The "pseudo-environment" Lippmann described hasn’t disappeared - it's become even more personal. Instead of one distorted but stable media landscape, we now have millions of competing and conflicting ones, each tailored to our own biases and engagement patterns. - ThreadSky

eliothiggins.bsky.social • 14 days ago

The "pseudo-environment" Lippmann described hasn’t disappeared - it's become even more personal. Instead of one distorted but stable media landscape, we now have millions of competing and conflicting ones, each tailored to our own biases and engagement patterns.

Comments

mesmerizedbyyangon.bsky.social•14 days ago

You want the distortions of the establishment because it was 'stable'? To be manipulated 'stably' is better than our having a hand in shaping our world? Really!?

eliothiggins.bsky.social•14 days ago

Online communities reinforce our beliefs instead of challenging them. We surround ourselves with people who think like us, and algorithms show us content that confirms what we already believe. This makes misinformation, disinformation, and manipulation far more effective than in Lippmann’s time.

lostindisco.bsky.social•14 days ago

@skyview.social unroll

mesmerizedbyyangon.bsky.social•14 days ago

...& before we created our communities we challenged our beliefs? We didn't create biased bubbles before?

Delusional!

islandofreil.bsky.social•14 days ago

On the other hand, online communities also give marginalized people a respite from the consensus that they're something inherently wrong with them and society is correct to mistreat them

capemaydave.bsky.social•14 days ago

https://bsky.app/profile/capemaydave.bsky.social/post/3lirvwyxctk2m

paulgowder.bsky.social•14 days ago

Yeah, folks who study propaganda like @lageneralista.ca are very on top of this

lageneralista.ca•14 days ago

Funny, I was just reading this thread and thinking - that every quote from Lippmann is in my book.

acetrace.bsky.social•14 days ago

This whole thread lays it out like it’s inevitable.

acetrace.bsky.social•14 days ago

How much power do algorithms really have? Do you fight fire with fire or try to legislate them to disable them?

eliothiggins.bsky.social•14 days ago

If you’re in a community that believes federal workers are lazy and corrupt, every piece of content you see will reinforce that idea. Dissenting views won’t even enter your feed. And because social media rewards engagement, the most extreme, emotionally charged narratives spread the fastest.

ianinspen.bsky.social•14 days ago

This kind of critique of social media and the way news is shaping our thoughts has been examined since before those platforms have the hold they do today.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1464884919901194

mikefunnell.bsky.social•13 days ago

Almost everyone who thinks this will know someone who works for the government. They’ll be all “but not Mary” and “not Fred” - but Elon’s incel army will purge Mary and Fred anyway 🙄

interestedcitizen.bsky.social•13 days ago

👀

85brettnolan15.bsky.social•14 days ago

I would disagree a bit. On facebook, i started blocking right wing profiles en masse. It works for a couple of days then they come back, multiplied to the point that almost every single post on my feed is right wing shit. So, either the algorithm doesn't work, or it's purposely skewed

illimij.bsky.social•13 days ago

This happened to me. I had to delete FB. It was actively harmful to me.

85brettnolan15.bsky.social•13 days ago

Yep. I'm trying to leave it. I have a few more of my contacts i want to reach out to first.

eliothiggins.bsky.social•14 days ago

Which brings us to Trump and Musk. Their attack on the federal workforce isn’t just about cutting costs - it's shaped by the same fragmented information bubbles they exist in. They don’t just push the narrative that government workers are an enemy class. They genuinely believe it.

ropetr.bsky.social•14 days ago

It’s not that they are an enemy class- purging them allows loyalists to be brought in, and purging them and anything they can cut or don’t understand allows them to get the major tax cut that they want to give themselves.

ropetr.bsky.social•14 days ago

The goal is power and money, and to eliminate the possibility of jail time for any of them. It will be interesting as to how far the Robert’s Supreme Court is willing to go. Prolly farther than we expect.

panicatthedogpark.bsky.social•14 days ago

This is a great thread, but I have to differ. It has been well documented that Trump believes nothing. He spouts off whatever other people tell him in pursuit of power and spite. Musk probably does believe most of his shit, but his real goal is complete power—anything that gets him there is fine.

leftinfighter.bsky.social•13 days ago

Lying successfully still requires at least a partial belief in the lie.

panicatthedogpark.bsky.social•13 days ago

I highly recommend Harry Frankfurt’s “On Bullshit.” He points out very specific differences between lies and bullshit—and the difference between those who emit each. While he comes at it from an ethical standpoint, the characteristics of bullshitters also define narcissist & sociopathic disorders.

