It’s a weird headline, but the discussion is around how journalists and the public look through internet history in cases like this. Some of it is helpful, some of it is not.

In particular, it’s a response to this article:

‘Extremely ironic’: Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO slaying played video game killer, friend recalls (NBCNews)

The game in this case being AmongUs…

Monday night, NBC News published an article with the headline “’Extremely Ironic’: Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO Slaying Played Video Game Killer, Friend Recalls.” This article is currently all over every single one of my social media feeds, because it is emblematic of the type of research I described above. It is a very bad article whose main reason for existing is the fact that it contains a morsel of “new” “information,” except the “information” in this case is that Luigi Mangione played the video game Among Us at some point in college.

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/72744

  • @[email protected]
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    141 minutes ago

    Why is he dressed so weirdly on the photo? That doesn’t look like a usual uniform…

    • @[email protected]
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      33 minutes ago

      Suicide watch uniform, I think. Have only seen it in one old photo so it might have just been that facility

  • kingthrillgore
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    2918 hours ago

    Ah yes, the continued trend of the media in the US to shit on gaming as the ills of society’s problems, because someone up the chain is scared it makes more than Hollywood slop

  • @[email protected]
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    3520 hours ago

    Did prosecutors seriously talk about among us like it is this game that only psychos play? The game is fun! In fact I think I am gonna play it tonight!

      • @[email protected]
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        417 hours ago

        I don’t play the game very often, but it is a fun game. Even more fun when I am the imposter! Normally I get assigned the boring task as being a regular deck hand.

  • CaptainBasculin
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    1211 day ago

    Fact: %100 of serial killers have drank water.

    If we ban water for everyone, we can stop serial killers for once and all.

    • @kaitco
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      1721 hours ago

      What about just banning dihydrogen monoxide? That stuff kills 100% of those who consume it and is, like, everywhere!

      • @TrueStoryBob
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        1020 hours ago

        It’s used in everything from pesticides to baby formula… when are people going to wake up to the dangers it poses?

        • @[email protected]
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          110 hours ago

          Seriously, do you have any idea how bad it would be for the economy if we did that? You guys wants us becoming as poor as europeans?? Look you have to let the free market decide which chemicals do and don’t go into your body. If I were a grandmother I would gladly drown in dihydrogen monoxide just so my children could work more hours in the excel factory. It’s what Adam Smith would have wanted!

    • @[email protected]
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      201 day ago

      That’s taking it too far. To beat the bad guy with water we just need good guys with water.

      • @jaybone
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        619 hours ago

        Hydrohomies activate!

    • SybilVane
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      222 hours ago

      But first, the person banning water would become the ultimate serial killer.

  • @DaddleDew
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    1831 day ago

    I bet the CEO played Monopoly too. Ironic, isn’t it?

    • @PineRune
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      601 day ago

      CEO probably cheated when he played Monopoly too.

  • @[email protected]
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    4623 hours ago

    Funny, how much hand wringing is going on in the sweaty mainstream media about a guy who merely put down a vicious oligarchy-loving killer. You’d get the impression that media moguls are worried that they’re next.

    • @DuckWrangler9000
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      2421 hours ago

      Funny, how much hand wringing is going on in the sweaty mainstream media about a guy who merely put down a vicious oligarchy-loving killer. You’d get the impression that media moguls are worried that they’re next.

      It’s a sign of the time that we’re living in. When people find joy in the death of others in a society, the quality of living is exceptionally bad. It’s reminiscent of Rome too where the last years of their society were filled with chaos

  • Did you know every murderer has been human? Which is why people being afraid of aliens doesn’t make any sense. Aliens have never killed anyone, but humans have killed a lot of people.

    • @[email protected]
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      620 hours ago

      From The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu:

      Later, other Adventists based their hatred of the human race on other foundations, not limited to issues such as the environment or warfare. Some raised their hatred to very abstract, philosophical levels. Unlike how they would be imagined later, most of them were realists, and did not place too much hope in the alien civilization they served either. Their betrayal was based only on their despair and hatred of the human race. Mike Evans gave the Adventists their motto: We don’t know what extraterrestrial civilization is like, but we know humanity.

    • @[email protected]
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      220 hours ago

      There are plenty of animals that have killed in cold blood. Some animals are evil assholes.

  • @[email protected]
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    791 day ago

    woke: doom inspires acts of violence

    broke: call of duty inspires acts of violence

    bespoke: among us inspires acts of violence

    • @PetteriPano
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      371 day ago

      When I was a kid, we played pacman. A literal puck who eats pixels and takes turns chasing ghosts. We turned out fine.

      It’s not like that’s what caused us to go to rave parties, listen to beepy music and pop ecstacy pills.

      • @TrueStoryBob
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        820 hours ago

        When I was a kid, I played Civ 3… so I guess, according to cable news, I’d be seen as a genocidal maniac on par with Hitler.

        • @TORFdot0
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          519 hours ago

          Funny you should mention that, the UHC killer killed 300 bugs in civ iv during his internship with the dev according to his resume.

          Expect a knock on your door from the FBI tonight

      • @jaybone
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        519 hours ago

        BITCH I’M EATING A GHOST RIGHT NOW

      • @Lost_My_Mind
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        171 day ago

        I saw that same T-Shirt at the mall in 2001.

      • zerozaku
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        201 day ago

        CODM and PUBGM do exist

        • GladiusB
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          210 hours ago

          I have only played on PC. Had no idea they had a mobile game.

      • L3ft_F13ld!
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        161 day ago

        That would almost make me believe that they caused violence. Can’t imagine playing on a phone would be anything but frustrating.

        • @[email protected]
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          520 hours ago

          Imagine you find out he is the top 10 rated COD mobile players. Everyone would immediately know he was a complete psycopath.

  • @RememberTheApollo_
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    720 hours ago

    The article reads like regular internet bad behavior.

    there is rarely a single story everyone is talking about and where it is impossible to hold anyone’s attention for more than a few minutes at a time…

    Exactly what the press contributes to.

    Goes on to suggest digging through old accounts, maybe finding the right person of interest, making stuff up based on what you find, then harassing people associated with the person.

    But that’s ok, because it’s “journalism.”