*24.04.19a Introduction To Reality Check
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Too many people seem to love gossip and rumors, so it is no surprise that a bunch of troll channels and commenters quickly popped up on the internet, with the mission of spreading falsehoods and downright lies against honest individuals.
Others seem to take joy in being cruel to others, or being destructive. Like little boys who think it is funny to set a dog's tail on fire, or who use graffiti on other people's property.
Though I must say, it is disturbing to see adults, even into their middle age years, who seem to take pleasure in being cruel to others. It's like they never matured past high school.
Let me give my own definition of "trolls" so you understand where I'm coming from. I use it to cover people who post nonsense just to get attention, or people who promote their assumptions as fact, or who flat out lie about others. So when I say, "troll", I'm covering all such unethical people.
Whether you agree with my definition isn't important. It's only important that you know what I mean when listening to me, to minimize misunderstanding.
I've dealt with such trolls for over 3 decades on text-based discussion forums before deciding to do it in videos.
You see, when I first got on the internet in the 1980's, I was excited to have the opportunity to exchange views and discuss issues with people all around the world. It took no time at all to find out that, at least when it came to politics and social issues, it was more of a cesspool!
Instead of an exchange of views, it was mostly name-calling, assumptions, and, of course, ignoring the actual arguments and facts I presented. For 2 years I ignored all that nonsense and kept trying to discuss issues. I failed, in most cases. If one side isn't interested in real discussion, what can I do?
That's when I decided to change my approach. I still tried to have good discussions when starting with someone new, but since this usually wasn't reciprocated, I would just switch to pointing out the tactics they were using.
Turns out those trolls really hated that! They'd keep up their personal attacks since apparently they didn't have rational arguments. But it was amusing to see some of their reactions to the fact I wouldn't back down and how I kept pointing out their tactics. A classic one was a woman who, on a text-based forum, said, "I don't understand why you are still here. I've always been able to drive other people off".
That, of course, is the goal of many trolls, though they don't usually state it so plainly! And as such, it is a form of soft censorship. After all, if you silence yourself in frustration, you have effectively been censored to some extent. That is a tactic too, which I'll be covering more of in future videos.
Unlike what I've usually done as just a commenter on these discussion forums in the past, on this channel I'm going to focus on defending ordinary people rather than nationally known figures. However, the tactics I point out are also used by important politicians, leaders on social issues, as well as major media of all kinds. My hope is by showing these tactics as they are used against ordinary people, YOU will notice the same tactics occurring on a national and international level. By not normally using actual political examples, my hope is that fewer people will get defensive and tune out my effort to point out these tactics. I want them paying attention, regardless of their political or social preferences.
I may eventually deal directly with political and social issues, but I do hope to minimize it. However, my next video will include a political example, simply because I think it is a really good example for showing how absurd someone can be even when the facts that contradict them are known and it comes from a high level where you would think the person would be smart enough not to make that mistake. So in my next video I will be presenting an example of this kind of situation from a YouTube channel against an ordinary vlogger as well as a similar example by a very famous politician.
This isn't about political policies. At least not yet. It is about tactics used. People whose policies you approve of may still use unethical tactics sometimes! You should object to those behaviors if you want things to get better. A knee-jerk reaction to defend a politician when they behave badly is the same thing as when followers of a vlogger automatically defend that vlogger even when they are caught lying!
You will probably notice that most of my future examples will be covering false claims made against one particular channel more than any other. There is a simple reason for this. I happen to be very familiar with the channel since I have seen all their videos. Thus it is pretty easy for me to tell if someone is spreading lies about them. It just makes more sense to use examples that I really know about!
But this focus actually serves another purpose as well because the channel I defend the most is run by a pretty young woman and, based on past experience, a lot of those who will criticize me will ignore the facts I present and instead make an issue of me mostly defending a woman in hopes that she will get interested in me. So expect to see comments about me "white knighting", having a crush, etc. You know, junior high level stuff.
But this is fine with me since it is another troll tactic I can point out!
The trolls won't like it. They may again try to censor me with bogus copyright strikes. It's strange to see trolls use clips and images from channels they are attacking, but will make strikes against me for using their clips or images. Even though I wasn't using much and was making commentary.
They know I won't do a counter-notification because doing so on YouTube means they get my full name, home address, and phone number. That is not something I want such people to have! They have even made it a point to tell me they'd get this information. Which I take as a threat. Certainly they can cause considerable trouble with it.
It's a system that is ripe for abuse. A troll can make false strikes safely. Only thing revealed is the name of their channel and an email. Of course, the channel name is already known and the email may already be included on their own channel. Very convenient for unethical people.
So, while in the past I used enough clips just to make the facts clear and provide proof, I guess I won't be doing that here in regard to those channels. Oh, I'm sure they'll still try to make up something to shut me down. But it will still serve my purposes for you to see what absurd lengths to censor they'll go to!
After all, that's a tactic too so it fits in with this channel's purpose! And I have other options in mind if necessary.
I will quote them word for word and, as always, context will be maintained. Though I may leave out the little language issues like "uh" or "um" or stuttering, or similar things that don't change the meaning.
Will my efforts stop the nastiness?
Nope.
At least it never has before.
I can't make people change.
But I can make you aware of how they play their games, so you can spot the same tactics elsewhere.
So, that's how things will be done. If you like it, that's great for both of us.
Click on the "Like" button.
If you don't, I really don't mind. I just want to make the facts available. Heck, I fully expect some of these troll channels, with thousands of subscribers, to jump in with lots of dislikes. Won't matter to me. I just want to give my views. Agreement isn't my prime goal, though it would be a nice bonus!
And you can "follow" my channel to be notified of future videos.
Watch for my next video for my first example of people making proven false claims and my one political example of a similar tactic.
It should be soon after this introduction is released.
Welcome to "Reality Check Files".
Thanks for listening and don't let the trolls stop you from speaking out.
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