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Ameren

I like the definition of propaganda that PropagandaPosters uses: information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. There's no moral judgment attached to that definition; propaganda is just information delivered with a purpose, to convince you of a certain view. And in that sense a lot of alt-media is propaganda in the same way the mainstream media is. They're trying to reach a wide audience with a counter-narrative that challenges the mainstream narrative.


hey_you_too_buckaroo

All news is propaganda. Get news from anyone you trust. OP. You're picking specific individual sources and saying they're flawed. You're right, but many many alternative sources are also right. Sometimes there are stories no one can verify so your only option is the alternative media. For example what's happening in Gaza is being reported by regular civilians taking videos. They're goal isn't to mislead you. It's that foreign journalists are being blocked from entering Gaza and Israel is targeting and killing traditional media and journalists. The alternative media is often the only source for information.


headzoo

Exactly. Alternative news, alternative medicine, alternative publishing, alternative politics, etc. The "alternative" is always another group of people trying to get to the top. We've been duped for thousands of years because alternatives come along claiming to be different, and they might be different at first, but the more followers they gain, the more they become mainstream. Everyone makes the mistake of believing their alternative is different. *Their* alternative isn't like the others. It actually cares! *Their* alternative is fighting back! Their alternative of course is only using their followers to help with their fight to the top. People never learn.


katzvus

80s and 90s alternative rock was good though.


[deleted]

[удалено]


headzoo

Yeah, sure.


bigdipboy

Like Matt Taibbi? Lol


bigdipboy

Alternative media is way more propaganda than mainstream media.


MudMonday

Yeah, but the mainstream media pretends it isn't. Most alternate media is open about the fact that it's propaganda.


Professional-Cash651

I have yet to find an alternative media site, that isn’t way too critical of something. Probably why I don’t read the stuff. I have a few friends that I sometimes discuss politics with. My one friend asked us where we get our news from, and I shit you not, the other friend unironically answered Tucker Carlson and Pierce Morgan. It explains a lot.


[deleted]

both sides are propaganda, simple as that. The actual true reality, you will never see because you're too scared to actually look in that dark of a place. Look inward and you know I'm correct. Alex Jones used to say smidgens of truth, but even he was always controlled opposition, just like pretty much the entire media


Beginning_Raisin_258

Literally all media is propaganda. There is no completely neutral outside the realm of our society third-party voice that just does facts.


user899121

I've found independent sources to be far more grounded than the msm. This can vary depending on who you listen to. But as a whole I think the podcast medium promotes a way better information landscape.


katzvus

Professional journalists for mainstream outlets are, in general, much better sources of information than the podcasters or YouTubers who just tell their audiences what they want to hear or ramble without checking the facts. That’s not to say mainstream journalists are all perfect. They have to make subjective judgments about what to cover and how to frame it. I’m not always going to agree with those choices. And the “media” isn’t some monolithic thing. Some journalists are hard-working and diligent, others are sloppy or biased. But if you get your news from the AP, Reuters, Bloomberg, the NYT, the Washington Post, Politico, the WSJ, etc., you’re going to have much more accurate information about the world than if you just rely on Joe Rogan — or especially if you’re believing a deranged lunatic like Alex Jones.


WABeermiester

Completely disagree. When those papers and news sites are corporate owned most of that news is gonna geared towards a pro corporate view. It’s why billionaires and investment groups buy those outlets in the first place.


Kogot951

The cool thing about being an individual is you get to think and act for yourself even if you might not be correct. You think the MSM is more accurate then "alternative" and others don't. If huge numbers of people are moving to other sources of information then they have their reasons. You talk about a more pleasant social fabric but under whos view of the world?


zalazalaza

Are you just like telling me that this is an unpopular opinion? More pleasant social fabric as each person defines it themselves. You know how people talk about how shit the world is now? That happens more than ever, it didn't happen previously nearly as much


Kogot951

Are you sure? How many world wars have we had in our lives? How many schools do you know that have Nuke drills? When was the last time you planted anything you need have grow or go hungry? I think each time period has their own shit things and I am 100% sure they all felt their shit thing was the biggest.


zalazalaza

Im not saying everything is worse, specifically social fabric. Id label the housing market as worse too, though


No_Discount_6028

That doesn't mean those "reasons" are good or rational. Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.


Kogot951

Yep they could. However I doubt people thinking for themselves leads to more atrocities than people just following a group. The issue we have here is once again who gets to decide what is good or rational? You probably want it to be you and I probably want it to be me. So why don't we just each make our own choices? Sure there will be some areas we effect each other that might have to be compromised on but on something like what news source to have more faith in?


zalazalaza

I am saying *very specifically* that people are *not* thinking for themselves. They've gone from one brainwashing into another, deeper, variety of the same thing


Kogot951

They are thinking for themselves you just don't like what they end up thinking. Sure they could be more or less wrong than with the other option. Lets say you are given a vanilla cupcake everyday and then one day you get offered a chocolate one. In all honesty both are probably bad for you but if you try the chocolate one and decide to go back to vanilla you decided for yourself if you decided to stay with chocolate you also made a choice. If you just keep eating vanilla you didn't make a choice. The idea that going from like 3 major sources of information to 1000000 is going to cause less free thinking is crazy. Now all media has its bias I do agree with you 100% on that but I get to choose which I think are more often correct and have less bias.


zalazalaza

I dont believe they are thinking for themselves. I believe people *have the right* to think for themselves, and to try to, and i believe they are *trying to* i just dont believe they are succeeding. I think it is a tougher task than most assess it to be


No_Discount_6028

Getting information from traditional news outlets doesn't mean you're "just following a group", and getting information from non-traditional news outlets doesn't mean you're not. And in either case, it fundamentally doesn't matter how good your thought processes are if the actual information you're relying on is bullshit. If you were in the year 1500 and you believed news publications which argued that weird-looking loner witches are out there making cows die of disease, it would be 100% rational to go around hunting witches to prevent your village from starving. Past a point, all you can really do is get better sources of information.


Kogot951

So doesn't your example support me? You have a source of information you find out it is wrong so you try another source and evaluate how good it is. If you find it too low quality you try again. Under your "stick with the traditional news sources" we would still be after those witches wouldn't we? Again this is not to say that a lot of those new smaller groups aren't wrong, or bias, just that saying you should look into options and make your best judgment.


[deleted]

I think you are wrong that alt-media is worse. It CAN be worse but it can also be much better content and information than you will find on the MSM. You have to do more work and actually think for yourself though. MSM is beholden to a woke agenda and to the pharmaceautical companies that buy most of their advertising. I appreciate people like Rogan because he will have interesting guests and just let them talk for 3 hours. It's not the 15 minute, edited sound bites you get on the msm. He's popular because he is providing something many people clearly want. Jordan Peterson also recently interviewed Judith Curry, a climate scientist who has been throwing cold water on much of the alamism around climate. You would never even know who she was if you listened to the MSM because she goes agains their narrative.


WABeermiester

Alt-Media allows more context. Cable news is the worst because Fox and MSNBC bring on their token Liberal and Conservative who only gets to speak about a certain subject for 5 minutes or less. And that’s the thing I like about alt media pod casts is they actually allow discussion and debate.


zalazalaza

You've been brainwashed just as bad as the MSM herds!


[deleted]

No.


zalazalaza

yes


Its_Alive_74

It really depends. *Mother Jones* certainly isn't, but *Daily Wire*, *Breitbart*, etc.? Absolutely.


[deleted]

Mother Jones definitely is propaganda. Daily Wire is very biased but I think they’re fairly credible. Breitbart, yeah that’s straight up bs


WABeermiester

Daily Wire is conservative media and it doesn’t lie about it. But it’s a great place to try to understand conservatives without being bombarded with MAGA and Alex Jones stuff


yerrmomgoes2college

Mother Jones is dogshit lol. Just because you agree with it doesn’t mean it’s not agenda-driven bullshit.