this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
1 points (100.0% liked)
Melbourne
2497 readers
17 users here now
This community is a place created for the people of Melbourne and Victoria. We are a positive, welcoming and inclusive community. We might not agree about everything, but we always strive to stay civil and respectful.
The focus of our discussions is based around things that affect Victoria, but we are also free to discuss our local perspective on wider issues. Or head to the regular Daily Random Discussion thread to talk about anything.
Ongoing discussions, FAQs & Resources (still under construction)
Adoption Certificate for Nellie, the Daily Thread numbat (with thanks to @Catfish)
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Have you heard of this concept of First Thought People? They're in comment sections everywhere and it usually goes thusly:
Video of professional steam cleaning of an old bar's carpet. Massively upvoted comment "I'm not a professional cleaner, but I would've moved the chairs an tables out of the way so you could get to the carpet underneath them. Just saying." What a genius.
Or on a video of a skilled leadlight artist. "Just so you know, lead is dangerous so be careful with fumes skin contact and wear appropriate PPE."
Or a baker mixing a huge batch of batter or kneading dough bare handed: "That's gross, I can't believe you are not wearing gloves. I would never eat there."
There are a lot of reasons to believe that online discourse is being massively influenced by overseas interests as part of cyber warfare to sow discord. You can't convince me that at least some of these dumbasses aren't part of it.
In my industry you see a lot of Facebook comments saying 'that looks like a lot of work' or 'why wouldn't you do it this way?'
Then you get people who have actually used the products saying 'this is great, such a time saver'. Since it's agricultural products there are probably a few people actually doing it and a lot of larp around the outside
pretending to be a dumbass is an excellent disguise and will fool many, including intelligent educated people , because who in their right mind would pretend to be a dumbass, eh.
the purpose of those first thought posts is to make all following discourse negative
it can also be directing the narrative or stopping further discussion
for example, petrochem shills will deny global climate change and demand proof
this means people will argue facts , facts that were proved decades ago
this is to stop people furthering the conversation and start to talk about action
Another example. Cigarette companies fighting like hell to keep advertising. This is to direct attention to advertising rather than further regulation.
A foreign adversary might spread stories that make citizens question their government. The earliest example I know of are the stories surrounding the assassination of JFK
and yes, making a population negative in out look, defensive and argumentative and divided is a part of psyops between adversaries.
Dunno comes naturally to me so can't comment.
I resemble this comment
same
everyone is a dumb ass sometimes
I didn't read it all but it would be nicer if you posted shorter more digestible lengths for people like me, just saying.
spoiler
This is a jokeAre you trying to silence me? That goes against my 3rd amendment rights.
Um could you use smaller words please, I'm actually illiterate, and your big words make me feel stupid! /S
Have you considered that some people are incapable of choosing smaller words supercalifragilisticexpialidocious? Please consider their unique needs in future.
Why use big word, when small word do trick?
Minimise sesquipedalian circumlocutions! I used to have a t shirt with that as it's logo, and which died a horrible death repainting the back fence. I miss that t shirt still.
I dearly miss a Planter's peanut shirt with the dancing peanut character that said "Everybody loves a nut."
It died respectably, but unexpectedly, when a roommate grabbed it to stop floodwater coming in the back door.
R.I.P. our shirts ๐ญ๐ซ
Einstein said to use the simplest language necessary to explain a point.
The important part is explaining the point. You still need to explain the point.
and fascists like to make language very very simple, it means that people are unable to discuss issues with precision.
It's all very 1984 and Fahrenheit 451
Too many big words
I understand all those words in the last paragraph but when you put them altogether like that I got a little bit lost. Ngl.
People talking on the internet about certain political and human rights topics, are suspected to be foreign bad actors. They want people to argue with each other endlessly, instead of talking about how to fix systemic issues.
Hypothetical example I've made up: a "study" is posted to Reddit about how LGBTQ are more likely to suffer from mental health issues/commit suicide in the USA. The first comment on that study will instead argue about whether LGBTQ people should even be allowed to exist, which instigates arguments in the comments. It can be reasonable to assume the initial "first comment" was made by bad actors not from the USA in order to have people argue, instead of addressing what could be done to improve the mental health of LGBTQ people.
Edited for clarity
Right. So like shit stirers from another country trying to derail the initial topic?
Essentially yeah.
View those shit stirrers as wanting to derail the topic, so that nationals of that target country are too busy in-fighting instead of rallying together to tackle the actual issues.
That's a lot of wasted energy. Make love not war.