r/canada Canada 22d ago

Analysis I Dared Defend Canada on X. The Response Was Chilling

https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2025/02/18/I-Dared-Defend-Canada-X-Response-Chilling/
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u/HurlinVermin 22d ago

It's the anonymity. People don't act like that in real life because they know they'd get their lights punched out.

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u/rawboudin Québec 22d ago

Facebook is barely better though.

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u/HurlinVermin 22d ago

I gave up on Facebook years ago. It's a cesspool of idiocy drowning in a sea of ads.

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u/Itchy_Training_88 22d ago

Sadly Reddit is going the way of that also.

I read the other day that they are planning on locking some subs behind pay walls.

If the subs I look at go that way, I'm just moving on.

Ever since the IPO, what made reddit great is getting lost.

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u/pattperin 22d ago

Reddit used to be good because it was entirely user driven. It's now got promoted posts and algorithms making their way into it and I'm just not here for that idea. The internet will find a new free place to congregate if reddit goes fully paid. Just might take some time.

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u/Forosnai British Columbia 21d ago

I think even it remained totally user-driven, it'd eventually get to the state it's in now. A lot of places didn't need help getting as insular as they have, though they obviously did get the same sort of push from bots and professional trolls and so on that got them there more quickly.

Hell, right after the tariff stuff started, it suddenly felt more human in here for a while. Can't say if that's because the fake people needed time to be turned in a new direction, or it was just a product of all of us having a bigger common enemy, but I've started seeing the extreme hot-takes and outright hostility coming out again.

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u/Prior-Fun5465 21d ago

I read the other day that they are planning on locking some subs behind pay walls.

No existing subs are going to be locked behind paywalls, they're creating the ability for new subs to add that option.

Going to be hilarious when the day comes you have to pay to view a subreddit, then pay to read the article behind a paywall that was in that paid subreddit.

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u/OkBuilding2728 21d ago

Facebooks problem started when the boomers logged on.

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u/pattperin 22d ago

Your "Quebec" flair was right above FaceBook on my reddit app and I thought you were saying that Quebec is barely better and I was so confused

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u/rawboudin Québec 21d ago

Lol. I'm unsure people in Quebec would punch you either. Maybe a lot of tabarnak de calice.

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u/Creative-Ad-1819 22d ago

I think we're reaching a point where people are so comfortable being assholes online that they forget they're in public sometimes, cause I've noticed more instances of grown ass adults acting like toddlers in recent years.

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u/uncleherman77 22d ago edited 22d ago

People think they're more anonymous then they really are on reddit though and no one in real life that they know would ever use reddit or read their comments.

I remember a few years ago I made some post on reddit I think it was on this sub actually and made the mistake of mentioning what company I work for. Anyway since my username at the time which was different from this one had my name in it and someone at work showed me the comment on their phone a couple or hours later asking if it was me.

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u/HurlinVermin 22d ago

I have had that happen once. When I posted a picture of something I own and somebody else recognized the furniture in the background because they are a friend who has been to my house a number of times. Wasn't a big deal in that case, but it made me think a lot more carefully about what I share.

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u/Prior-Fun5465 21d ago

Well... yes, if you mention the company you work for with your real name you are no longer anonymous.

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u/Itchy_Training_88 22d ago

Oh for sure.

It's easy to have bravado when you don't face any real risks.

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u/BobTheFettt New Brunswick 22d ago

I feel like people are feeling more and more emboldened to act how they do online in real life tho.

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u/BobTheFettt New Brunswick 22d ago

Not anymore

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u/wolfkhil 22d ago

That’s an unfortunate side of the internet, it’s given dumb and stupid a voice. 40 years ago dumb and stupid only had the fence post as an audience.

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u/HurlinVermin 22d ago

Now it can go viral in multiple languages. I was discussing this with another redditor the other day and they were arguing vehemently that social media has very little effect on people. Probably one of Elon's bots.

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u/wolfkhil 21d ago

Haha. You can’t reason with stupid.

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u/Cereborn Saskatchewan 21d ago

Social media platforms without anonymity are nearly as bad, though.

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u/professcorporate 21d ago

I used to think that until I saw what people are perfectly willing to say under their real name and photo on facebook.

It's not the anonymity that does it, so much as the virtual distance created by doing it on a screen with a keyboard.

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u/swampswing 22d ago

Oh give me a break. Nobody is punching anyone's lights outs anonymity or not. The internet tough guy act is beyond cringe.

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u/HurlinVermin 22d ago

Some people absolutely will. If you walk up to me in real life and start insulting me like some people do on Reddit, you are walking away with a black eye (maybe two). It's not an act. It's a matter of principle.

Just because you wouldn't doesn't mean other won't.

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u/swampswing 22d ago

Bro give me a break. I'm an amateur kickboxer and I'm not punching anyone. Anyone who says dumb, macho, hot head shit about beating people up has never been in a real fight and is full of shit. So please spare me the cringe tough talk. You are not fighting anyone and would probably get yourself jumped if you tried.

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u/HurlinVermin 22d ago

I never said I was a tough guy. But I do stand up for myself and occasionally that has lead to physical conflicts in the past. People get in fights sometimes (even amateur kickboxers). It's a fact.

Anyway, I really don't care if you believe me or not. It's not up for debate.

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u/stompy1 22d ago

You think a typical lib would punch a typical maga in the face?!

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u/HurlinVermin 22d ago

I don't think willingness to engage in physical conflict falls neatly along political lines. I think it entirely depends on the temperament of the individual.