I think the demeaning presentation in many posts are the result of or are taking advantage of the anonymity this kind of forum or much social media requires or allows. Some posts seem designed to upset readers or other posters. In my experience there’s a decent chance that’s disinformation. It’s a strategy that requires controlling one’s emotions, reflexive control, to understand and combat. It’s a strategy used to generate outrage. It keeps you on the platform or drives more realistic voices away from the platform or forum. It’s a way to sow division. Those people who don’t fully understand what they are posting or who are uninformed are caught in misinformation loops. Others are manipulating those loops with disinformation tactics like demonizing opponents, fanning nostalgia, and silencing dissent. Old folks like me often call it propaganda, but in an anonymous platform or forum it’s arguably more than that, more dangerous, even.
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