Do you think Yahoo Answers is being used for conditioning the masses to turning each other in?

Question

For instance after 9/11 DHS tried to set up a program that had neighbors turning in neighbors. So, do you think that this could be another way of conditioning us to do something that we normally would never do, unless someone was in danger of being hurt?

Normally people don't turn in those who they don't agree with.

Comments? Thoughts?

This is a serious question, so please no foil hat comments.

SJG...They DID turn those people in, but it was the CIA who chose to ignore it.

Rebecca, I agree with your comment about reading the terms of service...BUT, and a big but! BUT they can change the TOS WITHOUT NOTICE...so, in actuality, you don't have a clue as to what the TOS really is at any one time.

Answer 1

No, I know you are serious, but it is unintentionally hilarious to see it when the avatar is not wearing a tinfoil helmet. ;)

What it is, is an attempt to collect data for a foray into an automated categorization system, which is all the rage in computer science and ont eh internet today.

Examples:

- amazon can tell what books youmight like based on what you saw before
- same for netflix and dvds
- yahoo news and google news automatically categorize news stories that stream in continuously
- etc.

Now, the raw data will be used to be able to identify which questions or answers are most like the ones that were already determined but humans to be no good.

The system is not perfect yet, but that is surely where it is headed. Nothing sinister going on.

BTW, I was a manager at the company that provides the software that Yahoo uses to manage its customer service communications - if you ever got a violation notice, that came from there, and if you responded, it went into that system.

It has a categorization system too - they use it site wide, as does ebay, pay pal, and countless others. I haven't been there for a while, so I don't know the inner details now, but there was certainly room for improvement way back when...

Anyway, I am sure the system will be tuned to take into account the reputation of the reporter as well as the specific words involved. How do I know that? It says so right on the reporting page!

Note that your email client almost certainly has had a "report spam" button for a few years that you could use on anyone, and your instant messaging client probably has the same too.

So let's not see nefariousness where it doesn't exist, but let's focus on where it does - like why Comcast is "delaying" some of your traffic while advertising the high bandwidth and unfettered access you get from them?

Answer 2

I believe they meant "turn in someone who poses a threat to national security", such as someone you suspect or know is making bombs, anthrax mailings, etc. I agree with this philosophy...I'm sure someone in the flight schools wishes they'd said something about the guy who wanted to learn to fly, but not land an airplane. He was one of the hijackers that crashed his plane on 9/11.

edit: Unfortunate but true...however, without that kind of tip there'd be nothing to go on.

Answer 3

Vampires do no longer exist. You even keeping myspace and vampirefreaks tremendously lots convinces me which you're a "goth" youngster having difficulty setting up into your college, or some thing alongside the strains of that. As for you being a "wiccan"..i'm no longer even going to the touch it. Please only strengthen up, study a good novel, and recover from this vampire crap.

Answer 4

Well, I don't need conditioning. I have a pet peeve with people who abuse an agreement. Yahoo has terms of service which each user agrees to before they start using it. If you break the rules you SHOULD be turned in. If you don't like it, find another site with fewer rules.

Answer 5

Only the empty headed allow for conditioning like Pavlov's dogs! People can use Yahoo Answers for Research and look references up for themselves. It's a tool for information, just like anything else.

Answer 6

who knows -now that say it- the model that they 're trying use was based on that of the East German Stasi they hired out Markus Wolfe who was its last chief. it was regarded as the most effective repressive regime in the former Communist bloc.

Nice to know what they've got planned for the Land of the Free

Answer 7

I have to say that even though I don't really know if that is the case or not, it certainly would not surprise me the least little bit. *sm*

Answer 8

i dont think you can turn people in with yahoo answers, and if they did find someone, they couldnt convict them because they cant prove that the person belives what they may have writen


wow, that makes no sence, but idk how else to say it

Answer 9

Barry C, that was thoroughly enlightening.

Answer 10

i'll comply with your request. my answer is no. snitching has been around long before yahoo answers was ever created. so i think you're being a bit presumptious.