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from the twitter-is-known-for-being-a-place-of-kindness-and-intelligence dept.
El Reg reports in a story that at least some people seem to think so.
Twitter trolls are undermining what political analysts had predicted would be a new form of responsive democracy.
Far from being an opportunity to engage directly with voters, researchers found that the more politicians tried to actively interact with their constituents, the more abuse they faced.
The eggheads, based in Europe and the US, analyzed just under 800,000 tweets from over 650 politicians based in Germany, Greece, Spain and the UK and found that the percentage of "impolite" tweets directed at them went from 8 per cent when they did nothing to an extraordinary 40 per cent when they actively tried to engage with voters.
If that wasn't depressing enough, the paper notes that the level of abuse increases almost exactly proportionally to how engaging people's messages are. The more they asked to hear people's views, the more those views were insulting.
"Most politicians who post anything quickly become subject to constant personal abuse," the paper, published in the Journal of Communication, notes.
Such is the level of unpleasantness and vehemence that most politicians simply give up and use their Twitter accounts to simply broadcast messages rather than seek input or discussion. Something that, ironically, has led to them being criticized for ignoring voters and not being sufficiently open or engaging.
My take: The egg heads may be right on this, however there is nothing inherently undemocratic in people publishing libelous and slanderous crap about politicians. It's been happening in American democracy for at least as long as the republic has been in existence. Some of the things said about Thomas Jefferson when he was running for president were worse than what we were subjected to during this election cycle.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by VLM on Monday November 14 2016, @02:40PM
to an extraordinary 40 per cent when they actively tried to engage with voters.
Were they genuine or school-marm-ish?
Look at the recent election in the USA, the progressives way of engaging with the rural white voter, was to declare them deplorable, make fun of them, and when the progs lost they retaliate by calling entire swathes of the country stupid ignorant racists and there's the iconic picture from a few days ago during the riots of a marble washington monument with "die whitey die" spray painted by vandals on it. Because they think all whites are cucked like urban new england white men because to those degenerates that kind of BDSM treatment is a mating call, even if in real america the response is more like "betsy get me my varmint huntin rifle we got folks needing shooting".
Then some lefty politician tweets "wassup my rural peasant brethren how goes our shared struggle against capitalism, Christianity, and white people?" and the politicians have the gall to act surprised when the response is a loud and unanimous "F you, put this politician in an oven."
I suppose next time around they'll up the ante even further and include cyanide pills in propaganda mailed to rural voters and then when the rural whites shockingly don't vote for them, they'll call then klansmen and burn the cities completely down, because if it don't work, it must be Democrat party policy.
I'm just saying, at least in the USA, for some populations begin "engaged" by some political groups, it going to be nothing but intentional trolling and triggering and schoolmarm style holier than thou lectures. And unsurprisingly the response is going to be some variant of "F you"
It goes the other way too, of course. Hanging nooses in trees to celebrate MLK day is, I admit, not the most polite or open minded behavior by that side.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 14 2016, @03:36PM
You spew shit like that and wonder why your fellow ideologues are treated like ignorant peasants?? You are the very type of person you don't like, except with a more prejudiced viewpoint. The people you are upset about are much more easily rehabilitates to drop their hatred. You and your klansmen hold on to your hate with pride.
You advocated murder. The trolling is often worst from the alt-right types. The insult "cuck" is stupid, just like how you use it to pull someone down and raise your own self worth at the same time. After throwing down heaps of scorn you end that by saying the kkk is neither polite nor open minded.
How do you expect others to not think you're subconsciously a bigot? It seems more like you and fellow mostly-not-racists are simply tired of being judged after so many years of getting to sit on your high horse.
The problem is none of that, at least for the elections. The real problem is corruption and corporate media. But go ahead, keep pushing that divide, let the real master trolls carve up our country.
(Score: 2) by Sulla on Tuesday November 15 2016, @04:20PM
Pot calling the kettle black
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam