What I meant was that my question wasn’t about how to distinguish between reputable and unreliable sources – I think most Lemmy users are capable of doing that.

I was more interested in how we can effectively and meaningfully contribute to countering the flood of misinformation on social media (such as Twitter or meta apps).

The background to my question is the fact that this misinformation influences users’ opinions. I think, the US is the best example of where that can lead. Unfortunately, there are similar trends in my home country. Since I don’t want to be ruled by fascists, I thought I’d ask the community here what can be done.

But apparently I didn’t phrase the question very well.

What makes you think I couldn’t tell the difference?

Well, my question was about how to counter the constant misinformation spread by influential people like Trump (there are people like him in pretty much every country) – that’s why I mentioned other platforms, because Lemmy is completely irrelevant in this context due to its very limited reach.

Any examples?

So you think it’s okay for the US president to spread misinformation? You really don’t see a problem with that, even though you yourself talk about “information hygiene”?

Do you have any examples?

In Hitler’s time, there was only radio, but Goebbels, his PR man, knew how to use it to great effect. His books are sometimes still read today in PR training courses because PR is just another word for propaganda, and Goebbels is considered one of the fathers of this discipline.

Most of the misinformation I regularly find on top are statements made by the US president or his administration – and these are news reports in an appropriate context with appropriate commentary by Lemmy users. Occasionally, very rarely, I have also seen misinformation about the US president, but I don’t see that as much of a problem.

Rather, I see it as a very serious problem that the US president himself and his administration are massively spreading misinformation. That is what my question refers to.

That’s certainly a good point, but I’m less concerned with how to verify information than with how to counteract the constant flow of misinformation — especially on other platforms where misinformation is deliberately pushed, which is causing major problems in my home country alone.

Unfortunately, I believe that social media does influence people’s decisions very much. If that weren’t the case, criminals like Trump could never be elected president, and 20-25% of the people in my home country wouldn’t vote for open Nazis.

Nevertheless, thank you for your valuable contribution: In addition to technical possibilities, I am also interested in how to deal with people who do not accept rational arguments - the Socratic method is probably the best way to make a point with them.

I’m only on Lemmy, but I don’t think my individual decision will make a difference—and unfortunately, I don’t think anyone should realistically expect it to.

I think anyone who is already here has recognized the problem.

But he certainly can raise prices by 1500% once this pedo thing is over — probably a Freudian slip — he will probably do everything humanly possible to increase prices by that percentage since the lobby offered him and his cronies good terms.

Trump cannot and will not lower drug prices. That’s just another lie… Oh, how about the Eppstein files? He could certainly publish those, but he won’t for obvious reasons – almost as obvious as the reasons for not lowering drug prices.

So history repeats itself - you can read here how people like Lyons think and justify their atrocities: Hannah Arendt: Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil (1963).

Unfortunately, still very relevant today.

That’s exactly why I’m asking. What patriotism is or should be, I can’t answer, but I can say that what the self-proclaimed patriots in America are doing atm seems to me like the opposite of what this this strange concept should be about, because they are helping to cement an oligarchy - and that can’t be in the interests of US citizens.

Edit: Just to be clear: If you are a US citizen and disagree with the administration’s policies, I would consider you a patriot – but I am probably the worst person to ask about this.

The thinker pose thumbnail …

In the meantime, he is building up his secret police force with an astronomical budget of 75 billion - just in case the dysfunctional US legal system manages to achieve something that could even remotely threaten him, which is obviously essentially impossible.

It’s really the establishment of a dictatorship straight out of the textbook.

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Thank you for your insightful comment -and also for your commitment!

I think that this issue - if it is relevant at all - needs to be solved by the developers: for example, by prohibiting to delete posts once the post has received a certain number of comments/upvotes/downvotes, but at the same time still allowing the user name to be removed (which is technically difficult, of course).

If that’s possible (can’t say for sure), then I’d go for that. Anything else would be punishing those who post here in the first place, and I think that should be avoided at all costs.

Everyone should retain sovereignty over their posts, but I think there can be a certain level of interest at which personal posts become somewhat public property. Where that lies can certainly be determined by the community, but it is definitely also a technical question - and probably a difficult one not only but just because of edits to the OP-Post.

I think that’s exactly the right approach.