Dispatches/Sunday Times investigation: Russell Brand accused of rape and sexual assault

[Mr Kobayashi]

Again, subjective, many people find Brand funny . His stand up shows have always sold well.

I don’t personally, or care. But obviously he’s a ‘good’ stand up in general.

30 of Russell Brand's funniest jokes and quotes

Eloquent, demented and at times downright controversial, Russell Brand has been dividing audiences with his unique brand of humour for over 15 years.

www.scotsman.com

 

[Ric]

However, 97% of women in the Uk have been sexually assaulted.

Harassed, not assaulted, according to that link.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

30 of Russell Brand's funniest jokes and quotes

Eloquent, demented and at times downright controversial, Russell Brand has been dividing audiences with his unique brand of humour for over 15 years.

www.scotsman.com

For some reason these two stand out to me.

"I would define my looks as a Victorian Childcatcher. Or an S&M Willy Wonka who likes to use a riding crop on his own leg in his spare time."

"Barely legal", that's not very nice is it? It should be called almost child molestation."

Not sure why…

 

[domalino]

Nope, we are both posting on it.

That shows it isn't, an echo chamber is a place... let's put a description up ehh?



So by the very definition it is not an echo chamber.

An echo chamber is not somewhere where everyone believes absolutely the same thing about everything.

But this forum is dedicated to a football club, which means that 99% of people using it are fans of the football club.

That football club is based in East Manchester, which means its fans (particularly older fans) overwhelmingly come from that area.

Forums are an old fashioned form of social media, which means the age range of users is definitely tilted older than reddit or twitter, but not too old because social media use among people 70+ is less than half that of 18-50 y/o people.

Football fandom is dominated by men, something like 80% of fans in PL stadiums are men.


Immediately if you're on here, there's a good chance you are a 30-55 year old man with connections to the North West of England. Which makes you likely to have the same views as other 30-55 year old men with connections to the North West.

Some people won't fit into that, and some people in that demographic will have contrasting opinions, but generally if you spend any time on the politics forum espeically (which I know you do) a consensus forms very quickly.

To bring it back to your definition of echo chamber -

In news media and social media, an echo chamber is an environment or ecosystem in which participants encounter beliefs that amplify or reinforce their preexisting beliefs by communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from rebuttal.​

​

People from the same demographic tend to have the same or similar beliefs. This forum is repetition and communication. It's a closed system because only people who sign up to be a user of Bluemoon can interact (same way twitter/fb/youtube/parler onlyusers can interact).

And the like button is the perfect example of amplification. You think what I think! Like. Now everyone knows we think the same way, and more people who think the same will like it as well. 40 likes wow! So many people agree with me, I must be right!!

 

[domalino]

Harassed, not assaulted, according to that link.

Yep fair, I'll edit that.

 

[mexico1970]

An echo chamber is not somewhere where everyone believes absolutely the same thing about everything.

But this forum is dedicated to a football club, which means that 99% of people using it are fans of the football club.

That football club is based in East Manchester, which means its fans (particularly older fans) overwhelmingly come from that area.

Forums are an old fashioned form of social media, which means the age range of users is definitely tilted older than reddit or twitter, but not too old because social media use among people 70+ is less than half that of 18-50 y/o people.

Football fandom is dominated by men, something like 80% of fans in PL stadiums are men.


Immediately if you're on here, there's a good chance you are a 30-55 year old man with connections to the North West of England. Which makes you likely to have the same views as other 30-55 year old men with connections to the North West.

Some people won't fit into that, and some people in that demographic will have contrasting opinions, but generally if you spend any time on the politics forum espeically (which I know you do) a consensus forms very quickly.

To bring it back to your definition of echo chamber -

In news media and social media, an echo chamber is an environment or ecosystem in which participants encounter beliefs that amplify or reinforce their preexisting beliefs by communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from rebuttal.​

​

People from the same demographic tend to have the same or similar beliefs. This forum is repetition and communication. It's a closed system because only people who sign up to be a user of Bluemoon can interact (same way twitter/fb/youtube/parler onlyusers can interact).

