how to see what groups you are in on facebook
For years, rumors have circulated around the internet virtually the beingness, and use, of paid protestors. In the wake of anti-police brutality demonstrations, detractors accept claimed that the protestors involved in the global Black Lives Affair movement are hired hands and, in June 2020, these claims spread similar wildfire on social media due in part to the website ProtestJobs.com. While folks on Facebook went wild with this "discovery," information technology's abundantly articulate that ProtestJobs.com is a satirical site.
A quick glance at the services the site offers — for $99 y'all can mock-request an "EZ-Anarchism," which, among other things, includes "5-25 masked rioters guaranteed to cause havoc and confusion" — establishes that satire in seconds. Non to mention, information technology boasts a very explicit disclaimer — "Real: 100,000+ Americans are expressionless. Fake: This website." Jean le Roux, a enquiry associate and fact checker, told BuzzFeed News that "It's a very fine line between disinformation and an bodily, established literary device." That is, in a earth where fact is often decried equally fake news, a satirical website is now being held upward by protestation opponents as "proof" of the illegitimacy of said protests. Information technology's all but very, very dystopian — maybe fifty-fifty more so than George Orwell imagined.
The Dangers of Social Media Echo Chambers
In 2018, BuzzFeed News published an article titled "How Facebook Groups Are Being Exploited To Spread Misinformation, Plan Harassment, And Radicalize People" — and the title says it all. In the lead upwards to the 2020 Presidential Election, Facebook and other social media sites that don't regulate the spread of misinformation came under heavy set on.
In essence, these sorts of sites non but arrive hard for users to differentiate between fake news and facts, but Facebook Groups, much similar one-time-school internet forums, help conspiracies spread similar wildfire and, in some cases, radicalize believers. We all call up the "Plandemic" conspiracy theorists — people who called the COVID-19 pandemic a hoax and spread misinformation about the incredibly serious (and incredibly real) public health threat.
Co-ordinate to BuzzFeed'due south investigation, "[W]hile Facebook groups may offer a positive feel for millions of people effectually the world, they take also get a global honeypot of spam, fake news, conspiracies, health misinformation, harassment, hacking, trolling, scams and other threats to users." In putting an emphasis on Groups, Facebook is essentially reinforcing the like-minded bubble mentality, keeping users locked in social media echo chambers, which, at their very worst, are "fueled by a torrent of fake news and extremism" (via Monday Annotation).
To brand matters more than puzzling, Crowds on Demand, an American publicity firm, has made waves by hiring actors to "staff" events. While the firm was founded effectually the thought of giving folks the "celebrity feel" — say, if you want a paparazzi-style crowd at the airport to make you look more important — the site now claims to go across merely PR stunts, suggesting customers apply the firm to bolster numbers at "protests, rallies…[and] political events."
This, of course, feeds into the questionable practice of "astroturfing," in which sponsors or organizations mask their intent by making information technology seem as though their message has originated from grassroots efforts. "[The commercialization of the process of hiring crowds] just contributes to the air of unreality that exists in this day and age with essentially non being able to believe your ain eyes or ears," California-based political consultant Garry South told the Los Angeles Times in 2018. "I don't remember it'south particularly healthy. Just it probably inevitably was going to come to this."
"No i tin pay for someone'due south lived experience." — Ana Maria Archila
Unfortunately, this kind of misinformation isn't cordoned off in a night corner of the internet. In 2018, Brett Kavanaugh'southward date to the U.S. Supreme Court was one of the most contentious in history, compelling many of his detractors to protest. Trump tweeted almost the protestors, digging his heels into the conspiracy theory that the protestors had been paid by wealthy liberal donors, including George Soros.
"The paid D.C. protestors are now gear up to Really protest because they oasis't gotten their checks," Trump tweeted. "[I]north other words, they weren't paid! Screamers in Congress, and outside, were far too obvious — less professional than anticipated by those paying (or non paying) the bills!" But, equally reported by Politico, Ana Maria Archila, a self-identified sexual assault survivor who confronted a Republican senator, wrote in a statement that "No one can pay for someone's lived experiences… The hurting, the trauma, and the rage that I expressed when I spoke with Senator Jeff Flake in an elevator were my own, and I held information technology for more than 30 years to protect the people I beloved from information technology."
In other words, the onetime President'due south unfounded claims were nevertheless another case of misinformation, and, given his immense platform, his attempt to discredit Americans who were concerned about Kavanaugh'southward past and lack of accountability was all the more unsafe. Normalizing conspiracy theories and spreading misinformation on a national stage only emboldens others to exercise and then and clouds the truth from Americans who only want the who, what, where, when and why of electric current events.
All of this to say, while firms like Crowds on Demand do exist to smashing crowd sizes, jumping to conclusions every fourth dimension in that location is a protestation or rally isn't helpful. While the rise of social media has made it easy to spread information and jump on trends, we should all exercise our part to be as diligent as possible — to face up the fact check before tumbling down the rabbit hole.
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Source: https://www.ask.com/culture/paid-protestors-investigated?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740004%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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