Summary
December 15, 2020: Article details how Facebook (and to a lesser extent other social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Parler, etc, and other sites like youtube, google, 4chan, 8chan, etc) is rushing us towards the painful and disastrous end of civilization. These sites divide us, manipulate us, and feed us a never-ending buffet of conspiracy theory, hoaxes, propaganda, disinformation, paranoia, hate, marketing, etc. Social media is a recruiting tool for terrorists, white supremacists, holocaust deniers, and other unsavory groups. The article discusses some of the awful things Facebook has done, terrible things Mark Zuckerberg has said, and ways that nefarious groups have abused the platform to do even worse.
The article also discusses psychology, such as the negative transformation that tends to overtake any company or organization once it passes its 150th employee or member. It also talks about the history of the cold war and mutual assured destruction principles. It even mentions actual and intentional real-life doomsday machines, like the U.S.S.R.'s Dead Hand.
Source
Game and Story Use
- Twenty Minutes Into The Future, things are likely to be even worse than they are right now, courtesy of social media.
- After The End you might lay the blame for the end of the world as we know it on social media.
- Either a utopia or dystopia may have outlawed social media, or taken the reigns to try to curb or control its worst applications and effects.
- A terrorist cell run by the big bad evil guy recruits online, and even has what are essentially hate-filled recruiting videos automatically generated for it by social media algorithms.
- Any sort of bad-faith actor or criminal organization might be investigated / tracked / identified via their social media presence.
- You could even set up an algorithm that scours social media accounts to determine who has been dangerously radicalized. Put all that dreadful technology to work to protect the common good.
- Of course, that's probably exactly what the tools of the dystopia are telling themselves to justify the ways they are abusing social media to prop up the police state.
- You could even set up an algorithm that scours social media accounts to determine who has been dangerously radicalized. Put all that dreadful technology to work to protect the common good.
- If you want to create an organization of truly good, incorruptible heroes, paladins, superheroes, etc, the article suggests that you need to keep it under 150 members. Beyond that, things start to go pear-shaped.
- Which is great from a plot perspective anyway, as it means the small group are likely the underdog when facing off against the evil empire.