ellevonhee.bsky.social•14 days ago

I don't know that they genuinely believe it (no one will ever know b/c none of us = mindreaders). They don't need to, though. As someone with an MA in Comms from a school in DC where GOP classmates acknowledged lying was a tool, two things to share to help explain-- https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161026-how-liars-create-the-illusion-of-truth

leftinfighter.bsky.social•13 days ago

They believe it

ellevonhee.bsky.social•14 days ago

Their personal professional histories suggest otherwise. I also happened to grow up 45 mins from Atlantic City; Trump was *always* a con. As a prof'l marketer, Musk has always been smoke & mirrors (like many marketers and sales ppl). https://bsky.app/profile/benjaminthomas.bsky.social/post/3liebd6upc22w

margiestewart.bsky.social•14 days ago

I hear you, but I don’t think they believe it as much as they sense that acting like they believe gives them immense power. They’re master manipulators. The far-right true believers follow them because they do truly believe it.

eliothiggins.bsky.social•14 days ago

For years, the right has framed the federal government as an obstacle to conservative power. The 'deep state' narrative took root, casting civil servants as unelected elites working against the will of the people. Now, Musk and Trump are taking that idea to its logical extreme.

esmewrites.bsky.social•14 days ago

in a weird twist, an unelected elite is turning on the civil servants that they blame/call deep state

rowyourbot.bsky.social•14 days ago

The civil service was created and supported through a democratic process. The legislature voted for these agencies, and their funding via constitutional methods. They are now bypassing all of this, and in the process destroying our constitutional democracy.

kevinbarron.bsky.social•14 days ago

It’s far worse than antipathy towards the “deep state” - it’s the destruction of democracy and replacing it with extreme technocracy.

https://www.notesfromthecircus.com/p/the-plot-against-america

irmagooddoggie.bsky.social•14 days ago

📌🇺🇸

thesomies.bsky.social•14 days ago

Renee DiResta wrote a terrific book on this (Invisible Rulers) that discusses Public Opinion.

beckyvt.bsky.social•14 days ago

She had posted about her book earlier, and your mention of it gave me the impetus to find it and read a free sample. It's really good and I think well written. I will get a copy. Thanks.

abutterw.bsky.social•13 days ago

What level of involvement have foreign actors played in shaping these echo chambers? Did they evolve organically and coincidentally align with Russian narratives?

cognavia.bsky.social•14 days ago

redheadshavenosoul.bsky.social•14 days ago

How do we fix this issue, and how do we avoid falling for false narratives?

davidcorbett.bsky.social•14 days ago

Try to find information outlets that at least on occasion publish stuff you disagree with but do so in a responsible, articulate and well-reasoned way. I subscribe to Yascha Mounk's Persuasion--sometimes the contributors drive me crazy, sometimes I almost cheer, but they always make me think.

knittergamer.bsky.social•14 days ago

By forming their own Deep State

gandelf64.bsky.social•12 days ago

It might be known as the "shallow state".... after the swamp was drained

eliothiggins.bsky.social•14 days ago

DOGE isn’t just about government efficiency - it’s about purging federal agencies of workers who won’t fall in line. By mass-firing employees and forcing them to prove their worth, they’re reshaping the government into an institution that only serves those in power.

kbkorb.bsky.social•14 days ago

DOGIE isn't 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 about government efficiency, since you don't gain efficiency by firing essential workers.

symbo1ics.bsky.social•12 days ago

That word "just" doesn't belong there. Every action those fools take causes extravagant waste and failure, and that's part of the plan.

panicatthedogpark.bsky.social•14 days ago

DOGE is not about efficiency or cost cutting. No “just” about it. That’s just comfort food for anti-gov conservatives. The point is *only* chaos and destruction so he can have it all.

mrbabalu.bsky.social•14 days ago

If people are entitled to bodily security, aren’t they also entitled to a form of epistemic integrity?

chrismcclinch.bsky.social•14 days ago

It isn't about government efficiency AT ALL. It's about terrorizing the civil service into submission.

petruscrinitus.bsky.social•14 days ago

Gleichschaltung

rockmondo.bsky.social•14 days ago

More on this, slightly different spin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPmg0R1M04&t=15s&pp=ygUTY2VudHVyeSBvZiB0aGUgc2VsZg%3D%3D

eliothiggins.bsky.social•14 days ago

And because people’s opinions on this are shaped by social media pseudo-environments, they don’t see this as an attack on democracy. They see it as necessary. Their feeds are filled with posts reinforcing the idea that federal workers are dead weight, so they accept the purge.

guyboertje.bsky.social•14 days ago

Voters vote according to their emotions and values, which are not suddenly altered by rational arguments. Our values are 'trained' by our life experiences. SM influence is one set of experiences in our environment. But something occurs to our values before making us susceptible to SM influence.

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply