Why you should not post to the stickied post regarding "why" you became a conspiracy theorist.
114 2013-11-05 by theskyhasbeenfalling
In the immediate aftermath of a terrible tragedy, where the main suspect is being painted as a conspiracy theorist, a post asking what made you "believe" comes into existence and somehow makes it through the onslaught of downvote bots, and is now so important that it is stickied...
Why now? Who needs to know? Aren't we supposed to not be posting personal information on reddit? Some of the stories are borderline in regard to the amount of personal information shared.
Sorry if I sound a bit paranoid, with all the recent shenanigans regarding the downvotes, to have such a ill advised post get stickied....
69 comments
32 [deleted] 2013-11-05
I've never seen this many people here. Usually it's between 300 and 600. Now it's between 1000 and 1200.
17 [deleted] 2013-11-05
[deleted]
35 totally_jawsome 2013-11-05
Like yours?? lol
6 no1113 2013-11-05
I have no idea what you're talking about.
None.
2 -10- 2013-11-05
number username here.
11 [deleted] 2013-11-05
Wow, you're right about that.
10 Letterbocks 2013-11-05
I think that bestof post bumped viewers, at least until it got deleted/ :/
11 istilllkeme 2013-11-05
That censorship was very suspicious.
6 Highguy4706 2013-11-05
Yes it was expecialy because anything like that that has gotten gold that much is usually kept up for awhile because of the whole buy redit gold campain going on. Makes you wonder if its a bot doing it and when another mod caught it they deleted per there agrement to supress these things or if no such agrement exist we know isreal has agent that's soul purpose is to surpress these things and could of very well hve a mod account there and did it that way.
10 istilllkeme 2013-11-05
jidf could have mod account, admins could have corporate sympathies, mods could take monies. It's a sad state of affairs these days on reddit.
1 platinum_peter 2013-11-05
Change all your 'could's to 'do's.
26 danxmason 2013-11-05
Better to stand up and be picked off than hide and be picked off.
Cowering in the corner has never helped anyone.
18 RhinoJeep 2013-11-05
True. I consider it a tactical, don't give a shit, lazy move to not post anyways. If you ask me how I feel about what's going on, I'd be honest and tell you. However, I'm not going to advertise and wear it on my sleeve. Edit: A conspiracy didn't turn me into a conspiracy theorist, bullshit turned me into one.
9 [deleted] 2013-11-05
[deleted]
6 danxmason 2013-11-05
I prefer dangerous liberty to safe slavery.
6 [deleted] 2013-11-05
[deleted]
2 danxmason 2013-11-05
Checkmate
7 Highguy4706 2013-11-05
"Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!!!"
William Wallace
5 SinkVenice 2013-11-05
Mel Gibson.
3 Special-Agent-Smith 2013-11-05
FTFY
1 Highguy4706 2013-11-05
Yeah I was gonna put that under william wallace but I figgured most knew that anyways. Also he just delivered it I wonder wich of the writers actually wrote it because he deserves the most credit.
1 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
I agree.
But only if you know you are standing up. If you are actually standing around in a herd, maybe not such a good idea. STAMPEDE!
14 Highguy4706 2013-11-05
Good point. I think the word terrorisr has lost its effect and they are trying to turn conspiracy theorist into the new terrorist.
4 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
I really don't like the stickied thread the more I think about it, and this is the reason (Emphasis mine):
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiro
I am afraid my days of posting to this subreddit are finished. Best of luck to you all....
4 Highguy4706 2013-11-05
Do you know of any better alternative? I only ask because I am thinking of jumping ship to.
7 ventian 2013-11-05
A growing sub called /r/altnewz needs all the help we can give it.
2 platinum_peter 2013-11-05
shhh..they're watching.
2 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
I don't, and even if I did, I am not sure I would post it in the open here.
I wish I did...
