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Sweden's Twitter Experiment: Good Idea or Recipe for Disaster?

SodaHead News 2012/06/13 13:00:00
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For the last nine months, Sweden's official Twitter account (@Sweden) has been handed over to a new citizen each week as part of a social media experiment. But this week the experiment took a turn for the worse when 27-year-old Sonja Abrahamsson took the reigns and began tweeting about Jewish people, circumcision, nazis, and the holocaust. Yeah...

Abrahamsson wrote, "I just don't get why some people hates jews so much. Where I come from there is no jews. I guess its a religion. But why were the nazis talking about races? ... Once I asked a co-worker what a jew is. He was 'part jew,' whatever that means ... Whats the fuzz with jews. You can’t even see if a person is a jew, unless you see their penises, and even if you do, you can’t be sure!?" Needless to say, there was some outrage. But does this reflect poorly on Sweden's experiment, or does it still have value?

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Top Opinion

  • McGill 2012/06/13 14:35:38
    Good idea
    McGill
    +13
    On a whole i think it was an interesting idea but their are always that one person who will ruin it for them all.

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  • GLaDOS 2012/06/15 02:35:11
    Good idea
    GLaDOS
    +2
    I'd be afraid of what would happen if the U.S. did that. >_<
  • Tdog 2012/06/15 02:17:04
    Good idea
    Tdog
    ... For the most part.
  • beach bum 2012/06/15 02:10:38
    Good idea
    beach bum
    good
  • Ginger 2012/06/15 01:48:49
    Good idea
    Ginger
    +1
    I dont agree you can recognize some jew , christian and muslim ... (with beard , cross necklace , veil , kippa). I'm not against Jew , i'm against countries which are create only for one religion or try to be like Israël or Pakistan , thats a real problem for example for women there . Free speech is important .
  • Rdtourist Ginger 2012/06/15 13:56:29
    Rdtourist
    When did Israel start allowing mutilation of pubescent girls? Or denying freedom of religion in daily life, Lord knows they even have Muslim members of the military and the Knesset. How many Jews walk the streets of Pakistan with a yarmulke on their heads?
  • Ginger Rdtourist 2012/06/21 15:01:07
    Ginger
    I have more respect for Israël than Pakistan , but the fact is few Jews in Israël start to want and act for fondamental religion for example women use only women buses , but of course no problem of freedom's religions there but women in Israël arent agree and show it which isnt possible in Pakistan . Pakistan is much below Israël and have a lot of progress to do , in women rights , freedom of religion .... Mutilation is frequent in nearly all muslims countries and not only in Pakistan . I totally agree with you , thats just Pakistan has already those problems while few in Israel act for old practice of the religion .
  • Rdtourist Ginger 2012/06/26 14:46:14
    Rdtourist
    Israel IS in the middle east and has a lot more than Jews in the country, it seems for some reason endemic to the Middle East that men have to assault and harass women for whatever reason, probably something to do with the tribal culture of the region where women are/were considered essentially chattel property. The women only busses are FOR the women, to be able to go shopping or to town, whatever, without some ArseHole grabbing butt or some other wonderfully Middle Eastern behavior. This is profoundly different than Saudi or other Islamic countries where women out of the house alone MUST use women only transit, after all, if they traveled without a male relative, they would likely be considered whores and be liable to rape or a beating.
  • ColonialBoy 2012/06/15 01:48:40
    Recipe for disaster
    ColonialBoy
    +1
    Amazing, the girl can blog, blah , blah blah but can't google to find out what a Jew is????
    Say no more.....
  • Artyom ... Colonia... 2012/06/27 18:44:39
    Artyom Belan
    So tell me - what a Jew is?
    I'll give you one point - if you CAN do it, than you care about someone's nationality/national roots more than about that person's personality, i.e. you are a nazi) Is it clear?)
  • Myagooshki 2012/06/15 01:46:48
    Good idea
    Myagooshki
    Sweden always comes up with great ideas.
  • tman2fly0 2012/06/15 01:32:54
    Good idea
    tman2fly0
    I think it's a good idea. And after 9 months only one person has done somethin like that is pretty good. I think Sweden should continue the social experiment.
  • mightymouse49 2012/06/15 01:30:16
    Recipe for disaster
    mightymouse49
    ...I bet they stop that practice.
  • *K'eim*h3reg' *Peh2u *Meg' 2012/06/15 01:26:34
    Good idea
    *K'eim*h3reg' *Peh2u *Meg'
    +1
    Big deal. Was anyone hurt by her actions? No!
  • Robert 2012/06/15 01:14:18
    Good idea
    Robert
    +1
    Who really cares?
  • david carter 2012/06/15 00:59:33
    Good idea
    david carter
    +2
    free speech is a good idea
  • BonBonBonBonTomTomTommo 2012/06/15 00:59:09
    Good idea
    BonBonBonBonTomTomTommo
    The idea in a whole is good. Just some people will mess it up. That happens with everything!
  • LuridLolita 2012/06/14 23:45:37
    Good idea
    LuridLolita
    +2
    She didn't ruin the experiment and she didn't do anything wrong. She was ignorant of a subject that she wanted to understand. There's nothing wrong with that.
  • Justina Jackson 2012/06/14 23:40:18
    Good idea
    Justina Jackson
    Good Idea WRONG person! lol
  • Tony Bensley 2012/06/14 23:40:14 (edited)
    Good idea
    Tony Bensley
    +4
    She wasn't even speaking against Jews, or in favor of Nazis. There's certainly plenty of legitimate cases of racism that continue to go on today. However, the simple act of talking about races doesn't in of itself amount to racism! We need to focus on the real problems and stop zeroing in on the meaningless!
  • Everett Thompson 2012/06/14 23:36:15
    Recipe for disaster
    Everett Thompson
    +1
    If you can be sure about the content, it might be a good idea. But it must be decided, is Twitter to be censored, or not? Is it appropriate for someone to be chosen, who lives for that week, in a nudist colony, and we get visual feed from them? I guess I wouldn't mind (my eyesight is getting worse!), but others might disagree.
  • RobHom 2012/06/14 23:31:16
    Good idea
    RobHom
    +5
    I see absolutely nothing wrong with what she did. In fact I am surprised that someone of her generation has taken an interest in the subject. I think that its possible that she and others will learn about the Holocaust...and join those who declare "This shall never happen again!!!".
  • darazan 2012/06/14 23:20:51
    Good idea
    darazan
    +1
    She wasn't being racist so I don't see what the big deal is, really. It's a completely different country, which has different rules of etiquette and behavior. As I understand, they're much more open with anatomy over there, and I don't mean walking around naked or things like that, but simply that they aren't as ashamed to talk about it like in the US.

