Anyone else get this thought running through their little brains there? lol
I remember when TheDonald.win was created. After The_Donald over on Reddit was shut down. And that was right after 3 of the top mods on T_D were suddenly 'fired'. JesusWoreNikeSlides, CISWhiteMaelstrom and...I forget the other. Who replaced them? Who knows. For a government that takes down whole countries and has assassinated democratically elected leaders ...how hard would it be to run a few people up the line of succession and get them to mod say TheDonald.win? Easy peasy.
This explains the grotesque culture that developed over on TD about a year into Trump's presidency.
On Reddit, there were themed days of the week and a distinct culture of positivity and unity and joy. "Off topic" threads were stickied for the weekends where people talked about music! People were starting to coalesce into real-life groups meeting in person. Someone would post about what they'd done that day, just bullshitting and other would show support. Importantly, anyone that wanted to join was 'allowed' and people were helped and given a hand up. There was a real community and sense of people helping each other learn valuable skills and trades.
Fast-forward to 2017 and the only 'themed' days were...you guessed it..."Sunday Guuuunday!!!" Where people posted their cache of guns. Gee, let me post all my guns. I mean everyone else is so it's 'safe' right?
I saw the whole 'scene' get ...ugly. "Lookit these green-haired FREAKS!!!"...was a very typical thread. I know someone who burned through a dozen accounts posting pro-Western culture threads that would get deleted.
They added the "new member" tag and the conformity and shittiness got worse.
When this individual asked who 'here' even supported Trump during 2016 and show some proof, he/she was banned.
Etc. 2020 it was a complete mess. After the election there was "some drama" ...but it was clear to me that at least one of the mods was compromised. The entire 'front' or 'first page' was shills crowing about the election results.
Now it's back to 'normal.'
Same as 4chan...why would they take down their website?
Makes much more sense to keep it and make sure it's shitty and a honeypot for extremists. For the people they imagine us all to be. While crushing any attempt to create a healthy, positive atmosphere. Etc.
You get the idea.
They've been at this for a good, long time.
Here's a paper some academics did on ways to ensure that 4chan's /pol/ was kept around (so people didn't create a new meeting place that they didn't control) but really, really crappy so people would just be turned off one at a time.
Anyways, whatcha think? Gab, 4chan (for sure) Win...and possibly every single meeting place for non-DNC propaganda is already under their control and kept intentionally shit!