9 elj0h0 2013-11-05
Lotta unusual self-posts here lately, along the same vein of origins and beliefs
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1pvksy/what_conspiracy_turned_you_into_a_conspiracy/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1px3tz/feedback_requested_from_those_seeking_an/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1pvudb/is_it_time_we_tried_other_forms_of_nonviolent/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1pwwms/what_conspiracy_do_you_not_believe_in_why/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1pt93k/we_are_a_threat_be_aware_of_what_that_means/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1ptgl4/world_government/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1pr24b/serious_question_not_trying_to_be_snarky/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1pqp74/future_america_take_it_or_leave_it/
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1pgrwt/question_for_regulars_of_rconspiracy/
Seems like research for sharpening propaganda techniques
5 Special-Agent-Smith 2013-11-05
Fishing for data.
1 drbarber 2013-11-05
Or maybe there's a lot of new people starting to show up, which seems to happen every time something fishy goes down...
Maybe they won't feel so welcome when they see a boatload of paranoia like this or maybe turned off by it?
1 fredman555 2013-11-05
sucks how one doesnt see this shit until after the fact :/
7 no1113 2013-11-05
I never even bothered opening the post, as I've never considered myself a conspiracy theorist in the first place and didn't even relate to the question. I consider myself one who works hard at being a critical thinker. Period.
As such, I simply didn't bother with it.
6 stillbatting1000 2013-11-05
Terrorist is becoming a synonym of Thought-criminal.
4 [deleted] 2013-11-05
[deleted]
7 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
I guess it is sort of meta...
To me it is very straight forward. Conspiracy theorists are suddenly a possible enemy of the state due to the LAX TSA shooting. New thread asks what made you become a believer, gets stickied, people go ape thinking they are acting in solidarity, posting personal memories and anecdotal details. Seem like a very bad idea to me, especially at this time.
Why was it stickied?
3 dejenerate 2013-11-05
It's not sudden, it's just another Lego in the wall, a way for them to kill a few birds at once...check out this doozy of a smearing trial balloon.
Anyone who questions is now questionable...We read post-revolutionary Russian history and are like, "Holy fuck, that's messed up." These folks read it and are all like, "Sweet, dude - did you take notes?"
2 makesyoumoist 2013-11-05
Why do you think it's a bad time for people to speak out on their experiences? Why would it ever be a bad time to post personal experiences? Why do think people should be afraid to speak out? I think everyday is a good day to be free and think for yourself. If people are too afraid to speak out then they never would have commented in the first place.What seems like a bad idea to you is freedom to someone else.THIS TIME? Then what is the right time to post?
The truth is there are 1.2 Billion Muslims and most don't bomb stuff, there is 1 Billion Catholics and most don't touch kids, there is however many conspiracy theorists who don't shoot up LAX.Do Musilms and Catholics stop practicing due to the fringe?No? Then why should anyone here?Be well human and live free, live free without instilling fear in others.
2 LostAvengence 2013-11-05
What does it mean to be 'stickied'?
2 raisedbysheep 2013-11-05
Stickied threads stay stuck at the top, regardless of the voting patterns of the user base. They are typically used for announcements and some forums use them as advertisements, because a stickied thread is seen by every visitor.
2 LostAvengence 2013-11-05
Gotcha, thanks!
4 TodaysIllusion 2013-11-05
The highly respectable and successful co-founder of Intel gave us all a pass on paranoia, "Only the paranoid survive," Andy Grove.
Just don't let the paranoia run your life.
4 Special-Agent-Smith 2013-11-05
Replying to that thread you admit to being a "conspiracy theorist" an outsider to most of society to be ridiculed and watched for signs of insanity.
Funny how the data-mine threads get the sticky isn't it? Do we remember the "survey" ?
2 shoziku 2013-11-05
I see this as a kind of laundry list. I had some kid that was stealing things from my room at my house. Whenever I questioned him he asked what was missing. As I gave him a list of items, I realized he was compiling his own list of things he got away with and things I noticed missing. I was helping him steal from me and didn't know it.
This question posed in our sub stinks of that same type of thing. Maybe someone wants to tie up some loose ends. The ones that swayed opinion away from the "media truth", the facts that convinced each individual. The mistakes that were made are out there and I think someone wants to clean that up.
