The Antisocial Network

But it managed to be educational and present its thesis quite well. The thesis is that the infamous 4chan led to such social movements as OccupyWallstreet, Anonymous, Gamergate, and the rise of Donald Trump and finally, to January 6th. It showed how these groups morphed together and separated. It shows very clearly how the alt-right latched onto meme culture and tried to hijack the political discourse. I was never on 4chan, but remember seeing their productions out in the wild. It's a cautionary tale about two things, the first about how just because you create something, that does not mean you can control it as the creator of 4chan discovered, and the second is never to underestimate the stupidity of the masses. They will beieve anything as long as its in a visual form with some white text.

"The Antisocial Network: Memes to Mayhem" is a documentary tracing the evolution from 2 chan, a Japanese anime website, to 4 chan to Anonymous to 8 chan to nihilism to Q Anon. It also shows how the business model of stirring up anger and fear spread to the mainstream social media. It interviews key people in the creation and development of this phenomenon. And it shows how even they get horrified with what they have unleashed. I knew some of this but the documentary connects the dots. It also shows how this has bled into the real world. But this isn't anti-technology. Behind this is people, some well-meaning but naive, some immature, some hateful, and some cynically using all the others.

Plot

A group of lonely teenagers formed an online community and bonded over their isolation, but their collective beliefs warped reality.

Cast

Sadly those interviewed are for the most part far from decent human beings.

Verdict

Just to confuse myself this was the second documentary of its sort within a very short period of time, the other also featured hacking and anonymous. This however was the superior piece by far and was an entertaining though damning subject matter that unfortunately I'd experienced the consequences of first hand.

It looks at the history of 4chan which though I'm very aware of, didn't know some of the eccentricities and found them very interesting. It shows the snowball effect of online extremism and how badly even simple "Mean words" can escalate.

The trouble is the people interviewed are not good folks, they glamorize hacking, they defend trolling, most appreciate by the end that their behavior was foolhardy and escalated granted but it changes nothing.

The anti-social network is very well made, devastating subject matter and entirely fascinating.

Rants

I see word within the reviews as usual spouting agenda/propaganda, those words have lost all meaning. It's not attacking one political side, it's examining one subject and it just happens to be one side that's responsible for all the consequences and side effects.

You see I mentioned I'd experienced this first hand, my ex was a rational decent human being then she came across the online hive of hate, right wing extremism and conspiracies and over the course of two years she changed in ways I didn't even think was possible. She became racist, homophobic, transphobic, anti-immigrant, anti-benefits claimant, a seething ball of hate against every minority. She grabbed hold of every conspiracy going, flat earth, chemtrails, the LGBT agenda and planet X (She loved that one). She lost her mind, and funnily enough yes she become a Trump fan. The internet has a great power to change people, and make them completely unconditionally lose the plot and that leads to further unpleasantness and spreads like a plague.

The Good

Very well made Stylish Insightful

The Bad

Those interviewed as wretches Pure rage fuel.

Informative and enlightening documentation!

For people like me, who have only been able to delve deeper into the world of the Internet after a long period of family responsibilities, documentaries of this kind are helpful in understanding what has actually happened over the past two decades. The effects of the developments described in the film are visible to everyone in everyday and professional life. I didn't really like the excessive rush of images, but I admit that it fits the protagonists and their actions quite well.

The global streaming service NETFLIX certainly does educational work with such films. We should also remember the documentary about the CYBERBUNKER in the small German town of Traben-Trabach.

The question remains what to do now with the knowledge gained. The troll armies around the world remain active and have long been taking care of the next generation.

Finally someone took the time to address this more or less properly.

So... Is it perfect? No.

But at least it tries to tackle the absurdity of the times we live in.

Going much further than other documentaries or books in unveiling some of the people that spawned the whole toxic internet trend - albeit leaving aside the vast influence of a certain current belligerent super power - it gives a simple, but credible, history lesson on why we are in the current political situation.

And no, I'm absolutely not talking just about the USA.

What happened there is ground zero for other 'experiences' that are starting to materialize in other countries (they even mention what happened in early 2000's with 2Chan) and that continue to occur in our age of misinformation.

The simple fact that some people are so desperate (and plainly stupid) as to be able to believe these pranksters should be enough to make us stop and meditate about what being online really means.

Just one more thing: this is a documentary and my rating is not based on the formal quality of the film.

This is a presentation of part of an important story.

A story that should be dissected and investigated much, much further. That said, as first efforts go this is a 5 in terms of usefulness and overall importance.