News Sources and Media Bias

I have a friend that likes this media bias chart. I am going to try using it as a guide. 

From https://www.allsides.com/media-bias/media-bias-chart

Local Law Enforcement

From a FB Post of mine.

"We cannot give up liberty for security. Local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will." Rand Paul
https://www.facebook.com/SenatorRandPaul/posts/3407406542645458  

"Reports: Camouflaged Feds Grabbing Vandals — And Protesters? — In Portland And Carting Them Off In Unmarked Vans" Allahpundit Posted at 11:21 am on July 17, 2020

It is a dangerous precedent to allow the federal government to police us. Local and state government should be policing us instead.

Talking Past Each Other

So often we talk past each other instead of listening wholly to what is shared.



I like the introduction to this video. It shows Mormon missionaries and an Evangelical talking to each other as if the other were mannequins. Taking time and effort to understand first brings great treasure.

https://youtu.be/DohZIzmpjVQ Cross posted from https://richalger.blogspot.com/2015/07/talking-past-each-other.html

Destructive Arguments or "Shiri's Scissor"

"Worth reading. TLDR: stop sharing political memes. It's rarely worth it, and it's generally tearing is apart. But, read." Jeffrey Thayne

From the article:
"When you realize that this meme is actually targeting conservatives *and* liberals, you also realize that the logical deficiency of the argument isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. It’s just another provocation... to squeeze out a few more interactions, a few more clicks, a few more shares. If you react to this meme with an angry rant, you’re still reacting to this meme. That means you’ve already lost, because you’ve given away your attention. "

(My FB Post that refers to "Hold Up Your Light", July 6, 2020 by Nathaniel)

Shiri's Scissor is from "Sort By Controversial" Posted On October 30, 2018 By Scott Alexander
https://web.archive.org/web/20181031212123/http://slatestarcodex.com/

“Scissor Statement.” A statement so controversial it was guaranteed to tear a social group apart.
from https://medium.com/handwaving-freakoutery/facebook-is-shiris-scissor-e78413457d2c

From my reply to my FB Post

I wonder if Facebook is a "Shiri's Scissor". Are we inadvertently arguing because we disagree online? Facebook is designed for us to engage more. Because more engagement means more eyeballs for advertisers and more money for Facebook. See https://medium.com/handwaving-freakoutery/facebook-is-shiris-scissor-e78413457d2c 

We need more civility among friends and acquaintances.  We need to ensure that we are not talking past each other.  We need more good will and good faith.
https://youtu.be/DohZIzmpjVQ

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The above image is from https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/6ymuo3/a_study_found_that_on_twitter_the_left_and_right/

It seems like an accurate depiction of a divide in our country.

This post is from 2014. I think we are more polarized than we were 6 years ago.
http://allthingsgraphed.com/2014/10/09/visualizing-political-polarization/

When we use social media, we need to be aware that we are the product not the consumer. It is offered to us for free. The price we pay to use it is our attention, converted to money by advertisers. It seems reasonable to me that a "Shiri's Scissor" sort of result may be happening.

We certainly are more divided as a society over the last 12 years that I have been on Facebook.
Several, reputable looking results come up when I Google "does social media divide us?"
https://www.google.com/search?q=does+social+media+divide+us%3F&oq=does+social+media+divide+us%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57.11999j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

From https://allthingsgraphed.com/2014/10/09/visualizing-political-polarization/

Here is a comment I made on a post that can easily prompt people to talk past each other instead of listening to each other.

I see this sign as using a similar tactic that "Defund the Police" uses. It does not actually mean what it says. By your interpretation, the sign in the photo means "BY did nothing wrong by the standards of his time".
I get that this does not get the same sort of reaction that the picture does. I think we need to be careful to not post things like "Shiri's Scissor"

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