Outrage sells and no one knows that better than those taking full advantage of your outrage to profit directly. It’s never been a secret that content that evokes strong emotions is going to drive more engagement, but outrage is perhaps the most active one of all. A
Maybe the solution is to pass everything through the AI-Powered algorithm to add an irremovable sticker to any message, post, or media piece (like currently used age ratings). Then we will have to admit that the warning was there.
The commercialization of hate has become a more significant and dangerous problem since the widespread use of the "fake news" label. In the past, cognitive dissonance served as a corrective force in our culture. When people were confronted with evidence that contradicted their core beliefs, they would have to either deny it or change their beliefs to conform to the new reality. However, since any information can now be dismissed as "fake news," this corrective force is significantly weakened.
We live in a post-truth world, which feels like navigating a minefield. Moreover, outrage fatigue is a real issue. People who would otherwise push back against racism and xenophobia have grown weary and left the playing field.
It's worth noting that both extreme right and extreme left news outlets engage in disinformation and information manipulation to keep their audience angry and emotionally invested. This, in turn, enables them to sell ads at a premium. However, the far right and far left are not the same. The far right uses outright lies, whereas the far left selectively presents the truth.
You wrote, "Part of the trouble with the social platforms is that influential accounts use them primarily to broadcast or speak, rather than listen or engage."
Absolutely!!
As a content creator and user, I feel like I go out of my way to engage with people's work, like leaving comments such as this one, and I encourage people to engage with mine. In fact, I feel like, collectively, we are really failing to manifest the real power of social media which is to connect more with each other and support each other more by bouncing ideas from brain to brain and seeing if they gel into something beneficial.
Anyway, excellent piece! Interestingly, I ended up writing my latest blog about a similar topic---how can we creators contribute to cleaning up the polluted Information Ocean?
What you are proposing is critical thinking...something that is not taught in schools and something that most people are too lazy to accomplish! It requires educating oneself to both sides of the argument and empathy for the other side of the argument. Unfortunately main stream media and social media are more concerned about number of clicks and followers. I’m sad for our society and not very hopeful that we will be able to correct course and become accepting and respectful of all points of view.
I was absolutely enraged by Abbott calling murder victims "illegal". Wonder why my reaction was extremely strong?
your article - https://open.substack.com/pub/randomminds/p/industrial-outrage-complex?
Also, Kate, would you consider to “restack”
🤗👏, if only one could follow himself...
Maybe the solution is to pass everything through the AI-Powered algorithm to add an irremovable sticker to any message, post, or media piece (like currently used age ratings). Then we will have to admit that the warning was there.
The commercialization of hate has become a more significant and dangerous problem since the widespread use of the "fake news" label. In the past, cognitive dissonance served as a corrective force in our culture. When people were confronted with evidence that contradicted their core beliefs, they would have to either deny it or change their beliefs to conform to the new reality. However, since any information can now be dismissed as "fake news," this corrective force is significantly weakened.
We live in a post-truth world, which feels like navigating a minefield. Moreover, outrage fatigue is a real issue. People who would otherwise push back against racism and xenophobia have grown weary and left the playing field.
It's worth noting that both extreme right and extreme left news outlets engage in disinformation and information manipulation to keep their audience angry and emotionally invested. This, in turn, enables them to sell ads at a premium. However, the far right and far left are not the same. The far right uses outright lies, whereas the far left selectively presents the truth.
You wrote, "Part of the trouble with the social platforms is that influential accounts use them primarily to broadcast or speak, rather than listen or engage."
Absolutely!!
As a content creator and user, I feel like I go out of my way to engage with people's work, like leaving comments such as this one, and I encourage people to engage with mine. In fact, I feel like, collectively, we are really failing to manifest the real power of social media which is to connect more with each other and support each other more by bouncing ideas from brain to brain and seeing if they gel into something beneficial.
Anyway, excellent piece! Interestingly, I ended up writing my latest blog about a similar topic---how can we creators contribute to cleaning up the polluted Information Ocean?
What you are proposing is critical thinking...something that is not taught in schools and something that most people are too lazy to accomplish! It requires educating oneself to both sides of the argument and empathy for the other side of the argument. Unfortunately main stream media and social media are more concerned about number of clicks and followers. I’m sad for our society and not very hopeful that we will be able to correct course and become accepting and respectful of all points of view.