4 Tabnam 2013-11-05
I can guarantee you, as the poster of that question, I am not trying to catch your information. I was bored while studying last night and thought like talking to people. Just because something isn't downvoted here doesn't mean it, in itself, is a conspiracy. You're the type of person who gives us a bad name. Be paranoid when there is a reason to be, but if you start creating enemies out of thin air people are never going to take you seriously. All you had to do was look at my post history to see I'm not a spam account or trying to trick people. I'm an active member of this Subreddit, and we deserve to be taken on face value until we do something that confirms your trust was misplaced.
4 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
That's fair, looking at your posting history, you don't seem to have ulterior motives.
I never said that the post itself, because it wasn't downvoted, was a conspiracy. What I said was that it is a bad idea to go on a post asking what and why you became a conspiracy theorist, a couple days after the MSM media reported that the LAX TSA shooter was found with conspiracy theorist materials.
I also found it to be strange that a post like that would get stickied, meaning that it can't get downvoted, and what that implies. If this community really is under attack (it is), providing that sort of information to the 'enemy' is bad strategy.
Accusing me of being someone who gives this sub a bad name is off target and off base. It is this type of scrutiny that used to make this sub worth coming to. Not taking things at face value. Sorry I find it strange that less than a week after the sub changes rules about voting to prevent attacks, that a ill advised post gets stickied, and wondered if anyone else here felt the same way.
Apparently, even without being stickied, this post has survived on the front page, so others here feel that what I was saying here had some validity. In fact, if you look at the two threads' vote counts. 82% of the voters approve this post, and 77% approve of the one you made.
I am not trying to be a dick to you, I am really not. I am sure you didn't ask to get your post stickied, so that you can datamine it. So please don't think I am personally attacking you just because I personally think that your post was ill-advised, and should never have been stickied.
5 Tabnam 2013-11-05
I get what you mean mate, but just because mainstream media is going to try to make us seem like something we're not, doesn't mean we should shy away from showing our true colors. If being profiled as a threat is what I get for posting my opinions then so be it.
I have no doubt that interests with ulterior motives monitor this thread, just as I assumed they did everything else before the NSA leaks, but this is the person I am. The American people proved they're starting to wake up, when they rejected Syria. Maybe, if the MSM start to profile conspiracy theorists as threats they will start to catch on more.
I guarantee you that mostly everyone believes in some form of conspiracy, so to label an entire group as antagonistic, or whatever, when that group can't be easily defined by gender, race, religion, what have you, will be their downfall. I'm not afraid of the coming storm, mate, because it's just something else that will chip away at their credibility. They're trying to do the same thing to violent video gamers and that is wholly being rejected by the masses. If they think they can stereotype us too, then I say bring it on. No one is more equipped to fight the government then us.
Your point is very valid though, especially considering the most likes I've ever received for something would be around 20. I'm sorry for attacking your character.
3 petedacook 2013-11-05
We all need to keep an eye out for shills, trolls and agent provocateurs. They are here in full force. We can combat this with a little effort.
When you see someone trolling, simply report the user, post, and email the mods to let them why you reported the user.
i reported 2 users within the last 24 hours and both were removed.
At this point I do not doubt this sub is real, but lets keep it that way through active participation. The mods cannot do it all alone.
3 mr_dong 2013-11-05
The 'why you became a conspiracy theorist' post was stickied because it was proving popular at a time when /r/conspiracy had close to 13,000 readers on-line. The moderators had a chat, agreed that it would be a good opportunity to encourage some new readers to comment and possibly subscribe. It worked, the stickied post has proved very popular and what harm is done?
No personal information has been disclosed and this was simply a good question for the wider community to engage with and a good opportunity for /r/conspiracy to attract some new readers.
Edit: Screengrab of yesterdays traffic - Here
1 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
So basically, you decided to game the system you had only recently set in place by stickying the post? That is comforting.
I am sure it is very important to increase readership and subscribers to a subreddit that is already collapsing under the weight of too many members.
