“Analyzing Contemporary Propaganda”

“Analyzing Contemporary Propaganda”

Everyone participates in the process of persuasion, which is the use of words and other symbols to influence people. People use persuasion to gain social power. But the term propaganda is generally used when someone is aiming to reach a large group of people, not just a few. If you are an activist, you may have created propaganda yourself. People who create propaganda have a specific goal and design a communication message that is intended to circulate among a large…

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Could you throw a U.S. Presidential election for just a few dollars per day?

Could you throw a U.S. Presidential election for just a few dollars per day?

Parties in Russia bought ads on U.S. social media regarding candidates for U.S. President in 2016. About $100,000 was spent on Facebook ads, of which 44% was spent prior to the election. Additional actions took place on Twitter and Instagram. “Fake posts” were also created on social media for the purpose of being Liked, Shared and Commented on. It is claimed that about $2 million total was spent by the “American” department of the Internet Research Agency in Russia. The…

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Society now requires us to be liked on social media?

Society now requires us to be liked on social media?

Not only is a “strong social media presence” now a prerequisite for many, if not most, jobs, but companies have begun to look at your number of followers as both a measure of monetary value and a career determiner. And according to TIME.com, employers actually consider people without Facebook suspicious. “If you boycott Instagram, you’re cutting yourself off from a lot of opportunities,” said Emily. “I started posting more selfies, despite being self conscious about it, because honestly—you get so…

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Photojournalism awards “glamorize pain and suffering” and warp our view of the world

Photojournalism awards “glamorize pain and suffering” and warp our view of the world

A photographers notices that almost all photo journalism awards go to photographers who focus on pain and suffering, giving us a warped view of the world around us: Media reinforces and shapes public perception whether intended or not. And the same photos and photographers tend to win multiple awards in a given year, thus generations of photojournalists are led to believe that contest-worthy images must conform to a certain look-and-feel. This isn’t just conjecture. A well-known documentary photography who eschews…

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Tesla really did say this in 1926

Tesla really did say this in 1926

This poster came across on Twitter – and surprise – the quote is authentic! Surprisingly (for social media memes!) Tesla really did say this in an interview published in Colliers on January 30th, 1926. This forecast for the future is intriguing and certainly his brilliance comes through. But … the same interview had a number of other predictions – some correct and some not so correct: Tesla invented our modern day alternating current electrical system (versus the competing direct current…

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The story behind the fake DPRK News Service Twitter account

The story behind the fake DPRK News Service Twitter account

The DPRK News Service is one of the funniest Twitter accounts in existence as it hilariously makes fun of North Korea and a host of world leaders and events. It’s run by 2 guys in the U.S. who launched it to share jokes between friends. Not long after launching it, the U.S. media repeatedly cites them as an official North Korean news service. “It feels like all online media outlets have prioritized being First rather than Right, like it’s some…

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“Computational propaganda”

“Computational propaganda”

I just saw this term on Twitter. It refers to the use of automation to deliver propaganda messaging on social media. We’ve heard of “bots” and “bot networks” – as examples, but it could also include automated tech and sales support systems that use algorithms to respond to customer inquiries. The term highlights a new direction in propaganda for the 21st century – “computational propaganda” – and points to the automation of propaganda messaging as a key advancement in propaganda…

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Americans throw away 500 million plastic straws each day – or not

Americans throw away 500 million plastic straws each day – or not

Americans are said to use 500 million plastic straws each day. Where did the 500 million estimate come from? A child named Milo Cress did a telephone survey – when he was nine years old in 2011. This is said to be the sole source of this estimate, now quoted by politicians, the media, the National Park Service and the National Restaurant Association. A lot of people accept this number without realizing it means roughly everyone in the U.S. uses…

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Does social media play a role in “wealth culture”?

Does social media play a role in “wealth culture”?

This problem pre-dates social media but it is likely that social media has amplified some of its effects: “We’ve gone from a culture that prized hard work, frugality and discretion as the central tenets of the American Dream to a culture that prized celebrity, bling and narcissism.” Source: Sundance film documents ‘wealth culture’ addiction spiralling out of control – MarketWatch Television has played a big role in promoting celebrities.  Social media, especially Instagram but also Facebook, creates an environment for…

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How Twitter’s shadow banning system works

How Twitter’s shadow banning system works

Here is some insight in to how Twitter’s shadow banning algorithm’s may be operating. In addition to their “machine learning” (a good but significantly over-hyped technology) scanning of messages, their algorithms take in to account user reports, and the muting or blocking of accounts to decide if individual tweets or accounts should be shadow banned. The user that is shadow banned is not notified of the ban. Once shadow banned, one’s Tweets may not show up in some follower’s Twitter…

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