Be more alert, but less judgemental

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL
Be more alert, but less judgemental
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Manipulative people are prowling the social media

Getting carried away while using the social media has its plus side. Justice can be served quickly, as in the case of a road hooligan who spotted cutting lanes and then repeatedly cutting in front of another car whose driver had offended him with a reproachful signal.

The street menace was quickly arrested and thrown in jail after his recorded behaviour went viral on the Internet. There are countless other such cases where social networkers have mobilised aid quickly to those in need and pointed the authorities in the right direction. Politically, the social media, divided like the rest of the country, have helped keep people on their toes, exposing or decrying potential corruption and rights abuses at the first scent.

The negative side, of course, has to do with overreaction and false judgement. Everyone knows you can't believe everything on your computer screen, and who really knows what is true and what isn't? For weeks a Dutch teenager kept her Facebook friends bewildered and envious with pictures of her "exotic" outings around Southeast Asia. IN truth, she was home the whole time, the photos taken at Asian temple and restaurant near her. It was an experiment to prove how easy it was to fake, distort or manipulate information on the social media, she said.

No one got hurt in her case, and her point is well taken, since it confirms that harmful practices have a huge and convenient stage online. People share anger, joy or sympathy on the social media, but that they do so sincerely doesn't mean they have immunity against manipulators.

On the social networks the first information shared after any event is usually one-sided. That is dangerous Because, if someone with 550 friends wants to discredit a person, the malice will materialise quickly. And we can't underestimate the peer pressure or the urge to get on our high horse when on the social media. When a rider on the Skytrain loudly reprimanded two women kissing, the whole heated argument was taped. The clip was widely circulated on the Internet and the affectionate duo was pilloried.

The more widespread and powerful the social media are, the more we need to be careful and less judgmental. The same ethics that have been guiding the mainstream media - cross-checking facts and not rushing to judgement, for example - must be applied more in cases such as when celebrities are caught in sex scandals.

While the social media can be quicker in mobilising good deeds, victims of unjust "reports" also tend to suffer more. The social media's reach is much broader than that of the traditional media, which in turn pick up on the Internet gossip and help amplify it.

The social and conventional media can supplement each other and form a formidable social and political watchdog. The tricky part is how both can be more alert and less judgmental. The social media are a new weapon that everyone loves to use, so it's not easy to find the right balance. Holding back on judgement, however, should be the way to start, because the new tool that is supposed to counterbalance social injustices must not become its own worst enemy.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Be-more-alert-but-less-judgemental-30248788.html

-- The Nation 2014-11-29

[noitom]

Nonsense editorial. Citing the experience of an unnamed "Dutch teenager."

[alfalfa19]

What nice words. I have a nice phrase too: "Be more nice, but less tired" Kinda catchy, methinks. If need be, I can make up a fantastic story to reinforce it, as well.

[PatOngo]

I don't want to be a lert.

[Sviss Geez]

Nonsense editorial. Citing the experience of an unnamed "Dutch teenager."

No more nonsensical than the posts on ThaiVisa citing the experiences of unnamed posters.

[JOC]

Nonsense editorial. Citing the experience of an unnamed "Dutch teenager."

No more nonsensical than the posts on ThaiVisa citing the experiences of unnamed posters.

Which you just proved....................................again!!

[FangFerang]

Social media is a direct threat to the existence of newspapers, and every newspaper has the same agenda -- to make money by restricting information and supporting one side or another to have captive client supporters.

The number of bogus stories in mainstream media is easily equal to hoaxers on social media, the latter of which creates a false sense of validation for the former. Here's the illogical argument implied in the article above -- "News can be a hoax in social media, therefore social media is unreliable." This is like saying, "Men fake their own deaths every day; therefore men never really die." Just because something can be hoaxed does NOT mean similar events never happen. It just means some people will lie -- and no one needs a news expert to tell us that.

This is a part of the reason we see Wikileak's creator being cornered and fried alive, and protests in the US being shut down from a "lack of legal permits" (and which is blatantly Unconstitutional). Anyone with a brain will cross-check facts and come to a reasoned conclusion.

This is counter-productive to controlling the populations of the world.

GOOD!

[wabothai]

Better to just take a walk in nature. Too bad that it is too hot in Thailand for that.

Reading Thai visa does not make me happier.

[fab4]

Social media is a direct threat to the existence of newspapers, and every newspaper has the same agenda -- to make money by restricting information and supporting one side or another to have captive client supporters.

The number of bogus stories in mainstream media is easily equal to hoaxers on social media, the latter of which creates a false sense of validation for the former. Here's the illogical argument implied in the article above -- "News can be a hoax in social media, therefore social media is unreliable." This is like saying, "Men fake their own deaths every day; therefore men never really die." Just because something can be hoaxed does NOT mean similar events never happen. It just means some people will lie -- and no one needs a news expert to tell us that.

