How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village

Re:How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village by wtmt on Monday September 10, 2018 @05:53AM (#17950595)

> The real problem here is that these services (twitter, fb, whatsapp, etc.) are designed for use by educated, urban people who know the basics of tech. And they are then marketed to uneducated people in remote areas to reach growth metric targets that Zuck and co can fling around at their next meeting.

I'm deeply disappointed that your comment is on the top in this discussion! As one of the "educated and urban" people, I take umbrage at this completely ridiculous and nonsensical statement. The fact that you can even make such a statement as an "educated and urban" person says a lot about the pathetic thinking in urban circles. FWIW, I have seen many so called "educated and urban" people also falling for various WhatsApp scams and fake news. While knowledge of technology may be poorer among uneducated people "in remote areas", it's not unique to them alone. You'd know that urban dwellers aren't immune by any means to these things if you had followed the news on lynchings and other mob attacks in cities.

Before you start arguing further, are you even aware how many urban people fall for all the sensational and fake debates on TV that are just meant to get ratings up, create controversies and tensions? Where is your (or anyone's) focus or acknowledgment on those?

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Re:How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village by vijaybritto on Monday September 10, 2018 @07:45AM (#17951040)

Not really. Almost all of WhatsApp related lynchings are from villages. The OP's point is that one app cannot fit all. To give you one silly point to understand; These are the people who are online for the first time. They still are in the 'click here to talk to online hotties in your area' level scam. A regular internet user would know that this is fake. Not them!

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Re:How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village by iamshs on Monday September 10, 2018 @10:34AM (#17952086)

Patently false and just a way to whitewash the crime. Here are lynching/mob attack examples from Indian cities:-

1. Gurgaon : https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/muslim-meat-selle...

2. Hyderabad: https://www.firstpost.com/india/mob-lynching-telangana-polic...

3. Jaipur: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/25-year-old-...

4. Chennai: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/two-beaten-in-chenna...

5. Ahemdabad: https://www.news18.com/news/india/woman-beggar-lynched-on-su...

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Re:How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village by vijaybritto on Monday September 10, 2018 @11:13PM (#17956923)

I specifically said almost. Look at the number of lynchings and count how many in cities. Even in cities it's not in the upper sections of the society. That's the point

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Re:How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village by rohit2412 on Monday September 10, 2018 @05:04PM (#17955189)

I don't think we have to limit to India either. Americans used to lynch African Americans based on false crimes. Germans thought Jews as Boogeyman enough to conduct a genocide. It is human psychology, not just "poor illiterate third wolders"

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Re:How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village by SmallDeadGuy on Monday September 10, 2018 @10:25AM (#17952009)

He's saying uneducated in the context of technology (pretty much in those exact words). This means they don't know that what they are seeing in WhatsApp is fake and/or taken out of context. They don't know about common scams, or which sources are trustworthy/reputable. They don't know where to look to find out this information, either.

Sure there are plenty of people like that everywhere you look, but the proportion of them in urban areas is much lower and as such the probability of them finding each other and banding together for acts like this are much lower too.

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Re:How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village by celticninja on Monday September 10, 2018 @09:05AM (#17951492)

There is a difference between an individual falling for a scam and a lynch mob. In the individual's situation they may not talk about to anyone, if they do many would be told it is a scam and wouldn't get scammed. In the story they are talking about it with others and there is no one saying "it's a scam/fake" so they reinforce their beliefs rather than have them challenged.

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Re:How WhatsApp Destroyed a Village by lost_snake on Monday September 10, 2018 @11:59AM (#17952695)

>FWIW, I have seen many so called "educated and urban" people also falling for various WhatsApp scams and fake news

How many have you seen beating people into a bloody dead pulp over a rumor?

It was basic savagery in these people that got those poor devils killed, not WhatsApp.

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