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Month: June 2016

Iceland poster uses true statements to lead you to believe a false conclusion

Iceland poster uses true statements to lead you to believe a false conclusion

TL;DR Summary This is a popular type of propaganda poster on social media: the poster features many claims pasted over a photo, allegedly presenting the evidence for a conclusion. The conclusion is false but most of the statements are true. Since the target may recognize some items as true, our quick System 1 thinking engages and assumes the false items are also true because they sound plausible. Of course, this sleight of hand has produced a logical fallacy that is easy to…

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Users abandoning social media apps

Users abandoning social media apps

Year over year usage of social media platforms, through social media apps, is plummeting. Of all four major platforms, there has been a 9% decrease in the number of installed apps, year over year (some are up and some are down). People are spending less time using social media apps, a new study from marketing intelligence firm SimilarWeb found. Source: People are spending much less time on social media apps, said report. These changes might be because users are concerned…

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How Russia uses social media for propaganda (We do too!)

How Russia uses social media for propaganda (We do too!)

“Russia’s campaign to shape international opinion around its invasion of Ukraine has extended to recruiting and training a new cadre of online trolls that have been deployed to spread the Kremlin’s message on the comments section of top American websites.” Source: Documents Show How Russia’s Troll Army Hit America – BuzzFeed News The United States government also does this. Remember back in the fall of 2013 when many of us had our health insurance policies canceled? These were the policies…

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