This is a part of the reason we see Wikileak's creator being cornered and fried alive, and protests in the US being shut down from a "lack of legal permits" (and which is blatantly Unconstitutional). Anyone with a brain will cross-check facts and come to a reasoned conclusion.

This is counter-productive to controlling the populations of the world.

GOOD!

The number of bogus stories in mainstream media is easily equal to hoaxers on social media, the latter of which creates a false sense of validation for the former.

Indeed, even the great leader has fallen prey to this just recently.

Posted 2014-11-25

BANGKOK: -- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha Tuesday threatened to bar ousted premier Yingluck Shinawatra from travelling abroad, a day after the publication of her first media interview since May's coup.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/779335-thai-pm-threatens-to-bar-yingluck-from-travelling-abroad/#entry8720652

Posted 2014-11-26

BANGKOK - The Bangkok Post has pulled an article in which a reporter claimed to have interviewed former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/779395-bangkok-post-reporter-retracts-interview-with-yingluck/#entry8721738

Unfortunately, with the power he has bestowed upon himself, this can have far reaching consequences, as illustrated above.................................

[CajunCruiser]

I don't want to be a lert.

Lert was the bartender in the SuperStar back in the early 1980s, shortly before the place's heyday.

[Emster23]

The implication that some idiot driver careening about is on the same level as faked travel postings.... are they asserting that perhaps poster of insane driving faked it using set of fake freeway that was used in the Matrix? Speaking of alert, how about some follow up of ground breaking Ebola cure that some Thai hospital purported to have developed? Or the aids cure, or any number of stories the media just nods heads and prints?

[djjamie]

Nonsense editorial. Citing the experience of an unnamed "Dutch teenager."

No more nonsensical than the posts on ThaiVisa citing the experiences of unnamed posters.

Which you just proved....................................again!!

Does condescension come naturally for you?

Edited November 29, 2014 by djjamie

[djjamie]

Social media is a direct threat to the existence of newspapers, and every newspaper has the same agenda -- to make money by restricting information and supporting one side or another to have captive client supporters.

The number of bogus stories in mainstream media is easily equal to hoaxers on social media, the latter of which creates a false sense of validation for the former. Here's the illogical argument implied in the article above -- "News can be a hoax in social media, therefore social media is unreliable." This is like saying, "Men fake their own deaths every day; therefore men never really die." Just because something can be hoaxed does NOT mean similar events never happen. It just means some people will lie -- and no one needs a news expert to tell us that.

This is a part of the reason we see Wikileak's creator being cornered and fried alive, and protests in the US being shut down from a "lack of legal permits" (and which is blatantly Unconstitutional). Anyone with a brain will cross-check facts and come to a reasoned conclusion.

This is counter-productive to controlling the populations of the world.

GOOD!

Anyone with a brain will cross-check facts and come to a reasoned conclusion.

Exactly. Just like the rice farmers suicides being blamed on the military and DEM's when half the suicides happened before any protests even started.

[deckape]

That's the beauty of social media. One can kick one's opinions around willy nilly. It gives the average netizen a nice virtual soapbox to stand on.

I am 43 years old, and have become increasingly convinced that Television and periodical news are usually outright false, biased, or painfully irrelevant. The real story of the day for LOS and my other home in the USA is how the moneyed elite have managed to get a stranglehold on power that has reached a dangerous advantage over the public.

Social media, and I am talking more about forums and discussion boards than Twitterbook are the future for common people to be able to openly question the BS that is being fed to them. Frankly when commenting on current events I believe judgement is good.

[Benmart]

People hasten to judge in order not to be judged themselves.

― Albert Camus, The Fall

[maidee]

facecrap : it can cost you your JOB, your marriage and sometimes, your LIFE

[rickirs]

"Everyone knows you can't believe everything on your computer screen, and who really knows what is true and what isn't?"

So what's the problem then? Getting information from the internet and social media is no less dependable or reliable than getting it from your neighbor, the local drunk, police, newspaper, TV, etc. But people do need to have the discipline to exercise good judgement in evaluating what should be believed and not to just "knee-jerk" react to any one source of information. That discipline comes with FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION and FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY. It does not come with Gen. Prayuth's, "You do not understand." If you want to force-feed porridge to the public, you will get it back in your face.

Gen. Prayuth doesn't seem to believe that people can be so responsible that HE must personally monitor and censor news sources on their behalf according to HIS concept of ethical and moral behavior, and Thai "values." And even with validated truth he seems not appreciate questioning HIS truths to the extent that it "conflicts" with the society as he wants to create - "I AM NOT A DICTATOR."