A lot of media live their lives through Twitter rather than IRL. Everything in Twitter seems a cluster fuck and exaggerated, so the media tends to reflect this.
Absolutely: social media is an echo chamber and certain outlets are worse than others for cultivating or promoting extreme voices to the top of feeds. And often, clicks or “engagement” can be as much from rubber neckers as true believers … so until feet hit the pavement there’s no true way to guage “real” support. And when they come out, these right wing wannabe fascists find their support was not as large as they thought
100%
Don’t give into this type of hand waving. It’s what got us here in the first place.
The longer people pretend the far right is gaining traction for no reason is the closer we’ll be to living under a far right government.
Established parties need to do something now or the unrest will only get worse.
i’d say it’s the opposite, ‘far-right’ views that most lads in the pub share are suppressed. of course, all depends on your definition of far right
The Internet gives so many people who shouldn’t have a voice at all a voice to recruit minions.
If you are a news editor looking for content; would you rather greenlight and manage an investigative reporter for a month’s or years long delve into some hidden aspect of society, or open twitter for some easy ragebait clicks?
It’s not just far right voices though.
Yes, by the likes of Newstalk, ironically.
_NewsTalk_ asking if right-wing talking points are ‘amplified beyond their popularity?’ lmao
Absolutely they are, they’re a bunch of fringe freaks with no elected representatives in the Dáil, they are a political non-entity.
The media love polarisation so always tend towards covering the extremes and this is no different. They’d have you believe they’re everywhere and anywhere.
It’s not helped by the hysterical dopes on here and across social media that will characterise anything that they disagree with as “far right”. A reflex that they think precludes them from having to actually substantiate any points they’re making.
The only way to truly test if the far right is gaining traction is at the polls. Arguments with accounts on twitter and reddit are not reflective of real life given a lot are bots.
Everywhere used to have village idiots. But they were disjointed and very much alone. With social media they were able to connect and fuel eachothers worst tendencies and thoughts and conspiracies. The outside force of friends and family shaming them for being such monumental gowls is no match for 10,000 people saying “yeah you are right there is a (insert easily disproved theory here), you are one of us!”.
That small bit of acceptance from other people who are just as ignorant is like rocketfuel for them. Suddenly they have misplaced confidence in their uneducated ideas and the Dunning–Kruger effect married to social media has ensured that their ignorance is now EVERBODIES problem.
Social media gives people the platform to spread their message, both good and bad
There’s always two sides to every story so you can paint everything with the same brush, scare mongering works on both sides
No they are actually misrepresentated on social media due to bans and censorships and deleted comments etc. Won’t have accurate numbers on different opinions unless there’s free speech on the internet
Yes, and journalists need to stop using Twitter/X as if it’s a valid ‘vox pop’.
A lot of media people have been living on Twitter for years, and it’s often a bubble of journalists interacting with bubbles of various loons.
Likewise politicians are often on Twitter and getting really extreme hate that they wouldn’t get in real life. They just should walk away. It’s a pointless exercise being there arguing with nazis and bots and getting a sense that they’re somehow a reflection of society.
People need to stop using that site. It’s a hellish mess yet a lot of public bodies, academics, musicians, politicians and journalists are giving it way more credibility than it deserves by being actively on it all the fecking time.
Also there’s an old guard of smug Irish twitterati who just don’t seem to even see how vile that platform has become. It was never free of problems, but it’s not 2010s Twitter when it had some element of community still left. That era is over.
Probably, they got the money and that daredevil attitude to warp a drainpipe
Yes
I’d say that the media and political establishment simultaneously are alarmist about the far right threat whilst downplaying or ignoring the issues which give rise to far right sentiment
Bad news sells. Journalists that make an article because some far right geezer said something terrible are only adding fuel to the fire. Stop giving them the platform from which they pontificate their bollocks. Let them say all the crazy white they want, ignore them. Let them do whatever they can to get attention, ignore them. Let them fade into nothing but obscurity.
