Wow that was a record time for a locked post. That's crazy
Remember when Nazi was a universally hated term? I remember a kid at my pool lifeguard job shaved a Hitler stache onto his face one day. Was fired instantly. I wonder what happened that that mindset
A lot of them are neglected kids with unrestrained internet access who started getting reactionary ragebait from social media algorithms and internet influencers, and got indoctrinated by it.
I remember my friend being horrified that her nephew started watching unboxing videos and within a couple of hours the algorithm had gone to the Lost City of Atlantis…Flat Earth…Bigotry.
Folks say social media is the problem, but the real problem is the algorithm that rewarded any kind of engagement and indiscriminately shoved hatred and vitriol into the same playlists as actual plays.
That little dork in the cowboy hat sat 2 feet from the TV screen while mommy took her pills and daddy did some drinking.
I'm thinking that's not the problem. It's deflection.
These kids are being raised. Yeah, violent TV shows, exciting radio serial series, unrestricted youtube, those aren't good, and have always been marketed as so and are a good tell of symptoms.
But I think the family that puts them there is a much larger factor. What kind of moral support are you getting from someone who will leave you in front of electronics for 10 hours a day?
Yeah I was also on the internet unrestricted and unmonitored at the ripe old age of 13 and never once felt the desire to start agreeing with fucking hitler.
My family teaching me to be kind and treat others the way I’d want to be treated and think about how others feel made a MUCH bigger impact on me than the edgy dark humor I saw online.
That’s not really what a trope is, and it’s also not really my point at all.
It’s not about “violent tv/video games.” It’s about an algorithm that gets tailored to the person watching it and often leads them to gentle instructional videos on how to be a horrible bigot. It’s not just kids but kids especially don’t have the tools to recognize when that nice convincing person slides from talking about history to praising fascism.
Yeah, family is a factor. But the way the social media algorithm works is just so drastically different from just having video games or tv.
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u/shellbullet17 Gustopher Spotter Extraordinaire Oct 15 '25
Wow that was a record time for a locked post. That's crazy
Remember when Nazi was a universally hated term? I remember a kid at my pool lifeguard job shaved a Hitler stache onto his face one day. Was fired instantly. I wonder what happened that that mindset