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Month: October 2016

Political campaigns use fake "Astro turf" social media influencers

Political campaigns use fake "Astro turf" social media influencers

In politics, “grass roots” supporters refers to an organically developed  group that supports an initiative, a party or a politician. The idea is the group has arisen “from the people”. Counter to that, lobbying organizations create fake “grass roots” support groups, with fake names such as “Citizens for Jobs”. These fake organizations are known as “astro turf” – literally fake grass roots support organizations funded and managed by lobbying groups working to present the false impression that this is a…

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How political campaigns control the media propaganda message

How political campaigns control the media propaganda message

All presidential campaigns have their favorite reporters, try to plant stories they want published, and attempt in multiple ways to curry favor with journalists. These tactics are certainly not unique to the Clinton campaign (liberals were furious in 2008 when journalists went to John McCain’s Arizona ranch for an off-the-record BBQ). But these rituals and dynamics between political campaigns and the journalists who cover them are typically carried out in the dark, despite how significant they can be. Source: EXCLUSIVE:…

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Beware of fake documents on social media purporting to be from Wikileaks

Beware of fake documents on social media purporting to be from Wikileaks

Beware of fake documents widely distributed on social media, and purportedly coming from Wikileaks. Wikileaks IS distributing thousands of documents that are very likely authentic. However, others are using the publicity of the Wikileaks documents to spread their own versions that are likely fake. For example, the document image below is being widely circulated on social media and claims to be from Wikileaks. However, a search of the Wikileaks database shows this does not exist at Wikileaks. The official Wikileaks Twitter…

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Social media, confirmation bias and its use in marketing

Social media, confirmation bias and its use in marketing

This post first appeared on my technology blog in early 2014, prior to creating the Occupy Propaganda web site devoted to analysis of social media propaganda. Confirmation bias occurs when we tend to give weight to information that supports our beliefs and to ignore or discard information that opposes our beliefs. Several studies find social media reinforces confirmation bias. All the studies I found address this in the context of politics and liberal or conservative bias.  However, the issue is much more…

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False assertion and False choice: Tesla versus Edison poster

False assertion and False choice: Tesla versus Edison poster

The following poster has appeared many times in my social media feed. The conclusion you are intended to draw is also false. Source   Another variation: TL; DR Summary These posters imply that Tesla cared about people more than making money versus Thomas Edison, who he once worked for as an employee (or another version of the poster, the evil person is George Westinghhouse) who only cared about making money. In reality, Tesla’s nearly 300 patents made him a very rich…

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