And certainly don’t prioritise the crap they say over anything else. Looking at you Social Media.
Empty vessels make the most noise.
Always amuses me that there is such a thing as “far right” but no such thing as far left. It’s like you either agree with the left or you’re a scumbag racist. And no I’m not far right or anti immigration, I just find it hilarious the double standards.
Yes. All of that stuff on twitter is amplified. Most people in real life aren’t revolting racist thugs or, conversely, polyamorous furries.
Definitely and it’s so easy to see why people get sucked in. It’s a shame, I’ve had good childhood friends I can no longer have a normal conversation with because of this bollix. I was called a woke commie not to long ago because I refused to listen to Tommy Robinson.
People are now permanently stuck down that rabbit hole and it’s so easy to spot. All the same dribble from the usual hate driven imbeciles that are heavily influenced by America.
Working class Irish kids using words and political terminology that they don’t really even know the meaning to or has no relation to Irish society.
The local and European elections was a wake up call. Look at how close Le Penn was in France.
Yes.
Covering them is an easy story, guaranteed to generate emotion and excitement, and very importantly: find an audience.
We love stories about boogie men, and we love stories about morons.
Far right extremism is our rage fuel, just as boogie men stories about immigrants are to the far right.
the irony
Yes. It’s a well known and much debated issue of modern algorithmically driven social media, but Irish trad media is extremely prone to it too, in no small part because of laziness – ie they’re loud and generate simple soundbites, so coverage of any issue they’re concerned with tends to be dominated by what used to derisively be referred to as “stenography”.
I’ve started seeing a lot of videos on Twitter of the type “Cultural Enricher Stabbing Spanish Old Lady” and such. I’ve found myself getting caught up in the feeling and have to check myself.
They’re a very loud minority with mystery benefactors who keep giving them airtime. Like Farage in the U.K.
Yes
Why? Because they are liaising with their international counterparts and receiving funding from them
32 comments
Yes
Yup
A lot of media live their lives through Twitter rather than IRL. Everything in Twitter seems a cluster fuck and exaggerated, so the media tends to reflect this.
Absolutely: social media is an echo chamber and certain outlets are worse than others for cultivating or promoting extreme voices to the top of feeds. And often, clicks or “engagement” can be as much from rubber neckers as true believers … so until feet hit the pavement there’s no true way to guage “real” support. And when they come out, these right wing wannabe fascists find their support was not as large as they thought
100%
Don’t give into this type of hand waving. It’s what got us here in the first place.
The longer people pretend the far right is gaining traction for no reason is the closer we’ll be to living under a far right government.
Established parties need to do something now or the unrest will only get worse.
i’d say it’s the opposite, ‘far-right’ views that most lads in the pub share are suppressed. of course, all depends on your definition of far right
The Internet gives so many people who shouldn’t have a voice at all a voice to recruit minions.
If you are a news editor looking for content; would you rather greenlight and manage an investigative reporter for a month’s or years long delve into some hidden aspect of society, or open twitter for some easy ragebait clicks?
It’s not just far right voices though.
Yes, by the likes of Newstalk, ironically.
_NewsTalk_ asking if right-wing talking points are ‘amplified beyond their popularity?’ lmao
Absolutely they are, they’re a bunch of fringe freaks with no elected representatives in the Dáil, they are a political non-entity.
The media love polarisation so always tend towards covering the extremes and this is no different. They’d have you believe they’re everywhere and anywhere.
It’s not helped by the hysterical dopes on here and across social media that will characterise anything that they disagree with as “far right”. A reflex that they think precludes them from having to actually substantiate any points they’re making.
The only way to truly test if the far right is gaining traction is at the polls. Arguments with accounts on twitter and reddit are not reflective of real life given a lot are bots.
