[ipython]

It's internet conspiracy stuff... and what's worse, is that all of this is industrialized. Reading through that thread and the related tweets is just depressing. Please do not say what I am about to say as an attack... I just truly am horrified at what's going on and hope that shining a little light can help people discern truth from what is now an industry dedicated to sowing discontent and disinformation. We are but pawns stuck in the middle and I'm not sure what the right answer is.

I mean - take https://twitter.com/JacquelineMcNab/status/11695820154499440... for an example. Do these people really believe that Jack Dorsey is sitting there on his Aeron chair twiddling his thumbs and thinking, GEE I WONDER WHICH QANON FOLLOWER I SHOULD SHADOW-BAN TODAY? Or https://twitter.com/OuterLimits816/status/116943344838742425... - Twitter corporate is saying, "OuterLimits816 is trying too hard to expose the deep state. I should just gaslight him (or her) by randomly taking away their likes."

It really is fun to feel like you're "in" on a secret. I get it. Folks feel marginalized in their real life, and spending hours "researching" things and posting your findings on Twitter with like minded individuals - who praise you with likes and retweets about your amazing insight! - can feel intense. You may even feel like you're learning something (and sometimes you might actually learn something in the process!)

But it's not real. There's plenty of shady stuff going on. This isn't it. In fact the "people" praising you and egging you on - they may be random people PAID to do it. After all, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_.... We have real problems to deal with. Getting spun up about a post from a random Twitter user claiming that low order bits flipped randomly in a JPEG image represents a super-secret encryption key for covert communication is not one of them.

I just had to vent because stuff like this makes me absolutely vomit and despair for the future of our country.