I guess no harm has been done, except maybe the datamining of the thread that is happening. I could go into further detail, but I said I wasn't going to post here anymore, and after this I won't. I felt like I had to reply to you because you took the time to answer the question.
I likely will not respond again, but will check back to read this thread... since you decided to bring a mod voice here, maybe you could explain their thoughts about r/conspiro and what you guys are doing about it, if anything at all. Personally, I find it very disarming to have a stickied thread here that has a bot analyzing it, and the speech patterns of the posters. Somehow that seems against reddit terms of service, and somehow an attack.
2 mr_dong 2013-11-05
We haven't gamed anything. This isn't the first time that a post has been stickied and it won't be the last. If we deem a post worthy we can choose to pin it, that is our decision. Read into it what you will, I've given you an honest answer and if you don't like it that's up to you. No one else has complained, the post hasn't been reported once and has proved popular.
If you have a problem with the sub maybe it would be in your best interests to unsubscribe? We don't force that page on anyone!
The stickies are a relatively new feature to reddit anyway and in all fairness we are never going to be able to please all the people all of the time are we?
Half of the battle for the mod team on here is that we are damned if we do and damned if we don't on a lot of occasions. But we do listen.
1 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
I am sorry if it came out as a personal attack, or an attack on the mods, that had not been my intent. Although I do think it strange that the first ever post stickied here was one asking to out one self as a conspiracy theorist, that doesn't make it a conspiracy that the mods decided to sticky the post. I, and I am sure others, are happy you took the time to answer the actual question, and provided some transparency.
To prevent the downvote bot brigades, you initiated a removal of the downvote button on the r/conspiracy front page. You also somewhat recently instituted that only subscribers of the sub can upvote or downvote, now only comments.
In that case, only the most relevant posts should rise to the top, you yourself stated that the thread itself had its own momentum, so why sticky it? To prevent the downvote bots from taking it down? Shouldn't its own merit keep it on the front page with out outside intervention? Isn't it strange to implement the first sticky post on that particular post in the immediate aftermath of the LAX TSA shooter being labelled a conspiracy theorist? Why not a sticky post asking the subreddit if we want you as mods to sticky posts, and providing a feature for us to recommend such posts? Most of those are rhetorical...
Took the ability to downvote something away. Then don't allow the yay votes to be the decision by stickying that post. That is not gaming the system? Power in the hands of the few, dictating content... no way similar to the censorship outcry in r/politics. No you don't force the page on anyone, but decided to force content on the page to us all... As to no one else complaining, I would think the number of upvotes for this post, to the point that it garnered your attention to the point that you had to explain yourself, that means that others feel the same way, and instead of posting 150 threads just like it, that they upvoted this one instead. Maybe I am wrong, but I thought that is how reddit was supposed to work, that content that is supported and upvoted, rises to the top...
I am not sure if you saw my posts here, and why this stickied thread is not good a choice ofr you guys to roll out this new stickied post initiative. You didn't respond to what the mods think/are doing about the datamining of r/conspiracy by r/conspiro.
I understand that the mods feel damned either way, but to launch this new feature, in a conspiracy forum, at this time, on that post? That seems very damning, it is just unclear whether it is naivete or lack of foresight on the mods behalf. We know for conspiracy fact that government agencies have been embedding their watchful eye into our personal lives more and more each day, looking for scraps of wrong doing, so at the very least it seems a disservice to the subscribers of this subreddit to promote a thread asking for the one thing that sparked them on the path of conspiracy enlightenment. Now, whomever posted that information has provided the first item to attack their worldview with, under the assumption they are doing so anonymously. As of now, reddit is mostly anonymous, but if you are capable of reading all the internet communication in transit, you already knew who they were, and know you know exactly what they think and why.
As mods of this subreddit, your challenge is greater than wtf or some other subreddit, because you have a responsibility, due to the nature of the the topics at hand, to protect your subscribers from each other and from themselves in ways that maybe not all of you are capable of doing. Some of the topics here get pretty heady, and as a mod, you would know better than the rest of of, many of the attacks that this subreddit suffers under because of those topics. You all should be more diligent with the sensitivities of what being a conspiracy theorist can and will mean in the future, if smears like what is happening now in the MSM after LAX is to be believed.
