I almost miss how stupidly innocent the internet felt with that nutty stuff back then. Most chain letters were merely annoying social experiments rather than ultra nefarious like social media has become.
(Edit: lol just noticed a very similar take a few posts above me.)
"Flashing headlights at cars is a gang initiation to help them pick who to murder! Pass this along because it's better safe than sorry!"
"Opening the wrong email might give you the Life is Beautiful virus that says 'your life is no longer beautiful' and wipes your hard drive! Tell everyone you know!"
(Ah, when an erased hard drive was the scariest malware one could think of...)
"Snd ths 2 15 ppl and push Alt+F4 and teh naem of ur crush will appear. (Zomgwtfbbq it rly works!!)"
"I'm a missionary in South Afrimericasia and I wanted to send this prayer chain around the entire world to prove something wholesome and also send money plz lol. Look, Sarah passed it on and her life turned around! The divine holy power of email!"
I had to spend a lot of time directing people I knew to a now-defunct site called "BreakTheChain" , and also Snopes. Usually the same people. Every time.
And sometimes they'd tell me "Well I forward it to you because you can tell me if it's true or not." I don't miss that. Lmao
Speaking truth when it could get your life ruined or sometimes even taken by the wicked and powerful will always be an act of bravery.
But I agree with you as well. It's terrifying to be surprised when journalists speak the truth, and to see the suppression of truth become "normal" before our very eyes.
I think the saddest part about this is the phenomenon where people who didn't understand tech were scared of new stuff that was actually really neat and helpful....
...and nowadays they're ridiculously trusting of shiny user-friendly corporate garbage that spies on them and manipulates them.
I straight up told him it’s ridiculous and that he needs to get off the internet...
Which is especially crazy when I imagine I'm not the only one who was constantly told my personally developed views were influenced purely from "listening to all those liberals on the internet."
"BONTO! is sneakily roping you into a binding private arbitration clause because they're planning to do some real shady shit that'll affect a critical mass of users!
(At the bottom of the email)
...You can still opt to use the public justice system that already exists if you disagree with this. You simply must send your disagreement in writing upon a clay tablet delivered by a specific courier to a remote P.O Box in Illinois within the next 32 business hours.
The scariest part is how many I've caught using 😏 as some kind of disappointed/annoyed face, and get really confused when I say "What's the sexy face for?"
I'm sure there's some joke that can be had here about boomers misunderstanding facial expressions for lacking empathy experience or something but it's just a weird common one I've encountered lol.
This mentality and reinforced culture is a big reason inhuman corporate ideals and customs have festered throughout our society like a fungal infection.
It's so difficult to organize because plenty of fellow workers will simply be passive and complacent with whatever increasingly bad lot they're given, or worse, will be straight up class traitors looking to be rewarded by ruthless masters.
I too, think this is a really dangerous one that hasn't quite pinged on most peoples' radar yet because it's so niche, but like you said, when people with power and influence can actually act on it, they have the capacity to cause a lot of harm over what would normally just be fringe philosophies.
Whatever weapons and money everyone is sending Ukraine, double it.
Freaking truth.
Side thought purely as a hypothetical from a civilian standpoint: I'm wondering if it's too paranoid to consider figuring out how to smoothly use Monero for sending donations.
I'm wondering if records of sending aid to Ukraine will be the newest excuse to get disappeared by goons in the US, the same way they've been crushing the Constitutional rights of anyone who prominently voices anti-zionist dissent.
That show is SO GOOD. I really love how well it depicts all these people in such a relatable way, and strips away so much dogma to show the humanity underneath. It's beautifully done and really powerful. And...unexpectedly funny at times?
I love how it grounds us in such a relatable place, as all good historical drama does. It feels like it "wasn't that long ago."
I'm really not looking forward to the inevitable plot point. :(
And a lot of "I'm not superstitious BUT..." LOL
I almost miss how stupidly innocent the internet felt with that nutty stuff back then. Most chain letters were merely annoying social experiments rather than ultra nefarious like social media has become.
(Edit: lol just noticed a very similar take a few posts above me.)
(Ah, when an erased hard drive was the scariest malware one could think of...)
I had to spend a lot of time directing people I knew to a now-defunct site called "BreakTheChain" , and also Snopes. Usually the same people. Every time.
And sometimes they'd tell me "Well I forward it to you because you can tell me if it's true or not." I don't miss that. Lmao