It seems the 50501 movement is facing some predictable problems on commercial platforms.
On Reddit, the 50501 subreddit has temporarily shut down over abuse. This comes after reports from users that the community is “obviously being astroturfed”. No word as to when it will be back online.
It seems things are not much better over at Facebook, where there is apparently frequent calls to stop protesting this and that, with a Reddit user commenting that the group “feels like it’s imploding”.
This is hardly surprising given how commercial social media has repeatedly shown itself to be easily manipulated, but it’s still fascinating that it’s bad enough to shut down the whole Reddit community. Although we are certainly in a better place over here we are not immune: Make sure to be vigilant and to report suspicious activity.
If anyone is on Facebook, maybe now is a good time to give people there a few pointers towards Lemmy/PieFed.
“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever. ”
- 1984