I have been a lurker/throwaway/off-on poster of this subreddit since 2008, I have seen how the growth of numbers has really caused the discussion here to suffer, but at the same time spread further. I have often at times considered not coming here, not posting here. I stop, delete my name, and then something brings me back, some false flag type event, or the like...
Either way, I don't really appreciate being told that I can unsubscribe if I choose to question the interests as to why there is a sudden sticky post, that really shouldn't be stickied if the mods knew they were running a conspiracy forum (is your name mr_dong because you are a dick, or does it have some other meaning originally?). But like I said, I am probably not going to post here anymore anyway with r/conspiro and who knows what else sniffing everything here.... Also, if you, or any of your fellow mods are not up to the challenge of modding a sub that has doubled in size in the last year, deals with a spectrum of volatile subject matters, maybe you wouldn't feel so damned if you quit, and found a sub to mod better suited to your skillset and demeanor? If you feel overworked, it definitely makes sense to grow the workload by soliciting subscribers...
1 mr_dong 2013-11-05
But it wasn't the first ever stickied post here.
2 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
Ok, sorry... I thought you said it was the first stickied post here. My mistake, you said it was a newer feature, and was still being tried out...
Is that all you have to say about it? Cool... best wishes, I hear r/guitarlessons might be needing a new mod.
2 mr_dong 2013-11-05
A sub gets popular, what are we supposed to do, limit the audience to 40,000? Bigger numbers mean bigger problems but we are growing and we have to balance out the positive from the negative. This is a hard sub to moderate because of the points you have raised but it's a work in progress surely? I've been around here for a long time, this is my second account because of a bullshit incident that happened a few months ago but i digress. Bullshit does happen here but we try to honour readers right to say what they want (this itself is a minefield)
I never told you to unsubscribe either! I said that if you find things are not to your liking you could consider it, we don't want to lose readers.
Really i do not know what else to say to you, I've tried to be transparent and /r/conspiracy is a mixed box. The mod team have to remain somewhere in the middle and it proves to be akin to being a rock in a hard place at times.
2 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
I can respect that... I am not sure what one can do as a subreddit grows, beyond staying diligent with the same mentality that encouraged that growth to begin with. But with that growth, comes a greater responsibility to the community to keep that diligence up, recruit more like minded mods if need be, but hold true to what got us here the best you can.
The only thing else I have to ask, is there a mod stance on r/conspiro ?
Is there anything against reddit TOS, for there to be a sub like that? Even if not, does anyone have a backstory as to what it's purpose is? I know it is somewhat derailing, but it is one of the main reasons I think posts like the stickied one are bad news... if someone is analyzing speech patterns and the like, that seems like an attempt to subvert anonymity, and would be a form of stalking I would think.
2 archonemis 2013-11-05
Like they won't just go through comment histories.
1 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
I am sure they will... In fact, they have bots doing that right now, and that thread is the welcome mat asking them in...
take a look at r/conspiro for an example that is in the open.
2 LinkFixerBotSnr 2013-11-05
/r/conspiro
This is an automated bot. For reporting problems, contact /u/WinneonSword.
2 Canadian_POG 2013-11-05
We shouldn't be afraid of what the MSM cares to label us anyway, if they want to call reddit a terrorist breeding ground, or a nutjob generator, they'll get ambushed by laughter, & flamed for broad such accusations, I know that wasn't your point but if there going to mine data on someone who subscribes/comments here, there gonna need a crime to prosecute, which they'd then have to make being a conspiracy theorist a crime. In conclusion, no /r/conspiracy post makes it to /r/all in my experience, & a LOT of people would be offended if the MSM were to say they prevented a mass shooting by data mining reddit & found someone who was going to kill people simply because he believed 911 was an inside job. That said OP I mean no disrespect, just saying if they want to arrest me because of my thoughts, they only prove thought is a crime & that they are a full blown police state, so I'll enjoy my cockmeat sandwich knowing I did nothing wrong.
