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Author: Edward MS

Accurate quote, but the quote itself is false

Accurate quote, but the quote itself is false

TL;DR Summary Good, simple design, good eye contact, simple message, easily processed. Former President Bill Clinton really did say this in a speech in 2013. The Washington Post, however, says the claim is not true: Three Pinocchios. As a propaganda poster, this uses  the “Appeal to Authority” method. The poster was shared on Facebook. I like the poster design – clean with a simple message. Bertrand Russell noted that facts are either true or false, and their truthfulness is independent…

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How “public relations” uses propaganda

How “public relations” uses propaganda

While much social media propaganda is created by amateurs, much is also created by professionals who have titles like “Public Relations Officer”, “Communications Director”, “Press liaison”, “Spokesperson” and what not. Here is an example of how the MPAA planned to organized a propaganda campaign against Google (because Google searches enabled people to find copyrighted material): “Media: We want to make sure that the media is at the NAAG meeting. We propose working with MPAA (Vans), Comcast, and NewsCorp (Bill Guidera)…

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The Fairness Doctrine never applied to cable TV

The Fairness Doctrine never applied to cable TV

TL;DR Summary A long time ago, there was a law known as the Fairness Doctrine that required over the air broadcast stations to give equal time to different perspectives, typically meaning left versus right on political topics. This rule applied only to over the air broadcasters and never applied to cable television “broadcasters” who do not use the over the air spectrum. This propaganda poster asserts that Fox News came about because Reagan vetoed a bill to re-instate the already…

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Mrs Thompson and the boy named Teddy

Mrs Thompson and the boy named Teddy

TL;DR Summary Glurge: A touching tale about a troubled boy named Teddy Stoddard and the teacher who turned his life around. Source: Teddy Stoddard : snopes.com Of course, many great teachers have big influences on their students. As a work of fiction, this is a great story (click through the link to read it). Sharing it as a cute work of fiction is fine, but we have not seen it shared that way! But why share it as if it…

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Part 6: Paying for Denmark’s Free Health Care

Part 6: Paying for Denmark’s Free Health Care

TL; DR Summary Part 1: Denmark is the world’s happiest nation because of the following reasons (Not true) Part 2: Denmark has a $20/hour minimum wage (No, it does not). Part 3: Denmark has a 33 hour work week (No, it does not) Part 4: Denmark has Free University ? Yes but read why – it’s not why you think) Part 5: Denmark has Free Childcare? No, it does not – this claim is a lie). Part 6: Denmark has…

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About 60% of headlines on social media are not clicked, meaning the headline is the message

About 60% of headlines on social media are not clicked, meaning the headline is the message

Key points about social media (and how this applies to the dissemination of propaganda) from peer reviewed research: Information is shared rapidly on social media, most of it within just a few hours of it first appearing online Information that is shared on social media continues to live for a long time, generating subsequent click thrus for days and weeks in to the future. Information shared on social media is long lived – that is, generates click throughs back to…

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Profit behind social media fake news and propaganda

Profit behind social media fake news and propaganda

Banning fake-news sites doesn’t address the real problem: Social-media companies make big money off lies and hate. Source: Fake News and Online Harassment Are More Than Social Media Byproducts—They’re Powerful Profit Drivers This is a good article and catches up with where we were a year ago! But like all articles on the topic, this one also leaves out mention of perhaps the largest for profit, online social-media based fake news publisher (nearly 4.8 million Facebook subscribers). I’ve mentioned them…

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Up to 76% of hiring managers profile job candidates on social media

Up to 76% of hiring managers profile job candidates on social media

Be careful about what you post online. Up to 76% of hiring managers review the social media posts of job applicants: Hiring managers in information technology and sales are the most likely to use social networks to screen candidates; professional and business services were least likely. IT: 76 percent Sales: 65 percent Financial services: 61 percent Health care: 59 percent Retail: 59 percent Manufacturing: 56 percent Professional and business services: 55 percent Source: Number of Employers Using Social Media to…

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Man behind “alt right” fake news sites is registered Democrat

Man behind “alt right” fake news sites is registered Democrat

As this blog pointed out long ago, its all about money. There are right wing sites published by left wing authors and left wing sites published by right wing authors. The goal is to hook the target’s emotions, encouraging Likes, Shares and more click throughs to generate ad revenue. In this case, some of the best known “alt right” fake news was produced by a registered Democrat, political scientist and self admitted liberal: Coler is a soft-spoken 40-year-old with a…

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Too complicated, TL;DR. Way too detailed.

Too complicated, TL;DR. Way too detailed.

TL; DR Summary If you need to spend more than 5-10 seconds to gather the propaganda message, then the message is a failure. This poster is a big failure. This poster originates from a right-wing leaning group. It’s propaganda method is basically to present lots of facts. In terms of effectiveness, this poster is awful. Far too detailed, far too complex, way too much tiny print. Nearly impossible to figure out the message.