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Fearmongering is a tool used by people to manipulate you to think or act in a certain manner that is beneficial to them or a cause they support. While you can't necessarily prove it is happening, I believe it probably happens a lot more than we think, especially on anonymous social media sites where people exploit opportunities to have you believe they are more knowledgeable than you on a particular subject. Since it's so difficult to detect, it's difficult to combat. You don't know what a person's motives are, and it's darn near impossible to prove that they are up to something. So what can you do to resist and fight back, outside of not participating altogether?
Last edited by Sir Quotes A Lot; 04-01-2019 at 03:35 PM..
Fearmongering is a tool used by people to manipulate you to think or act in a certain manner that is beneficial to them or a cause they support. While you can't necessarily prove it is happening, I believe it probably happens a lot more than we think, especially on anonymous social media sites where people exploit opportunities to have you believe they are more knowledgeable than you on a particular subject. Since it's so difficult to detect, it's difficult to combat. You don't know what a person's motives are, and it's darn near impossible to prove that they are up to something. So what can you do to resist and fight back, outside of not participating altogether?
It's really not that difficult to detect.
You know network TV "news" shows are going to promote it because it generates viewers. That's really all they care about. So yes, avoid those.
Remember that the stuff that receives the greatest attention is not always the biggest threat. TV and video channels will show a compelling video of an incident that, while interesting, is not necessarily news. But they play to the rubbernecking, sensationalized motivations of viewers.
I had a professor that would say the way to best evaluate whether something is news or propaganda is to look at the pictures. If there are NO photos, it's more likely to be a serious news item. Neutral pix? OK. Very emotional photos or "shocking video"? Tips the scales to the propaganda side.
If you're looking at websites, check the source, the dates, the domain, the writing style and even the site design.
Overall, if a source appears to be using exaggerated or extreme language, it's probably not credible.
You know network TV "news" shows are going to promote it because it generates viewers. That's really all they care about. So yes, avoid those.
Remember that the stuff that receives the greatest attention is not always the biggest threat. TV and video channels will show a compelling video of an incident that, while interesting, is not necessarily news. But they play to the rubbernecking, sensationalized motivations of viewers.
I had a professor that would say the way to best evaluate whether something is news or propaganda is to look at the pictures. If there are NO photos, it's more likely to be a serious news item. Neutral pix? OK. Very emotional photos or "shocking video"? Tips the scales to the propaganda side.
If you're looking at websites, check the source, the dates, the domain, the writing style and even the site design.
Overall, if a source appears to be using exaggerated or extreme language, it's probably not credible.
I'm referring to people on social media sites who do this. Lots of these anonymous poster websites are prone to social engineering attempts. And one of the most common tools used is fearmongering (aka trying to manipulate people into behaving a certain way that is amenable to the perpetrator). I believe this happens quite a bit, and, while you can call 'nonsense', there's not much else you can seemingly do, at least that I'm aware of.
I'm referring to people on social media sites who do this. Lots of these anonymous poster websites are prone to social engineering attempts. And one of the most common tools used is fearmongering (aka trying to manipulate people into behaving a certain way that is amenable to the perpetrator). I believe this happens quite a bit, and, while you can call 'nonsense', there's not much else you can seemingly do, at least that I'm aware of.
Of course there is! It's how I survived the election. It's also related to my job, so it's quite easy for me to "call nonsense."
You begin to learn which of your FB friends promotes this kind of crap. And all you have to do is click the
little dots on the post and "block all posts from XXXX site."
You also can unfollow that person if that's mostly what they share.
When you see posts that look like they're from an actual news site, check to see if it comes from a weird URL.
Does the headline match the article info?
Is there inflammatory, biased or shocking vocabulary in the headline?
Does it cite primary sources?
What happens when you Google the topic?
Is only one news outlet reporting it?
Can you trace the quotes?
Just engage your inner skeptic, and check things before you share them.
Of course there is! It's how I survived the election. It's also related to my job, so it's quite easy for me to "call nonsense."
You begin to learn which of your FB friends promotes this kind of crap. And all you have to do is click the
little dots on the post and "block all posts from XXXX site."
You also can unfollow that person if that's mostly what they share.
When you see posts that look like they're from an actual news site, check to see if it comes from a weird URL.
Does the headline match the article info?
Is there inflammatory, biased or shocking vocabulary in the headline?
Does it cite primary sources?
What happens when you Google the topic?
Is only one news outlet reporting it?
Can you trace the quotes?
Just engage your inner skeptic, and check things before you share them.
Sadly, it's not me I'm worried about. There are a lot of useful idiots out there that are susceptible to this sort of thing, and it's those people who tend to latch on to these ideas. Flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, MLMers, etc.; these people are out there and spreading.
But hard, provable sciences aside, there are those people who want you to be afraid of behaving a certain way that enables them to behave in their own (usually unsavory) way. In other words, they may not want you to be bold enough to stand up to certain unethical behavior so that it allows them more free range to behave this way with little fear of repercussions. So they make a bunch of implicit threats about how your behavior (i.e. of reporting the unethical behavior) will come back to haunt you down the road so that you're ultimately afraid to stand up for what is right. That's the fearmongering I'm talking about, and it happens a lot on forums like this, or reddit, or basically any other place where people/bots/shills post anonymously.
I suppose you can ignore these people, as you stated above. But how do you combat the misinformation from spreading to those who may not be as in tune with their 'inner skeptic'?
I suppose you can ignore these people, as you stated above. But how do you combat the misinformation from spreading to those who may not be as in tune with their 'inner skeptic'?
You can't, really.
You could try to be that person who posts, "Sally, I wanted to be sure you know this information isn't correct …" and post an accompanying link.
But in my experience, the people who are naïve/close-minded enough to post that stuff won't be swayed by your efforts anyway.
I have a semi-rule that the more adverbs and adjectives used in a "news source", the more I roll my eyes. And I've said it before, JUST because someone says something in a declaritive sentence doesn't mean they know what they're talking about.
Shills promoting fear/control/influence ideas are just a subset of marketing. It's only a matter of degree as to whether you are being browbeaten into a political stance or the next $1,000 smartphone or any equivalent.
What's rarely considered, except in the case of shills for topics already ruled to be moral/ethical, is the morality and ethicality of coercing someone's actions, be it for a political stance or a brand of peanut butter. Those who argue they are immune to advertising etc. have no leg to stand on when complaining about, say, white nationalism posts in their social media.
Very true summary. A tremendous amount of psychology goes into the information we get exposed to regularly. It is intentionally done slowly to ensure the issuer gets the most value for their dollar. It is not necessarily being disguised either. To validate my statement - do not watch network/cable tv commercials or news for at least one week, two is best. You can watch shows, no commercials or news. This sets up the demonstration to show how your mind works.
After the one or two weeks of no network/cable tv go ahead and watch commercials and news. You should notice that both commercials and news are very annoying. They were painful to watch and that convinced me how useful they were to the advertisers and news media.
Begin thinking that "everything is a lie" and break down the pieces. Do not trust anyone and you will save yourself a lot of grief.
Your mainstream media are the shills. American propaganda is dependent on them & they are bought & paid for.
What do the people posting anonymously on social media sites have to gain if you were to side with them? Who stands to lose if you were to side with them?
People will tell you to just “follow the money”, which is inherently true but there is one thing that will supersede that: People are more likely to lie if there is more to be lost than there is to be gained. Since this is a Democracy; loss of public support can sometimes be the highest priority.
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