Tough talk:
How will NOSTR fix online bullying?
I just heard a harrowing tale about teens making attempts on their own lives because of social media bullying.
Discussion
Incentives, maybe? Like, being a dick is less appreciated here, at least, for now but will that last? Idk. I do think humans can be quite remarkable with the right incentive structure. It’s gonna require a lot of learning/unlearning for people to remember to use those mute tools. Hopefully, no mysterious algorithm will push so much negativity around and encourage excessive dog piling. Idk, the free market of ideas can get messy sometimes.
Complex issue that extends past pure technological domain. Tbh, I think the fix is more likely to come through parental involvement and education/support.
But probably a lot of online bullying is a real-world peer status thing and thus being a nym could help. Muting could help but infinite npubs could be spun up.
I dunno. I guess we could #asknostr
Online bullying is a human behavior issue, not a tech platform issue.
Increasingly social media platforms are expected to moderate and control/limit abusive behavior.
Will the same expectations be levied at Nostr clients?
I think this is where web of trust comes in. You could create some sensible defaults to keep garbage out and then delegate people you trust to help you filter stuff out.
That doesn’t mean kids won’t see everything they don’t like and I’m not sure if there’s a fix for this. You’ll always see things you don’t like until you mute them.
You can never really solve DM harassment if you can’t stop yourself from reading the text - that’ll always be the responsibility of the person involved
I believe minors shouldn’t be allowed to use it by their parents.
I’m not looking to nostr to solve this for my boys. That’s my job as a parent.
Exactly. As parents we have the responsibility to teach our kids about the internet and all that comes with it. I certainly plan on having many of those discussions when they are old enough for them.
Bullying is a complex phenomenon that is reinforced by social media. Most people find it difficult to understand that it involves not only a victim and an aggressor but also those who are the facilitators or passive witnesses. In addition, both the victim and the aggressor have certain particular characteristics that make them prone to bullying. In this particular case, I would tend to go for intervention considering the vulnerability of the adolescent stage where the opinion of peers is important and where part of the individual's personality develops.
That's not a Nostr problem, it's a people problem.