Utahn. Dad & Husband. Likes camping, music, trivia, law.

  • 7 Posts
  • 7 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 12th, 2023

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  • I don’t disagree, but that doesn’t mean that people don’t do it.

    There are tons of “journalists” on sites like Yahoo that simply troll Reddit’s popular subs for content and repost controversial statements/opinions for clicks. That’s an easy way that hoaxes spread.

    Of course, the police aren’t going to go arrest someone based on an anonymous post, but it might raise suspicion and/or cause an unwarranted investigation.

    And yes, I do believe that if someone publishes something online, they have some level of responsibility for what they post, subject to the protections of the First Amendment (and similar doctrines in other countries). “I get to say what I want and don’t have any responsibility for the consequences” leads to (a) potentially dangerous situations, and (b) really shitty content.







  • I’m glad you’re coming clean. I kinda hope that you go back and delete the fake stories, or at least make clear they’re works of fiction.

    Why?

    Because people are stupid. They hear an urban legend about a psycopath putting razor blades in apples and all of a sudden no one can have anything but individually wrapped candy during halloween. People overemphasize anectodes to establish political views or actually make policy changes. Academics troll reddit for evidence to support theories. And “news” “reporters” pull stuff from Reddit and report it, often as fact. If it implicates criminal activity or child abuse, that might cause authorities to get involved needlessly.

    Maybe your stories aren’t such that they would impact policies, or change political views, or impact lives. I’m sure some of it is just harmless fun (though, when I’d participate in forums like AITA with fake posts, it sure did annoyme), and to some extent, people should be smarter about responding to shitposts. “Throwaway because my friends know my main account” should be a big, red flag. And I’m glad you got to work on your writing skill and voice. I hope you can use it productively in the future, and I wish you the best of luck. (But think about deleting or editing your posts!)