We had to do it.
these guys get it
(Source: aquaticwonder)
The Facebook Comments That Rob Ford Doesn’t Want You to See
Above: A crack pipe word cloud, because, why not?
The comments on the Facebook page of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford are, on the whole, positive and congratulatory. Even in the wake of the ever-evolving ‘Crackgate’ scandal, Fordites have been posting a plethora of supportive comments to the Mayor’s wall:
“Rob. Hang on. you are doing the best job. We love you…Burden is on star to provide proof. There was no video released, so it does not exist. Not even short ten seconds teaser trailer. as to create attention. all this screams from pinkos are unsubstantinated. They have no video, you do not need to explain any further.”
“Mr ford I just want to say I have alot of respect for you and your visions for this great city of ours. Keep up the good work and remember there are alot of people rooting for you.”
It shouldn’t come as any surprise to you that the comments on the mayor’s Facebook page are heavily monitored and screened. For any high-profile politician, online comments are like town hall forums: they appear spontaneous but are actually highly choreographed. In the case of Ford’s Facebook page, negative comments are systematically cleansed from the mayor’s wall.
This practice came to my attention last week when Gawker first broke the Crackgate story. As the controversy reverberated throughout the digital space, I wanted to gauge Torontonians’ reactions. And what better place to share your support or dismay for your elected official than his public Facebook page? I noted a couple of particularly disparaging remarks about Mr. Ford and mentioned them to a friend in passing a couple of hours later.
When they tried to look them up, they’d already been deleted.
Social media: a helpful tool in communication or a medium to create mindless banter? In part 5 of the series, we ask how young adults these days approach this generation-defining platform.
(Source: Vice Magazine)
Facebook deleted my account and all my photos apart from the four in this article.
Am I a 12-year-old child? Suddenly I’m not so sure. I mean, I think I remember Limp Bizkit. And Boris Yeltsin. And landlines. All of which would point to me not being 12. And I have no idea what GoGo’s Crazy Bones is. Really, it’s just a name to me. I don’t even know where it popped into my head from, and wasn’t that, like, ten years ago anyway?
Then again, Facebook seems to think otherwise. And when is Facebook ever wrong? Never, that’s when—science tells us that they know more about you than you do. The financial markets are about to give them history’s most exquisite blowjob. So whatever Mark Zuckerberg tells you that you think you are not, it is true. When he decides you signed up to his site at age seven in order to masquerade as a twentysomething, you did. And when he decides you are dead to the social world, well, brother, you just are.
It’s been six weeks since I first discovered that the Great Zuckerberg In The Sky had pressed the “delete via Kafka” button on my life and times. I went to log in. I simply wasn’t there. So I went to the FAQs. It could be, it said in very small print, that my account had been flagged for deletion. If I wanted, I could apply to ask what had happened via a link.
So I did. The reply took a week. But when it arrived, it was well worth it.
Hi,
Facebook requires all members to be at least 13 years. At this time, we can’t verify your age. In order to look into the reactivation of your account, we will need for you to provide us with a digital image of one of the following documents:
Passport
Driver’s license
Birth certificate
School or work ID
Lauren
User Operations
Facebook
Really, Facebook? You’d like a scan of my birth certificate? Clearly, Facebook had begun to imagine itself as we have all begun to imagine it: as some sort of psuedo-state governmental department. The Ministry Of Online Networking or something. But you can’t argue with bureaucracy. And you definitely can’t argue with Lauren User Operations. She doesn’t argue back. A few wasted emails later I’d swallowed my pride. I scanned my passport.
Why Does Nobody Know What ‘Trolling’ Means?
This week, most newspapers in the UK seem to have picked up on the news that a man sent a series of emails to super-hot conservative MP Louise Mensch threatening to kill her children, even going so far as to “Sophie’s Choice” her. All of the main newspapers over here referred to the guy who sent these threats as a “troll.” Obviously, sending an email threatening to murder somebody’s children is not “trolling,” it’s “being a cunt.” Just in case you’re my grandma, here is how Urban Dictionary defines trolling:
“The art of deliberately, cleverly, and secretly pissing people off, usually via the internet, using dialogue. Trolling does not mean just making rude remarks: Shouting swear words at someone doesn’t count as trolling; it’s just flaming, and isn’t funny. Spam isn’t trolling either; it pisses people off, but it’s lame.
“The most essential part of trolling is convincing your victim that either a) truly believe in what you are saying, no matter how outrageous, or b) give your victim malicious instructions, under the guise of help.
“Trolling requires deceiving; any trolling that doesn’t involve deceiving someone isn’t trolling at all; it’s just stupid. As such, your victim must not know that you are trolling; if he does, you are an unsuccessful troll.”
Below is an example of a recent story on “trolling” from each of the big UK newspapers, as well as my expert opinion on whether or not what they show is actually trolling. If you work in the media, feel free to print this out and use it as a handy reference guide.
THE GUARDIAN
(Link.)
The story: As mentioned above, a guy emailed Louise Mensch, threatening to kill her children.
Is this trolling? No.
Why not? While there can be no doubt that Zimmerman “deliberately” tried to piss Mensch off, there’s nothing at all “clever” or “secret” about it.
What is it then? It’s idiotic. Or simply just being mean to someone via email.
THE DAILY MAIL
(Link.)
The story: A university student started a Facebook group called “Somebody please kill Noel Edmonds.” Noel, who does not understand the internet, hired a company (!!!!) to trace the group’s creator and confronted him.
Is this trolling? No.
Why not? Again, this is neither clever or secret. Also, I can’t say for sure, but the student probably didn’t imagine that Noel would bother to hire the world’s top hackers to trawl the deep web to find this obscure site “Facebook” and thus the offensive group.
What is it then? It’s creating a whacky, student-y Facebook group. Or simply: Shit banter.
