4 ms·

I think the current epidemic of misinformation is the direct result of news networks choosing/creating the most inflammatory content possible in order to attrac

I think the current epidemic of misinformation is the direct result of news networks choosing/creating the most inflammatory content possible in order to attract the most viewers. It created a culture where we expect the news to outrage us and stroke our ego at all times. It's not that big a jump from believing Fox News when they say Obama is a Kenyan Muslim who hates democracy to believing Q Anon.

jacquesm 6y ago
Yes, this is a big part of the problem. If you systematically feed people crap for years you can't then turn around and say 'oh, wow, look at all these idiots believing crap'. You quite literally reap what you sow and by polluting people's minds with factually wrong stuff the stage is set for much more consequential moves at a later date. After all, if people were critical about what goes into their heads advertising, religion, the bulk of the news and so on wouldn't stand a chance and large sections of society rely on those mechanisms.
- Terretta 6y ago
  Saw a (hopefully hyperbolic) stat somewhere that over 95% of exclusively MSNBC viewers voted Biden and exclusively Fox News viewers voted Trump. The actual numbers matter less than the implications for reaching groups exclusively consuming particular “systematic feeds”. This is from early 2019: “There is an alternate reality in American politics, and it plays an outsized role in the way many experience and form opinions on the most important issues facing the country. Progressives should be mindful of the challenge from the Fox News echo-chamber and how it skews public perceptions. At the same time, there may be opportunities to reach people who aren’t in the chamber: Republicans who don’t watch Fox News, and non-Republicans who do.” https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5776522/Navigator-March-Fox-News-Memo-F03-19-19.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5776522/Navigator...
  - Causality1 6y ago
    It's terribly sad how prone people are to creating their own personal echo chamber once given the tools to do so.

jacquesm 6y ago

Yes, this is a big part of the problem. If you systematically feed people crap for years you can't then turn around and say 'oh, wow, look at all these idiots believing crap'. You quite literally reap what you sow and by polluting people's minds with factually wrong stuff the stage is set for much more consequential moves at a later date. After all, if people were critical about what goes into their heads advertising, religion, the bulk of the news and so on wouldn't stand a chance and large sections of society rely on those mechanisms.

Terretta 6y ago
Saw a (hopefully hyperbolic) stat somewhere that over 95% of exclusively MSNBC viewers voted Biden and exclusively Fox News viewers voted Trump. The actual numbers matter less than the implications for reaching groups exclusively consuming particular “systematic feeds”. This is from early 2019: “There is an alternate reality in American politics, and it plays an outsized role in the way many experience and form opinions on the most important issues facing the country. Progressives should be mindful of the challenge from the Fox News echo-chamber and how it skews public perceptions. At the same time, there may be opportunities to reach people who aren’t in the chamber: Republicans who don’t watch Fox News, and non-Republicans who do.” https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5776522/Navigator-March-Fox-News-Memo-F03-19-19.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5776522/Navigator...
- Causality1 6y ago
  It's terribly sad how prone people are to creating their own personal echo chamber once given the tools to do so.