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My take for a while has been that authoritarian ideas (both hard right and hard left) dominate on social media because of the short form short attention span fo
by api 10mo ago
My take for a while has been that authoritarian ideas (both hard right and hard left) dominate on social media because of the short form short attention span format. Authoritarianism tends to run on simple slogans, grievances, and identity politics. That stuff is very well suited to 140 characters, memes, and short videos.
Liberal ideas require more explaining and historical context, and they don’t play well when everyone has been triggered and trolled into limbic system mode by rage bait.
Liberal politics speaks to the neocortex. Authoritarianism speaks to the brain stem.
- nxor 10mo agoLiberals can also be authoritarian. See reddit, where ideas that don't conform are typically downvoted out. Here too.
- api 10mo agoI’m using the word liberal to mean things like liberty, individual rights, democracy, and the rule of law. That’s why I also mentioned hard left authoritarianism. Also there’s a world of difference between people registering dislike on an online forum and the use of state power. It seems like a lot of people these days draw no distinction between removal from a private space or even people just showing disapproval and actual state force.
- docmars 10mo agoThis doesn't surprise me much; social networks have worked in tandem with governments, allowing them to call the shots to remove any content that opposed their political agendas, narratives, and opinions, to the extent that facts were flat-out censored to paint certain political opponents in a bad light, or worse, create potential legal issues. It created a world where: when disapproval inside an echo-chamber fails to a critical mass of people telling the truth, just pretend the content doesn't exist and then gaslight people using official media outlets, including Congress and the White House. So it gave people the impression there's no difference between the two. Not only were disapproval and state force in agreement, they colluded.
- positr0n 10mo agoPretty sure OP means liberal in the sense of "classical liberalism". Ideas like free market, rule of law, private property, etc.
- strbean 10mo ago> authoritarian >downvoted out Erm...
- iamtedd 10mo agoRussia has elections, where people overwhelmingly vote for Putin..
- mason_mpls 10mo agoYou’re confusing democracy with tyranny.
- computerthings 10mo ago[dead]
- exoverito 10mo agoYou're assuming mutual exclusion. Democracy is two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner.
- mason_mpls 10mo agowe’re people, not fairytale beasts
- tired-turtle 10mo agoWhile your point (about the potential for liberal authoritarianism) is true, reddit is an example of partisan, not authoritarian, behavior.
- bamboozled 10mo agoMy take for a while has been that authoritarian ideas That's odd because I don't see a lot of that. Care to elaborate?
- eimrine 10mo agoIn what country do you need to be shown some of that?
- bamboozled 10mo agoAustralia