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Chapter 183 – Poison Speech
“The frustrated people who couldn’t become explorers were absorbed by the Rakan. And after the Rakan disappeared, some of them drifted into the Men’s Association and the Women’s Association…”
It seems that the two groups overlapped at first, but there seems to be a more direct relationship.
“Actually, there are other organizations besides the Men’s Association and the Women’s Association that are causing problems. The individual issues of immigration, welfare, the Japan-U.S. alliance, and nuclear weapons are still tolerable. The problem is that people tend to polarize into two opposing camps, such as the far left and the far right, religious conservatives and religious skeptics, neo-Nazis and Antifa, conspiracy theorists and other conspiracy theorists, etc.”
“So you’re saying there are simultaneous conflicts happening all over society?”
Well, I can’t help but feel that’s pretty much the way the world of discourse usually is.
“I think that political conflict itself will never disappear as long as human society exists. But this is abnormal.”
“So you’re saying that the economic disparity caused by the appearance of the dungeon is causing a split in society?”
“That is the background. However, there is also a specific cause that has created this situation.”
“A specific cause?”
“That’s what Yuto told us earlier.”
Serika said.
“You said that the younger brother of Kurashiki-san’s neighbor won a prize for an essay, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes. What was it called… was it Genron.net? It was a prize co-sponsored by a security company called something or other, and it was something about the next generation of debaters or something.”
I’m sorry for my vague memory, but I only saw the award plaque briefly.
Haitani-san tapped the keys on her laptop based on my vague information and said,
“It’s the first ‘Great Debater Award for the New Generation,’ co-sponsored by Genron.net and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, right?”
“That’s it.”
I nodded.
“So it leads to this…”
Serika muttered with a serious expression.
“Was this place really so strange?”
I thought it was a decent site because it was sponsored by a big security firm.
“First of all, these prize essays are tricky. Of course, there are decent prize essays in the world, but the ones on Genron.net are not like that. If you write a few thousand characters of nonsense and post it, the self-proclaimed intellectuals in the field will give you a prize and add some glamour to it.”
“So you’re saying it’s a politically biased site?”
“In a sense, yes and no.”
“What does that mean?”
“In the sense that extreme political arguments are prevalent, the answer is yes. However, the different arguments do not necessarily all point in the same direction. It’s not as if only right-wing Internet arguments are collected or only radical left-wing editorials are presented. In the sense that there is no left or right bias, the answer is no.”
“So it’s not a den of people with certain views? Then what’s the problem?”
“Have you ever visited Genron.net, Kurashiki-san?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Then do you know what so-called ‘summary sites’ are?”
“Uh, you mean the ones that summarize the content of online forums?”
“Yes. Some of those sites deliberately pick up controversial topics to get more page views, right?”
“Oh, you mean the ones where the pro opinions are in red and the con opinions are in blue, and there are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ buttons next to them, and the ones that get more or less attention depending on whether they get a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ button pressed?”
“Exactly. Of course, I don’t mean to condemn such a system in general. It’s not as if there aren’t cases where discussions are deepened by confrontation. I suppose there are people who enjoy such things, including such arguments when it comes to things like whether or not to agree with game strategy information.”
“So it’s the so-called ‘stirring up confrontation’ thing, huh?”
I caught the flow of the conversation as I nodded in agreement.
“So you’re saying that the design of Genron.net is specialized in stirring up conflict?”
“Yes. On Genron.net, moderate, neutral opinions and calm discussions based on facts and evidence tend not to attract attention. The more extreme the opinion, the more intense the reaction from readers, and the system is set up to rate articles and videos according to the intensity of that reaction. The more intense the reaction to an article or video, the greater the treatment and the contributor is paid a lump sum once a month. It appears that the ad revenue from articles and videos with weak reactions are pooled together to form the source of the rewards.”
“So even if I post content with weak reactions, I won’t make a penny?”
“Yes. And the pooled money is paid out in a lump sum to those who post extreme content. It’s a winner-take-all system, so to speak. On social networking sites and message boards, it’s called ‘carryover’ or ‘poison speech.'”
“What the hell is this? Is it a system for making PVs by radicalizing opinions?”
It seems that they don’t want to have a real political debate in the first place; they just want to make money by collecting inflammatory and extreme opinions.
“I think they’re offering a lump sum because they want to discover ‘talents’ who express extreme opinions.”
Serika says with a sigh.
“‘Talent,’ ‘public speaker,’ ‘debater,’ ‘commentator,’… well, you can call them whatever you want, but it seems that the aim of the winner-takes-all system is to make sure that they can earn a living. It’s been explained as a system modeled after the US presidential election… It’s just ridiculous.”
��This is what the boy next door to Yuto does. He uploads extreme speeches, and if he wins, he’ll get a big reward.”
“I see…”
In terms of making money on the site and mass-producing in-demand content, it’s certainly a well-designed system.
“I understand that it’s an annoying site. But isn’t that something we – or rather the Explorers Association – can’t do anything about? We can only hope that the net users have a good sense of judgment.”
“That’s true… But it might not be something you have nothing to do with, Yuto.”
“Me?”
“Yes. The Metropolitan Police Department, which co-sponsored the essay contest earlier, and the company that runs Genron.net. Both are companies Seiji Tozaki has a hand in.”
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