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More disturbingly that his perception of old media is one of a careful, curated gate keeping process to ensure those producing information knew where the bounds
by smackeyacky 5y ago
More disturbingly that his perception of old media is one of a careful, curated gate keeping process to ensure those producing information knew where the bounds should be.
I find this somewhat disquieting. I certainly thought it was somewhat true up to the early 1990s.
The implication is that it was always known that people are easily manipulated. They needed protecting from themselves and the manipulators need to come from a certain class.
I object to that notion, but I am appalled at the base insanity that Facebook creates so I find myself conceding the point.
It appears to me that we haven't really switched the model, but looking at the analysis of the tiny number of influencers it takes to generate 90% of anti vax or whatever propaganda on facebook it seems clear this isn't democratization.
We have simply been handed a different set of carefully curated sources of information.
- ahartmetz 5y agoCarelessly curated but highly tuned for engagement... Von Braun said "Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?". Facebook says "As long as people keep reading the content, who cares what the content is?".
- smackeyacky 5y agoThis seems like it is true but there is a weird bent to the misinformation that gets amplified. I don't know if it is the audience or the creators.
- makomk 5y agoIt's worth bearing in mind that the mainstream media are far from unbiased when taking about the benefits and harms of their gatekept information vs sources like Facebook which they don't control. For example, I remember the BBC pushing an article about Facebook anti-vaxers putting the UK in danger of a serious measles outbreak that was a sterling example of deceiving with true facts. The percentage of eligible kids receiving their vaccinations had dropped, but it was a mere fraction of a percent below the UK's all-time record high a year earlier. The UK was indeed failing to meet the UN goal of 95% of kids double-jabbed, but it had never acheived that in the first place. And after digging up some NHS publications, it turned out that the UK was in danger of a measles outbreak, but the big problem was all the people who didn't get vaccinated in the 90s due to anti-vaccination misinformation spread by the BBC and other mainstream media before most people even had internet access. Basically, the BBC was spreading misinformation to blame Facebook for a problem that they themselves were actually responsible for.
- bryan_w 5y agoIt pisses me off to no end when someone says something like, "Given how much google/fb/amazon has been in the news, theres no question that they're now evil"