Outrage Machines: How Both Sides Rig the Feed
Remember the good ol’ days of social media? When we reconnected with old friends that we lost due to time and distance? The family reunions that were finally properly organized after so many years of neglect? What about connecting with some rando on a game? You didn’t know them, but you made sure to tend their farm or play a round of some word game with them.
Social media had promise back then, or so it seemed. Thousands of small businesses successfully started and continue to thrive today, due to the power of social media and it’s connections. When I got out of the Army, Facebook was just barely getting started. I really lucked out because my brothers in arms were almost always at a beckon's call if needed.
I was probably the first generation of war fighters to be able to keep in touch with almost my entire platoon post enlistment. Other guys had to wait for reunions but I could send a message almost anytime I wanted, and we did. It was glorious, but things online are different now.
Before Facebook, anonymity online was powerful. It was also when I first realized how people would act when they could hide behind a keyboard. It was everything I expected it to be. Edge-lords that would say anything to get a reaction, whether good or bad. None of it mattered to them because it was just a game, just a way to get a few laughs before logging off and going to bed.
Facebook broke the mold with that. Now people had a name and image. No longer could you hide behind anonymity. Now you had to wear the hate (or love) on your sleeve for all to know. It worked too, Facebook was and is a massive success. It’s also a battleground for your attention.
You probably think you don't fall victim to propaganda. We all think we are smarter than our enemy - the truth is we aren’t. The enemy has been working at this every day. The enemy isn’t your political adversary. The enemy wants to see America fall. The only way they can do that is from within by winning the hearts and minds of our youth.
We spend a fascinating amount of time staring into a screen. Before the internet, the cable companies (NBC, ABC) had absolute control over the media the average american consumed. Now, the average american is consumed with content created by a random (or not so random) person. The control is now widespread. Influence is coming from 200 different angles now and the truth gets lost in that.
It’s worse than you realize. According to some, the goal is not to trick you into thinking like them. The goal is to trick the algorithm so that you follow the crowd of people with similar interests, especially if those interests align with their own.
“Synthetic consensus refers to the illusion of widespread agreement generated by AI-driven content saturation—not actual public opinion. It happens when massive volumes of AI-generated content drown out diverse perspectives. The result? Certain viewpoints appear dominant simply because they’re more visible online.”
The goal is to manipulate the the algorithms to seem like organic interest in a trend. It’s not organic, it’s bad faith actors that are out to sow disinterest in American ideals. They hate us because they ain't us.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10060790/
“Coordinated inauthentic behavior: An innovative manipulation tactic to amplify COVID-19 anti-vaccine communication outreach via social media”
Take your pick, left or right, both sides report on it and participate in it. We don't mind though because you know, red vs blue. My team better than you.
And all this for what? Why try to have so much control over the narrative? Why create so much negative discourse and negative public opinion? The answer is simple, they want to see America fail. They want it to fall and crumble to pieces. This has been going on for a long long time now, we’ve had our head buried in the sand but now it’s time to wake up and look around. Stop fighting your neighbors. We are all in this together.
Social Media giants deploy algorithms that intentionally keep you engaged with their app. Turns out, anger is one of the biggest drivers of engagement ever! All I have to do is show you something that presses your imaginary-button and boom, your online for another 30 minutes arguing with Ted about something neither of you have control over.
Now's the time to go back to learning how to occupy your time without the cell phone. Talk to your friends and neighbors about the issues in your town or city. Talk to people outside. Go see the world. It’s beautiful out there. Don’t let foreign or domestic, bad faith actors keep us divided. We are the most diverse country in the entire world, and they absolutely hate us for that.
God bless you, God bless America.
resources:
DemocracyParadox.com
AiCompetance.org
FastCompany.com
Arxiv.org
Cambridge
There's a wealth of information out there on this. Be smarter than the keyboard you are typing with.
Leave a comment below and show me how you intend on beating the propaganda machine.
Source: Outrage Machines: How Both Sides Rig the Feed
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