2 reputable_opinion 2013-11-05
who says that we answer honestly? of course these data mining threads exist. and we know we are being surveilled.. we have known much longer than the general population, who even now aren't aware of the extent of the bugging.
it's been so long, I forgot what it used to be like when you could speak your mind without fear of someone intercepting your communications, ascribing motive to them, and designating you a threat because you ask questions.
1 theskyhasbeenfalling 2013-11-05
That is a good point...
But there are also a lot of naive individuals here. I decided to delete my old screen name after accidentally doxxing a 15 year old who was posting stupid theories, and using the same screen name on reddit as he did elsewhere on the internet. I was not trying to stalk him, I just didn't understand the backstory to his username. Googled it, and all the top hits were that username elsewhere...
So if you have that sort of naivety happening everyday here everyday, I can only imagine what details people used thinking they are not sharing anything, when in fact they are with details. Not everyone...
But I agree with you. I find it quaint that 14 year olds can debate 911 opening on reddit, when in the immediate days after the attack, I was afraid for my life if I were to have mentioned any of the immediate red flags I saw going on.
Best of luck on your journey...
2 reputable_opinion 2013-11-05
I agree with you- and I had some hairy times too traveling to the US after that event having questioned what I did (the Berg thing really got to me)
It's people like you and me that didn't let up on the truth, and there were millions of us - inevitably it had to become more common. Especially when all the refutation and coincidence stories put up as opposition are so feeble and everything is see through.
Now everything is recorded and traced and known, so why not talk openly. The good thing about the total lack of privacy, is that it necessitates complete honesty. I wonder if the NSA realized that when they set up their TIA system.. LOL.
2 John_Doe_Jr 2013-11-05
My thoughts are already fairly exposed. They've been for a long time. My association with others, far more active and public with their reporting of hidden truths and deeper meaning, is considerably more dangerous than explaining the first time I noticed things weren't all they seem.
1 [deleted] 2013-11-05
Let them come I will not be oppressed any longer
3 Xentec6 2013-11-05
Go ahead and feed the propaganda machine....you're gonna look just like the LAX guy when they're done with you lol, pointless death, but have at it, it's your choice!
2 [deleted] 2013-11-05
Stand back and do nothing its your choice!
1 Xentec6 2013-11-05
doing nothing and being cannon fodder isnt a hard choice, its like do you want to eat car shit or dog shit, either way you're eating shit. When you see 100k people all do something at the same time, then sure, thats your signal, but doing this shit solo = LAX shooter mode lol. Dont be that guy.
And for the record, ill just live out my days peacefully and quietly, i dont sit around dreaming of this shit, hell nothing at all may never happen, America isnt dead yet, there is till time to change things.
2 [deleted] 2013-11-05
Who said i was going out solo
1 oelsen 2013-11-05
yes, because just clicking on something doesn't tell them how you think.
_^
1 fredman555 2013-11-05
youre right. And now suddenly, its on the right of my screen as the poster thread of the sub.
Currently its Oswald and kennady. before it was a fucking alien.
I wouldnt be surprised if its to discredit us to the outsiders who went to go research the shooting
0 tripsick 2013-11-05
a single death is not a terrible tragedy. How many people die each day?
There are estimated an 146357 deaths each day, with 6098 people dying each hour.
-2 nerdophile2 2013-11-05
In fact, don't post on this site. And never leave your basement. Also burn off your fingertips and pull out your teeth.
5 SinkVenice 2013-11-05
Mel Gibson.
2 reputable_opinion 2013-11-05
I agree with you- and I had some hairy times too traveling to the US after that event having questioned what I did (the Berg thing really got to me)
It's people like you and me that didn't let up on the truth, and there were millions of us - inevitably it had to become more common. Especially when all the refutation and coincidence stories put up as opposition are so feeble and everything is see through.
Now everything is recorded and traced and known, so why not talk openly. The good thing about the total lack of privacy, is that it necessitates complete honesty. I wonder if the NSA realized that when they set up their TIA system.. LOL.