And the like button is the perfect example of amplification. You think what I think! Like. Now everyone knows we think the same way, and more people who think the same will like it as well. 40 likes wow! So many people agree with me, I must be right!!

You didn't read the description of what an echo chamber is did you? Instead you ignored reality and substituted your own.

CLOSED SYSTEM FREE FROM REBUTTAL

Save you having to read someone elses posts. This is not, I repeat NOT an echo chamber of any description.

 

[domalino]

You didn't read the description of what an echo chamber is did you? Instead you ignored reality and substituted your own.

CLOSED SYSTEM FREE FROM REBUTTAL

Save you having to read someone elses posts. This is not, I repeat NOT an echo chamber of any description.

You described Twitter as an echo chamber?

In what way do you think Twitter is a closed system free from rebuttal if Bluemoon is not?

 

[SebastianBlue]

Harassed, not assaulted, according to that link.

@domalino This is obviously from the ONS’s face-to-face Crime Survey for England and Wales, so is likely an undercount, but it is the most recent, most reliable dataset I could find.

The CSEW estimated that 1.1 million adults aged 16 years and over experienced sexual assault in the year ending March 2022 (798,000 women and 275,000 men). This equates to a prevalence rate of approximately 2.3% of adults (3.3% women and 1.2% men).

Sexual offences in England and Wales overview - Office for National Statistics

Data on sexual offences from the year ending March 2022 Crime Survey for England and Wales, police recorded crime, and victim services.

www.ons.gov.uk

Rape Crisis UK puts the proportion of women that have been raped or sexually assaulted at more like a horrific 25% (which is more in line with past incidence estimations from the UN and other NGOs). They put it at ~17% for children, which is somehow even more arresting.

Rape, sexual assault and child sexual abuse statistics

Want to know how many people are raped, sexually abused or sexually assaulted? We have key statistics from trusted sources showing the scale of the problem.

rapecrisis.org.uk

It should be emphasised that 97% of women in the UK being sexually harassed at some point is still horrible.

 

[mexico1970]

You described Twitter as an echo chamber?

In what way do you think Twitter is a closed system free from rebuttal if Bluemoon is not?

Yes it is, because a lot of people in Twitter ONLY discuss matters of importance with people who view the world like they do.

Again, Bluemoon is not an echo chamber and you couldn't make it one, you'd still have to read unsavoury posts to get to the ones you would nod at.

You can read what they're saying… [it's an] echo chamber.” More broadly, participants reported that Twitter users proactively or reactively “curate their feed,” so they intentionally engage with people who share similar perspectives.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Yes it is, because a lot of people in Twitter ONLY discuss matters of importance with people who view the world like they do.

Again, Bluemoon is not an echo chamber and you couldn't make it one, you'd still have to read unsavoury posts to get to the ones you would nod at.

Same could be said of Bluemooners (if they also choose to ignore all the comments that don’t align with their interests or worldview).

I haven’t been on Twxttxr for a long time (only view posts via previews on here and text messages), but I assume there is as much or more random vitriolic responses to any given comment you post as there was when I was on there. It got so bad about three days in to using it I had to turn off notifications altogether, especially when I joined a discussion about the insanity of “truthers”.

 

[domalino]

Yes it is, because a lot of people in Twitter ONLY discuss matters of importance with people who view the world like they do.

Again, Bluemoon is not an echo chamber and you couldn't make it one, you'd still have to read unsavoury posts to get to the ones you would nod at.

Curate your feed you say....

A bit like how users on Bluemoon block/ignore posters whose opinions they disagree with so they don't have to see thm any more...

 

[Coatigan]

It's a really interesting and uncomfortable point that @SebastianBlue raises. Obviously it would be wrong to demonise, let alone accuse everyone defending or taking Russell Brand's side of having something to hide (although I genuinely have no idea why anyone would feel the need to defend him)

However, 97% of women in the Uk have been sexually assaulted. 1 in 5 American women (and 1 in 71 men) will be the victim of rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.