    Seems to me like she was just talking about something like anyone else would on their own pages of facebook and twitter. She probably saw or read something about it, either online or in real life and was honestly curious why people hate Jews, since it didn't really make sense to her, and that she didn't really know what Jews are. It can be a confusing subject to explain to someone who doesn't know, especially since there's 2 major definitions: the Jewish race, and the Jewish religion. If all you know about Jews is snippets of what happened in WWII and that they are circumcised, than I can completely understand your confusion.

    It's actually pretty interesting that something else hadn't happened in the nine months they've been holding the experiment previous to this event. I'm honestly surprised that they hadn't had someone spouting really offensive things before this. Not that Sonja was being offensive; I don't think she was. She was either simply treating it as she would her own page, which she stated, or she was trolling and got a great reaction from people half a world away.
  • Hikari_... darazan 2012/06/15 08:29:07
    Hikari_ice_angel
    That but also they don't deal with that sort of intolerance there. They're a pretty open people. They most certainly wouldn't have the same problem as we do with pursecution of any sort.
  • darazan Hikari_... 2012/06/15 23:28:52
    darazan
    But I don't really know if this counts as intolerance. She didn't say anything against them. In fact, she asked why people hate them so much, since it didn't make sense to her.
  • Gahnzo 2012/06/14 23:15:13
    Recipe for disaster
    Gahnzo
    +1
    You can never know....
  • dirusbellator 2012/06/14 22:49:31
    Good idea
    dirusbellator
    There is no such thing as a bad experiment. That's what makes an experiment an experiment: you just don't know what the results are going to be.
  • huggablechuck 2012/06/14 22:48:33
    Good idea
    huggablechuck
    I say continue. Odds are good that things like this will be the exception and not the rule.
  • Platinum Fangs 2012/06/14 22:34:44
    Good idea
    Platinum Fangs
    People can say whatever they want to on twitter. That had to have been expected.
  • 15shadow 2012/06/14 22:26:13
    Good idea
    15shadow
    I think it could go either way, on one hand it lets you see into the mind of the common man and what they think about n the other hand, it could always backfire...
  • Kenneth Huang 2012/06/14 22:19:19
    Good idea
    Kenneth Huang
    +1
    It depends on what the purpose of this "experiment" is. But yeah, I see nothing wrong with it. And for the record, what Abrahamsson said isn't even terribly offensive; it's just a little clueless. Not that anyone should be censored even if what they say is offensive.
  • Matthew 2012/06/14 22:13:41
    Good idea
    Matthew
    I always love to see experiments on the general behavior of people, especial on something like twitter. However, does anyone know what exactly the experiment was testing and whatnot?
  • DOriginalDonald 2012/06/14 21:48:00
    Recipe for disaster
    DOriginalDonald
    +1
    Doesn't the story explain WHY it's not such a good idea???????/
  • Don Leuty 2012/06/14 21:46:39
    Good idea
    Don Leuty
    You get such diverse opinions. ;)
  • Wutnagkillabeeontheswarm 2012/06/14 21:34:50
  • darazan Wutnagk... 2012/06/14 23:22:53
    darazan
    +1
    I actually don't know if Sweden has freedom of speech laws. If they do, good for them. Twitter itself is not freedom of speech, since your government can censor or prosecute you based on their laws. The internet does not change that.
  • Kitsune Touhou 2012/06/14 21:01:45
    Good idea
    Kitsune Touhou
    I think we will have to wait for the outcome before making any assumptions.
  • Steamtrain 2012/06/14 20:48:23
    Good idea
    Steamtrain
    I expect we will have to wait for the outcome.
  • rudy 2012/06/14 20:24:08
    Good idea
    rudy
    Its good
  • hannah 2012/06/14 20:15:40
    Good idea
    hannah
    she was right. people shouldnt hate jews. i dont see how that would make twitter bad.
  • daniel wayne 2012/06/14 20:12:49
    Good idea
    daniel wayne
    +2
    this is the old "boss for a day" idea. every wednesday the boss let one of the workers take over his job. worked great until the janitors name was drawn. most of the workers had an idea that they incorporated into the job. some ideas stayed, some only stayed for a day. the janitor closed all the mens bathrooms and made the womens bathrooms unisex. you can imagine the chaos. when asked why, he said "men and women are much cleaner and neater if they think the opposite sex will be seeing how they act" making his job easier

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