I...am a YouTube Radical Alt-Right....According to the NYT.....Are you?

Sometimes I post YouTube videos as evidence of what I’m attempting to convey. Some of you have commented on that. During the last couple of years, I’ve found I can listen to amateur journalists from around the world, commenting on current events happening in their area, while I do my work in the morning at the same time. I can’t do that if I am reading something.

Last year many of the social media platforms banned Alex Jones, the controversial journalist from InfoWars. His remarks regarding the Sandy Hook shooting were beyond inflammatory so that not too much was said. Now YouTube has instituted a war that started with a Canadian named Steven Crowder but has engulfed many, many of the internet authors posting conservative viewpoints regarding the current topics. They were voluntarily funded by many of the viewers through links associated with videos. What YouTube did was demonitize them so that they could no longer receive funds in the hopes they’ll then go away.

This all began when a Vox journalist named Carlos Maza complained about the offensive commentary about him from Steven Crowder. YouTube investigated the complaint and concluded that Crowder had not broken their terms of conduct. This began a firestorm of complaints from professional journalists to YouTube against these new competitors. Some of these people have millions of viewers. It has grown and become so popular, it has outright challenged traditional news outlets. They are losing both viewership and revenue as a direct result of these new journalists popping up on the internet. After this liberal firestorm, YouTube changed their mind and removed the links associated with these videos allowing them to be monetarily compensated.

The MSM leans left and promotes left leaning agendas. Except for Fox News, which they all despise and condemn the viewers, the entire journalistic world in the US leans left and promotes left leaning ideology. The New York Times is now attempting to spin these right leaning journalists applying the new term alt-right and associating the shadow of the KKK on them in a new article; The Making of a YouTube Radical. Often I use the term “sheople” to describe the type of news that’s being spun and reposted here in this forum. It has become obvious to me that these mediums have instigated a polarization of our country as they attempt to push their agenda. This is a very dangerous time in America when free speech is being attacked. We should all be united for free speech. It was so important to our Founding Fathers that it was the very first amendment to our Constitution. When you hear speech being labeled as hate speech, it should ignite a switch in your whole self that you’re now being manipulated as a sheople. A sheople can only be fed one side and their agenda is to control both your thoughts and speech.

The next danger is the upcoming election and social media now plays a major role in communication. The timing of all of this occurring just as the 2020 election is beginning to ramp up isn’t a coincidence IMO. This is a coordinated effort and the sole purpose is to manipulate the masses. I’ve posted here for over a decade, I love my country and I do not harbor hate for anyone. I am a Christian conservative and people with my mindset are now being spun using the negative term…“alt-right” and portraying this mindset as baaaaaaa, baaaaaa, baaaaaaaad to their sheople. I’ve left enough evidence in this forum over the years to leave no doubt to anyone…how I think. Am I “alt-right” and a “radical” as the New York Times is portraying? Never forget that if you remain quiet, this same process will one day turn against you. Let us all unite against this effort to stifle speech and stand up for free speech. What say you?

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If someone with a subscription can post the NYT article I’m referring to, I’d appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

If you’re describing Alex Jones as a “controversial journalist”, then yeah you probably are.

Would you say your political leanings haven’t radically changed in the last few years?

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No. I haven’t changed much at all. I’m very boring in that way. What I have done, is post here in the Hannity forum as of October of 2008 but I haven’t been swayed by politicians or their lies IMO.

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imo you’ve changed politically over the last few years more than any other poster I’ve seen since I first started posting here 10 odd years ago.

And that has happened exclusively since you started consuming content from figures considered by many to be alt right, ie Faith Goldy, Alex Jones, Tommy Robinson etc etc. There is a truth to the adage that you are what you eat.

I’m surprised you don’t think you’ve changed at all politically, as the difference is so stark from a few years back.

From my perspective it’s been both interesting and horrifying to watch. Though obviously I consider many of these figures to be dangerous propagandists, not mere political pundits.

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Yeah… I concur.

I have seen it happen to a couple of people I know in real life also.

One of the guys was convinced that the government was hiding a second sun from us. It was somehow a little more stupid than flat earth.

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Here you go

I read it on Sunday when it came out and I am surprised that your reaction is that you feel that the NYT is being critical of what you feel is your philosophy instead of the real story that YouTube has been shaping people in what they watch by having the algorithm push more “watchable” content no matter what is being said. The timeline that is presented that starts with idiot philosopher Stefan Molyneux and ends hours later with a for real racist video is pretty stark.

This is book that I read last year that is about how algorithms like what YouTube use are a lot more dangerous to social discourse than we want to admit.

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FYI, If you’re using Chrome you can open an Incognito window, paste the URL of the article and it should bypass the paywall.

What I found most interesting was the end of the article, where Cain notes that his viewing habits on YouTube haven’t really changed in terms of quantity (dozens of videos watched per day) just that he’s shifted from right-wing to left-wing content. Asked whether or not he’s considered cutting back altogether, his response is one of confusion, like the question is incomprehensible. At the very least, he’s learned to realize that the nature of the platform is such that you aren’t getting an education there so much as bias confirmation with a genuine risk of slipping down partisan rabbit holes.

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I, myself like facts over opinions.

I make up my own mind using factual information.

I do not go to you tube except to listen to music.

Allan

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You’re now regurgitating exactly what my OP is about. Ben Shapiro is being portrayed as an alt-right so I consider myself to be in good company. What I’m doing is standing up for the same values I’ve always believed but that is now being attacked. IMO…it’s because I’m NOT changing that is the motivation behind this.

There are some good how-to videos too.

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Really? Ben Shapiro isn’t named in that article.

I agree. There are many people who can more easily be manipulated than others. The gentleman in the article appears to be one of those who can be more easily manipulated. Those are the people I’m referring to as sheople and they are on all sides.

As I stated, YouTube journalists are out of the mainstream and you may well be hearing bits and pieces of “facts” that you may not otherwise hear. At the same time, you could be hearing bull feces. It’s up to you to wade your way through the fog of information to discern the truth.

Look at the pictures. He is prominently displayed as an example along with Dr. Jordan Peterson.

Here is an example of a journalist being labeled as alt-right that can be found on YouTube. His name is Michael Knowles and writes for the Daily Wire. He frames this discussion quite well and is the perfect example of what I find interesting and believe explains my thoughts on this…

Whenever I see posts like this, for some reason I am reminded of this particular scene from Star Trek.

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Okay…didn’t look that closely. I actually read the content instead of what some layout artist did.

But if one does read the content, it is about how the You Tube algorithm is designed to keep your eyeballs on the site for as long as possible. So one can start with mainstream Conservative videos like Shapiro and be lead into a rabbit hole of awfulness from there.

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A sampling of the more than 12,000 videos that Caleb Cain watched going back to 2015, many but not all of which were from far-right commentators.

I know you’re going to say a picture is worth a thousand words but unless you actually know all those people you’re not going to recognize half of them.

I’m sure we’ll here about subliminal messaging next…

That could be but it’s always a personal choice. That doesn’t discount the validity of what Shapiro, Peterson or Knowles is discussing. They frame the right side of an argument and I find their viewpoints to be logical, factual and a more accurate picture of the reality of a current event. They also are saying something very different than what’s often being portrayed by the MSM.