Everywhere used to have village idiots. But they were disjointed and very much alone. With social media they were able to connect and fuel eachothers worst tendencies and thoughts and conspiracies. The outside force of friends and family shaming them for being such monumental gowls is no match for 10,000 people saying “yeah you are right there is a (insert easily disproved theory here), you are one of us!”.
That small bit of acceptance from other people who are just as ignorant is like rocketfuel for them. Suddenly they have misplaced confidence in their uneducated ideas and the Dunning–Kruger effect married to social media has ensured that their ignorance is now EVERBODIES problem.
Social media gives people the platform to spread their message, both good and bad
There’s always two sides to every story so you can paint everything with the same brush, scare mongering works on both sides
No they are actually misrepresentated on social media due to bans and censorships and deleted comments etc. Won’t have accurate numbers on different opinions unless there’s free speech on the internet
Yes, and journalists need to stop using Twitter/X as if it’s a valid ‘vox pop’.
A lot of media people have been living on Twitter for years, and it’s often a bubble of journalists interacting with bubbles of various loons.
Likewise politicians are often on Twitter and getting really extreme hate that they wouldn’t get in real life. They just should walk away. It’s a pointless exercise being there arguing with nazis and bots and getting a sense that they’re somehow a reflection of society.
People need to stop using that site. It’s a hellish mess yet a lot of public bodies, academics, musicians, politicians and journalists are giving it way more credibility than it deserves by being actively on it all the fecking time.
Also there’s an old guard of smug Irish twitterati who just don’t seem to even see how vile that platform has become. It was never free of problems, but it’s not 2010s Twitter when it had some element of community still left. That era is over.
Probably, they got the money and that daredevil attitude to warp a drainpipe
Yes
I’d say that the media and political establishment simultaneously are alarmist about the far right threat whilst downplaying or ignoring the issues which give rise to far right sentiment
Bad news sells. Journalists that make an article because some far right geezer said something terrible are only adding fuel to the fire. Stop giving them the platform from which they pontificate their bollocks. Let them say all the crazy white they want, ignore them. Let them do whatever they can to get attention, ignore them. Let them fade into nothing but obscurity.
And certainly don’t prioritise the crap they say over anything else. Looking at you Social Media.
Empty vessels make the most noise.
Always amuses me that there is such a thing as “far right” but no such thing as far left. It’s like you either agree with the left or you’re a scumbag racist. And no I’m not far right or anti immigration, I just find it hilarious the double standards.
Yes. All of that stuff on twitter is amplified. Most people in real life aren’t revolting racist thugs or, conversely, polyamorous furries.
Definitely and it’s so easy to see why people get sucked in. It’s a shame, I’ve had good childhood friends I can no longer have a normal conversation with because of this bollix. I was called a woke commie not to long ago because I refused to listen to Tommy Robinson.
People are now permanently stuck down that rabbit hole and it’s so easy to spot. All the same dribble from the usual hate driven imbeciles that are heavily influenced by America.
Working class Irish kids using words and political terminology that they don’t really even know the meaning to or has no relation to Irish society.
The local and European elections was a wake up call. Look at how close Le Penn was in France.
Yes.
Covering them is an easy story, guaranteed to generate emotion and excitement, and very importantly: find an audience.
We love stories about boogie men, and we love stories about morons.
Far right extremism is our rage fuel, just as boogie men stories about immigrants are to the far right.
the irony
Yes. It’s a well known and much debated issue of modern algorithmically driven social media, but Irish trad media is extremely prone to it too, in no small part because of laziness – ie they’re loud and generate simple soundbites, so coverage of any issue they’re concerned with tends to be dominated by what used to derisively be referred to as “stenography”.
I’ve started seeing a lot of videos on Twitter of the type “Cultural Enricher Stabbing Spanish Old Lady” and such. I’ve found myself getting caught up in the feeling and have to check myself.
They’re a very loud minority with mystery benefactors who keep giving them airtime. Like Farage in the U.K.
Yes
Why? Because they are liaising with their international counterparts and receiving funding from them