People use it like everyone fucking has the innate knowledge of every acronym out there
Here’s an example. Let’s say that you don’t know how open source works, and I told you the following:
Why are you in Lemmy? It’s open source so any hacker can screw with it, and infect your computer with viruses. You’ll never know, right?
That’s FUD: fear, uncertainty, and doubt. It’s a disingenuous tactic to convince you to not do something, based on the following:
- You fear a certain outcome. In this case, a computer virus.
- That fear is vaguely associated with something that is uncertain for you. In this case, how a hacker could use Lemmy to inject viruses into your computer.
- The odds of that outcome happening are doubtful; it may happen, it may not, otherwise you could call me out for not happening. In this case, even if you don’t get a virus from using Lemmy, I can still say “well, some people get it, some don’t, but let’s play it safe and avoid Lemmy.”
This shitty strategy is fairly used in the tech industry because most people are clueless about tech, but they know that it has a big impact on their lives. However you’ll also see this in politics, religious debate (Pascal’s Wager is FUD), and others.
Literally all VPN sponsored segments on YouTube.
Yup. There are reasons to use a VPN, mind you; but they involve the person actually knowing the risk, when it applies, and taking a cost vs. risk judgment. The FUD in those sponsors is basically “you don’t know so you might be at risk, subscribe to our VPN juuuuust in case”.
They straight out lie in those ads though. Like for example VPNs don’t protect your privacy at all when you’re browsing. Just because it says private in their name doesn’t mean you’re anonymous. Cookies and trackers work all the same via a VPN.
I’d say the ‘D’ (hah!) is more about making you doubt your position or thoughts on the matter. In your example, it’d make you doubt your choice to try using Lemmy, because of the fear and uncertainty.
Flowers Ultimately Die.
Guess you’re one of today’s lucky 10000
We don’t sell Duff here, we sell Fudd!
In a modern internet context:
Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
Often used in crypto circles when a shitty project is being accused of being a rug pull. The scammer may say “it’s just FUD, ignore it”.
On ‘the street’, if I called someone a fud, it is calling them an idiot.
As others have said Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.
It entered tech lingo way back in the 90s when Microsoft was fighting an early wave of Linux on desktop. They would troll and present themselves as a reliable alternative.
They weren’t the first to do it. IBM’s unofficial motto in the 70s was “nobody gets fired for going with IBM”.
In what context is this? I have never heard of FUD before in my life. Why the heck does Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt need to be arranged into an acronym?
It’s common in communities where rigid adherence to a set of beliefs is necessary to enforce cohesion. It’s commonly used to avoid engagement with “Facts U Dislike” (haha) by terminating all meaningful discussion.
Part of a flat earth forum and you’re posting an experiment you performed that suggests the earth is round? You’re spreading FUD that should be ignored.
Posting on a crypto shitcoins discord about how this kinda looks like a scam and maybe it’s not a good investment? That’s also FUD. You’re just mad that everyone else is going to be rich.
