Political polls are often a form of propaganda messaging. However, the propaganda connection is not the purpose of this post. UPDATE Nov 10 2016: The campaign polls were severely wrong, so wrong that they might have been part of propaganda messaging – or their failure may result from the pollsters and media being off in their own worlds, out-of-touch with real people. In essence, the pollsters and media may have become the “elite” that view the rest of the country as the…
TL;DR Summary This photo is spreading today (August 7, 2016) on Twitter and Facebook and purportedly is a contemporary photo of Hillary Clinton requiring assistance to go up a flight of stairs. Reality: The photo is from February 2016 when she slipped on the stairs and was grabbed by aides to prevent a fall. Once posted on social media, this was shared, liked and re-tweeted, with no one asking the obvious questions about time frame, location or verification of the subject. This…
The petition that was supposedly blasting through 3 million signatures 3 days after the Brexit vote, is acknowledged to have been filled with fraudulent signatures added by bots. Source: EXCLUSIVE: Brexit ‘2nd Referendum Petition’ A 4 Chan Prank: BBC Report It As Real | Heat Street The BBC has updated their news report to indicate the petition may contain “suspicious activity” and that fraudulently added signatures have been identified. Fake news runs rampant thanks to social media enabling anyone and everyone to become…
I have no idea if Trump is a master propagandist but Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams thinks Trump is highly effective at using the methods of persuasion. Propaganda is a set of methods for persuading others to adopt an action (in this case, vote for Trump): SCOTT ADAMS: I’ve been studying persuasion for decades and when I saw Trump last summer displaying the tools of persuasion I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s not a crazy clown. Everything he’s doing, including his…
Groups opposed to some U.S. immigration programs claim Facebook has suppressed their content and visibility of their groups. These allegation, if true, could be due to algorithm design errors or deliberate. Either way, these allegations illustrate the potential of social media propaganda:
TL;DR Summary In 2011, Bernie Sanders spoke forcefully against a free trade agreement with Panama because Panama operates as a tax haven with secret bank accounts. True-Sanders did speak forcefully against the PFTA. True-Panama does have low corporate tax rates, tax havens and banking secrecy. This is an effective propaganda poster (video) because it is topical, makes good use of facts (not false assertions or logical fallacies), and is conveyed simply and directly. It is also unusual for a propaganda…
TL;DR Summary Poster suggests that Hillary Clinton is advocating the same policies as Adolf Hitler by pairing up alleged quotes from both. There is no evidence that Clinton said this. The quote comes from a book whose author admits he made up quotes. The goal is to transfer one’s dislike for Hitler to Clinton via logical fallacy.
TL;DR Summary This poster was widely distributed on social media propaganda web sites, often in conjunction with Bernie Sanders statement that he would like 4 years of college to be free for everyone. All other states should follow Oregon’s lead, they said. Based on the comments to this poster, as it circulated, most everyone who saw this believed it applied to everyone in Oregon, at any college. Alas, the poster asserts something that is not true.
TL;DR Summary False quote posters, like this one, appear every day on social media, for and against numerous topics and politicians. Snopes says the quote is completely false. FactCheck.org says the quote is false. These posters work because they convey what the poster wants to believe-if you believe it to be true, than it must be true! (Indeed! I linked to Snopes in a reply to the person who posted this and he replied that he would leave it up…
TL;DR Summary False quote posters, like this one, appear every day on social media, for and against numerous topics and politicians. Snopes says the quote is completely false. FactCheck.org says the quote is false. These posters work because they convey what the poster wants to believe-if you believe it to be true, than it must be true! (Indeed! I linked to Snopes in a reply to the person who posted this and he replied that he would leave it up…