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Can we have a conspirancy/paranormal/fringe discussion group?
I have an interest in this type of subjects, and it seems this site doesn't have an appropriate space for these matters. Can we have a dedicated group and if not where should I post about this kind of stuff?
I feel like if we have a dedicated group like that this early on we'll be known as one of those 'fringe Reddit' websites like Voat or notabug
Especially if you look at what those communities tend to devolve into. Conspiratorial thinking seemingly attracts rather unstable individuals.
The framing is definitely a problem. If we have a place like that someday it might better be called ~mystery. It's a broader focus without all of the negative implications where that content would still be on topic.
For now, I would post these discussions in ~misc. Tag them with "conspiracy" and/or "paranormal" as appropriate.
Deimos is a bit reluctant to create too many groups and sub-groups at this early stage. I've seen him write elsewhere that Imzy died because it fragmented too much too soon, and I think he's trying to prevent that happening here.
However, if you make posts in ~misc with "conspiracy"/"paranormal" tags, this will demonstrate a need for groups about these topics next time Deimos is expanding the site.
This could be interesting, provided it doesn't devolve into "the jews did this" like /r/conspiracy. But I agree with @apoctr that it probably doesn't need a group just yet.
That would be my primary fear. If there's going to be a conspiracy group, we'll have to be careful that it doesn't become casually racist like similar outlets.
I'd be interested to browse through and participate in these types of conversations on Tildes. Anywhere other than here, and I've learned that these types of topics very quickly devolve from "fringe" conversations to pure psychotic drivel that welcomes the zaniest attention grabbers the web can dig up. So maybe with Tildes ethos, I'm thinking there may be some very interesting discussions?
I think the biggest issue with a conspiracy group is that it would require fairly strict moderation to keep it from falling into the same old racist / anti-Semitic conspiracies that are a hallmark of the topic. At this point in the site's development it's mostly just Deimos doing the moderator duties, and any tools that would enable the community to self-moderate haven't been implemented yet. Maybe the time will be right later... Just not right now.
I have a joke conspiracy theory.
It's road cones.
They're actually sophisticated surveillance tools dotted around the urban landscape to track everyone.
There are always road works, there are always road cones. They're everywhere. The perfect tool that does not arouse any suspicion.
Nice idea, but come on. Brightly colored, easily noticeable, plentiful in numbers. Sure they hide in plain sight, but they are clearly a distraction for the real surveillance tools... The roads themselves.
If you've seen the documentary They Live! you'll know it's invisible antennas on the stoplights that are watching.
You know the cameras on top of traffic lights that are there to detect that a vehicle is present so it can time a light change? What about the motion sensors for auto-flush toilets?
waits for this to blow up into a huge joke
Those cameras are actually for surveillance.
The traffic light timing is often done with induction loops embedded in the road to detect a car.
Ooh, great to see another conehead here.
For those that don't know: traffic cones were invented by the SIS during WWII as a discreet way to bug the Soviet embassy in Washington, which had a lot of construction going on around it. The first cones were pyramidal, six feet tall, made of yellow concrete, and had a microphone and a recorder inside. (And an eye painted on each facet, with the words "Look out!") When the road workers moved the eye-pyramids around, they also changed the tapes, which were used to triangulate the location of ringing telephones inside the embassy.
In the 1960, FBI used cones or "brain hoovers" to spy on protest marches, and for their brain control experiments: idea was, the cones cast an ultrasound command phrase of "slow down; your neck is feeling very flexible", whose success was easy to observe. This was widely ridiculed when the word got out in the 1980s during the Acoustic Kitty Congressional investigation; that's where the word "rubbernecking" comes from.
These days a traffic cone comes with its own cellular substation, TCP/IP sniffer, WiFi keylogger, and tiny plastic treads in the flange. It's a serious fear in the intelligence community that the Chinese will hack the American traffic cone infrastructure and send cones crawling to close critical roads, while blasting deadly electrical pulses at any attempting to stop them! They're developing a special anti-cone bazooka at Fort Bragg for this; you're all invited to the protest at the main gate at noon this Sunday, I have placards.
I'm so glad to see there are other woke people on Tildes!
I would be okay with this if it were under the umbrella of something like a ~skeptic group. I believe a part of good discussion is clear thinking and the use of evidence. Something conspiracies are typically not known for, although there are a lot of interesting discussions to be had around conspiracies and paranormal topics. Albeit mainly in debunking them and understanding what human behaviors lead to that type of thinking.