I am not convinced that the proposed “alternative influence network” is much different from any echo chamber with influential figures on social media. Includin

I am not convinced that the proposed “alternative influence network” is much different from any echo chamber with influential figures on social media. Including people like Joe Rogan in the supposed AIN makes this article even less convincing. Joe Rogan has interviewed guests of very varied political leanings, and he himself seems to have a complex not strictly partisan world view. Should one never interview right-leaning people on their shows to avoid being dragged into these “influence networks”? I’m also very skeptical of the “guilt by association” type ideas that seem foundational to such pipelines or networks. I could be wrong, but they seem like a shaky foundation for this radicalization theory to me. Simply talking with someone should not mean you subscribe to their politics or endorse those views. In fact, I think that this kind of “guilt by association” rhetoric is further segregating people into echo chambers, and it’s unhelpful.