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30 sats \ 2 replies \ @south_korea_ln 3 Sep \ parent \ on: Science research gets more engagement on Bluesky than X, study finds science
Initially, based on personal experience and talking to many friends and family who live in Europe.
More recently, talking to a contact who is working at the EU level in Brussels and whose likely next job will be to combat propaganda on Twitter. He gave me a rudimentary rundown on how many of these channels operate and it seems to be quite orchestrated (language specific, keyword optimization, in response to current events for better reach,...). And it does not match reality. Yes, there is a large increase in immigration, yes, that comes with an increase in petty
crime. Yes, some cities see an increase in drug related violence due to cartels fighting over control of certain areas. But no, people are not walking the streets in fear of getting gunned down by a cartel member or getting raped by an immigrant, because it really does not happen the level portrayed on Twitter. Also, it's extremely localized to very specific areas in the big cities which have always been hotspots for crime. It's very easy to pick a video from one of these events and amplify it to make it look like it happens everywhere.
I agree mainstream media is likely downplaying some of the problems, but Twitter is exaggerating it. And if i have to choose between these two extremes, i prefer the former as the latter clearly exacerbates it by pitching people against each other.
Incidentally, and anecdotally, that EU institution friend's wife works for Fedasil in Belgium. A Belgian agency responsible for the reception of asylum seekers. What she reports is misery and suffering on the migrant's side, with the "locals" being insulated from this misery. It's a them problem, not an us problem, for many Belgians. Belgians mostly keep living their life, with their own problems to worry about.
Just to be clear, i am not saying there are no problems. It's just not happening at the level and scale portrayed by those clickbait accounts that retweet the bots.
I think we're aligned on what's real and what's exaggerated
The only thing I'll add, and this might be considered honest advice to your friend, is that telling people that "statistically, they're wrong", doesn't help.
Every time I hear that statistically crime isn't up that much in Los Angeles, I get very frustrated because whether statistically it's up or not is besides the point in that I am experiencing greater crime, personally.
I would much rather hear someone say, "We hear you. Things are getting worse for people in some places, and we want to take that seriously. But if you are fearful of going out, please know that the incidents you see online are extremely rare and amplified to generate online controversy. This doesn't lessen our responsibility to make everyone feel safe, we just want everyone to have an accurate picture of the situation."
But much more common you just hear, "It's exaggerated" or "The statistics don't back that up"... which is just not helpful.
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The only thing I'll add, and this might be considered honest advice to your friend, is that telling people that "statistically, they're wrong", doesn't help.
For sure. I don't think he does. His wife even less. They don't live in an ivory tower in the middle of EU-Brussels. She hands out soup in the parks of Brussels, where illegal immigrants gather before trying to make it to the UK (many don't want to apply in Belgium because applying in one EU country automatically voids your application in another one... and the UK is the end goal for many). She sees the misery firsthand. She sees the bad job politicians are doing at handling this immigration crisis. She also sees the good that other people are doing.
I would much rather hear someone say, "We hear you. Things are getting worse for people in some places, and we want to take that seriously. But if you are fearful of going out, please know that the incidents you see online are extremely rare and amplified to generate online controversy. This doesn't lessen our responsibility to make everyone feel safe, we just want everyone to have an accurate picture of the situation."
But much more common you just hear, "It's exaggerated" or "The statistics don't back that up"... which is just not helpful.
Very well put. I'll keep this advice at heart.
I agree, communication can make all the difference.
I don't know the US, so I can't speak for what is happening there. But in my biased, likely liberal, opinion, sending the military to handle the crisis will not solve the problem. I don't think Europe has gone that way, just yet, but I hope that's not how they will try to make people feel safer.
I believe social workers in problematic areas play a much more important, yet often invisible, role in addressing how people feel in certain areas and how immigrants can stay away from crime.
And fighting propaganda is critical in getting an accurate picture of the situation. Twitter is not where one will find such a picture.
Completely inappropriate segue: immigration is here to stay, much as the spam on BTC's blockchain. Filtering will not work. One has to figure out how to work/live with it and/or use it to one's advantage. Same as Korea, which will likely need immigration to counter the very low birthrate.
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