for being "agitators," the movers and shakers within a given movement. people are still assuming the unlawful detainment will stop when they're done with brown people. nope. due process is gone. habeas corpus is gone. african americans have been living this reality for hundreds of years. and again, they know everything about you, from google, microsoft, facebook, and every other trump fluffing tech company who won't hesitate to hand over everything about you. actually best to assume they already have.
  it's cliche at this point, but it's 1984 now. and people are shouting their plans directly into the telescreen

Seems like a potential moment for Lemmy?
- For what it's worth... I'm a reddit refugee. Got a temp ban for "upvoting violent content" because someone said they hope someone personally got whay they voted for and saw the writing on the wall.
  The moment they start banning decade+ old accounts for upvotes.... yeah I'm out.
  Lemmy seems pretty legit so far. Admittedly being so decentralized comes with some things that aren't as user friendly interface wise but I'm sure I'll get used to it.
  
  Your experience will depend on the instance you're on and the concept can be a challenge to explain to reddit refugees.
  I'm very careful how much I support violence on .world for example because they take a "both sides are the same" approach to discourse (aside: they seem to be doing better but I'm not holding my breath).
  Your instance (.zip) seems to be better than most.
  
  Welcome! Happy to have you here. :)
  I'm curious - did you know about Lemmy before you got banned? How did you discover us?
- Potentially, but it seems people on other social media will have a hard time leaving no matter how bad things get there. At least on Reddit it doesn't seem like users are particularly aware of the fact that it's a problem with their platform.
  I think we should not depend on any moment, but rather contribute and gradually work towards this being the best place to be, and let change happen gradually.
  Ps: For those nevertheless spreading the word, I think https://50501.chat/ and/or https://piefed.social/f/50501 are two particularly useful links. :)

Just dont stop, whatever ya'll do dont stop.

It seems to me the bots here have two main topics of focus: 1) Protests don't work. Protests don't work unless they are violent. If you just prance around waving signs they don't listen. 2) Attending a protest is really scary. You need to get a burner phone, wear a mask and glasses, conceal a weapon, beware of the other people at the protest. Don't go if you are black, brown, disabled, trans. Too dangerous.
Are these people really bots? Is this really astroturfing? I wouldn't say point 2, but I've absolutely said something similar to point 1 before and I still believe that we need more than just yelling at buildings. I wouldn't say don't protest at all, but I'm wondering if these people are dismissing real people thinking that they're just bots or something.
I assure you I'm not a bot, I feel and I wish I didn't lol
- I agree, I think most of those points are either entirely valid or only slight hyperbole. Protesting alone isn't enough but it's how you start a movement.
  In my opinion, the power of protesting is not in the change it will make by itself, rather it's about showing to each other that we aren't alone, and with enough passionate people banding together, we can take the steps to make the changes needed.
  Whether that takes the form of simply voting, or as far as an eventual revolutionary war. How far protests would lead depends on how the government reacts to the movement, and whether nonviolent methods are effective first.
  As far as safety goes, I think its importance scales exactly the same way. The police response can absolutely be dangerous to us, and that's one of the many reasons we must protest. To protect our rights.
  Call me a bot if you want, but it's bizarre to me not to discuss this. We can look to hundreds of protests across history to see that they aren't all rainbows and butterflies. Even as recent as BLM, many were injured
  
  You can feel that peaceful protests are useless, but trying to convince other people of that perspective isn't in the scope of this community. We are exclusively peaceful, so if you want more "direct action," consider looking up a different group, such as Antifa or Anonymous. Violence will never be tolerated in 50501.
- I've seen several people on Lemmy say that they're scared to attend this upcoming protest, it seems like a "false flag" and none of their friends who are plugged into protest movements have "heard of" the organizers and it might be a fake protest which isn't safe. They're going to sit this one out for their safety.
  I don't think these people are literal bots necessarily, but I also don't think they are telling the truth about any of that. Why someone might want to spread that message is left as an exercise for the reader.

If only there was somewhere else to rally...
hm... maybe one day. I can't think of anywhere right off.

You're welcome to join !GunsOfBrixton@lemmy.world

29 comments