Read on Twitter
Something salient that is guiding how I’m thinking & talking about... everything in the mis/disinformation space:
Radically different approaches for regular people/audiences/users
than for elites/politicians/
platforms/pundits/execs 1/
Radically different approaches for regular people/audiences/users
than for elites/politicians/
platforms/pundits/execs 1/
Not because the former have no agency... but because the latter have SO MUCH.
Not because regular people are not smart but because these powerful entities have a vested interest in making them dumber.
Not because regular people are not smart but because these powerful entities have a vested interest in making them dumber.
Not because people can’t act for themselves but because the political/media systems need people acting/thinking a certain way.
When a corporation like Fox makes $2.7 billion in a single QUARTER, driven largely by its cable “news” programming division, that makes its billions by inciting its viewers with outrage and lies, where is the justice there? Who speaks for those viewers? Not Fox News.
I struggle sometimes within the framework of “media effects” with the need to recognize and honor human agency in our research and our “effects” models.
Influenced by the writings of Bandura on this topic, I find myself going back to my work and rethinking it through the lens of human agency, intentionality, and free will ... BUT:
While individuals have the agency to consume what they want & believe what they want... as media execs and outrage hosts master the psychological profiles of their viewers and hone in on the sweet combo of racism, fear, resentment, who *really* has the agency here?
The term that I come back to again and again is “exploitation.” Its the only word that fits.
And while that may frame viewers as victims, I see it more that these individuals are being lied to about the nature of the relationship they are in.
For Fox it’s easy:
I watch Fox and am told that they’re giving me the unvarnished truth that the liberal media won’t give me. I see their content as a quality product and me as the consumer of that product. And I feel good and smart because they tell me I’m good and smart
I watch Fox and am told that they’re giving me the unvarnished truth that the liberal media won’t give me. I see their content as a quality product and me as the consumer of that product. And I feel good and smart because they tell me I’m good and smart
But it’s all upside down. Their content is not the product. Their content is the bait to keep me angry and feeling maligned and coming back again and again... so they can sell me to ... someone else. The content is the worm on the hook.
And Q? Q is a whole different ecosystem and incentive structure. But again, the content is beside the point. It’s the experience and the control and the anger and optimism that all feel amazingly empowering. But the reality is I’m being robbed of my power in this relationship.
The people who use Q and other conspiracy theories to propel themselves forward and to gain notoriety and power and money? The Marjorie Greens of the world? The Tr*mps of the world? How do *they* see regular people? Serious question. How do they conceive of their voters?
Do they “love” them and think they are “special people?”
Or are they merely a means to an end?
Come on now.
Or are they merely a means to an end?
Come on now.
When I think of these powerful entities and how cynical their motives are, it helps me find empathy for the people who are playing by the rules of the game they have been told they’re playing.
And this is why I have two completely different ways of thinking about and approaching all this shit.
On the demand side (people/audiences) we need love and connection to diffuse the toxicity they have been wading in.
But on the supply side?
On the demand side (people/audiences) we need love and connection to diffuse the toxicity they have been wading in.
But on the supply side?
Politicians, media, platforms, pundits who peddle lies and hate?
Smart Regulation. Lawsuits to hold entities accountable. Punitive consequences. And we need to think long and hard about ways to reimagine news media economics to disincentivize outrage... not reward it.
Smart Regulation. Lawsuits to hold entities accountable. Punitive consequences. And we need to think long and hard about ways to reimagine news media economics to disincentivize outrage... not reward it.
My hope in writing this is that it might allow you to find the space to connect anew with the folks who have been sold lies and resentment packaged as “truth.”
... racism packaged as “straight talk without political correctness.”
...misogyny packaged as “traditional family values.”
...and distrust of the medical community packaged as “individual liberty”
...misogyny packaged as “traditional family values.”
...and distrust of the medical community packaged as “individual liberty”
The blame does not rest with our friends and neighbors and family members.
In rests with the powerful entities playing the chess game in which those dear people are the pawns.
In rests with the powerful entities playing the chess game in which those dear people are the pawns.