So in a very male dominated forum like Bluemoon with hundreds if not thousands of dedicated regular users, it's statistically likely that some of the people discussing this have sexually assaulted someone, and it does stand to reason that those people would feel defensive.

Similarly there's a decent chance some of the people commenting and reading this thread have been victims of sexual violence and that will shape their comments too. Something that we should probably all bear in mind when discussing it.

Just to be completely clear, just in case there was any doubt, at no point did I or would I 'take Brand's side' or 'defend' him, by discussing general broader concepts of society.

And that said harassed, rather than assaulted, but I do see your logic. Even though I disagree with the crass and careleas broad-brushing. That's just my human reaction to it, rather than being defensive or feeling there is somethibg to hide. Might be out of naivity, might be misplaced optimism or faith in people, might be total ignorance, whatever. Judgemental blanket comments are often misplaced, and almost always distasteful.

I don't disagree with the basic substance of either of your comments on this for what its worth.

 

[mexico1970]

Same could be said of Bluemooners (if they also choose to ignore all the comments that don’t align with their interests or worldview).

I haven’t been on Twxttxr for a long time (only view posts via previews on here and text messages), but I assume there is as much or more random vitriolic responses to any given comment you post as there was when I was on there. It got so bad about three days in to using it I had to turn off notifications altogether, especially when I joined a discussion about the insanity of “truthers”.

Nope not the same at all, Bluemooners read the messages unless they read an empty site after ignoring everyone.

Better minds than I describe Twitter as an echo chamber. The fact we are having this conversation proves that this site isn't one.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Which is a relatively minor punishment when you consider YT have a history of demonetising channels for incredibly arbitrary reasons - for example they recently demonetised all videos if somebody swears in the opening 15 seconds.

There have been many channels demonetised by YouTube for much much less than Brand has done in the name of protecting advertiser interests (as is their right).

This.

I know someone who runs a YouTube channel about cycling and had it demonetised because there was a clip of them talking in a cafe where music was playing in the background.

I mean obviously on the punishment scale that’s on a par with spouting conspiracy theories and grooming kids. Obviously…

 

[mexico1970]

Curate your feed you say....

A bit like how users on Bluemoon block/ignore posters whose opinions they disagree with so they don't have to see thm any more...

Not the same and you know it, otherwise there would be nothing to read.

Stop trying to redefine what an echo chamber is.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Madness how accusations can be immediately seen as guilty these days. Same thing is happening with City. Trial by msm can only be a bad thing.

This has to be a contender for bad take of the century.

Funny how ‘mainstream media’ is a term exclusively used by utter cunts and morons.

 

[Johnny Mars Bar]

Reading the replies on here and who appears to be on which side of the debate, I’m pleased to see who my apparent bed fellows are and am very unsurprised by which people are defending him.

Innit.

I’d be interested to see if there’s a crossover between the Russell Brand apologist weirdos and the Covid cranks of yore.

 

[mexico1970]

but I assume there is as much or more random vitriolic responses to any given comment you post as there was when I was on there. It got so bad about three days in to using it I had to turn off notifications altogether, especially when I joined a discussion about the insanity of “truthers”.

I haven't got a Twitter account, to be honest before Elon Gump started messing about I could just read Twitter on here after the echo chamber dwellers work themselves into a frenzy.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Yes it is, because a lot of people in Twitter ONLY discuss matters of importance with people who view the world like they do.

What do you expect them to do on an anonymous, consequence-free platform? The "echo-chamber" is the result of that. Were there anything real at stake as there is with live in-person interaction I suspect we'd find more respect and tolerance for divergent perspectives. Maybe not that much more, but more.

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

This has to be a contender for bad take of the century.

Funny how ‘mainstream media’ is a term exclusively used by utter cunts and morons.

Ive always hated the term as well. It is meaningless for a start