The viral social media propaganda poster that started this web site
Blast from the past: the social media propaganda poster that led to the birth of this blog and web site.
Just so you know, using a period in a sentence is a sign of aggression “.”
To the perpetually outraged, using a period at the end of a statement is now considered a form of aggression “.”
One guy creates viral social media hoaxes, stirring up the right-wing
Like duh! “…in an era of heightened sensitivity about disinformation campaigns carried out by foreign nations, bad-faith actors with far fewer resources can also manipulate public discourse and affect events in the real world.”
Facebook: All Your Data Is Still Belong to Us :)
Facebook had another oopsie, letting 5,000 app developers continue to have access to user data they should not have had access to.
“Doomscrolling Is Slowly Eroding Your Mental Health”
In the midst of an ineptly managed pandemic and ineptly managed civil unrest and economic fiasco people try to make sense of it by reading everything they can. Scrolling through post and news story after news story is called “doomscrolling” and it destroys your mental health. Sadly, much of the bull shit is not from random social media posts but from actual experts who spew nonsense.
Revisiting an old topic: “How White Supremacists incited panic and fear using social media propaganda at the University of Missouri – Social Panic”
Back in 2016, fake social media posts from fake social media accounts were used to incite fear and hysteria, with attempts to start riots. I documented this in detail back in 2016.
Today we again have fake social media posts being used to incite violence, looting, arson and anarchy – none of which leads to productive solutions to bona fide injustices and societal problems. Social media is playing a central role in this non-productive destruction of our society – and is not providing a platform for problem resolution.
A social media meme has been modified with numbers, because numbers make it more convincing
An Internet meme propaganda poster appears to contain false percentage data.
Journalism: Does a coronavirus test cost $3,270? No, it does not.
A new report with a poorly written headline has been interpreted as the cost of a Covid19 (coronavirus) test is $3,270. In fact, the CDC is not charging for their diagnostic tests. However, this meme has taken off on social media – that a test costs $3,270 – and this claim, in turn, is used for propaganda messaging on a variety of political and health topics.
Social media: A tweet that caused a brain seizure
An appalling sick individual sent a flashing GIF pattern to a person with epilepsy, causing an epileptic brain seizure with long term after effects. The true weaponization of social media. The perpetrator is expected to plead guilty to aggravated assault. Sadly, others have used this method to target even more victims. Absolutely disgusting, appalling and sick.
Journalism: The first “message” received is the one remembered, even if later proven as false.
Reports of a polar bear spray painted with “T-34” on its side were greatly exaggerated. The tagging was done by scientists, not pranksters. The bear had been rummaging a garbage dump and scientists wanted to see if it was returning. They tagged it with a short duration ink; this was not graffiti by pranksters as initially reported. Typical of this type of report, the original source for the video was unknown, the back story was unknown, and the video was shared on social media by an environmental activist. Media then used social media as a primary source. What could possibly go wrong?