The Power of Social Media
I believe that social media is driving all decision making across the world, it certainly is in the UK. Those that control the social media companies are setting the agenda and are subtly and not so subtly controlling the narrative and ultimately what actions governments take on the back of public opinion, which has been manipulated.
Social media in my opinion is having such a massive and powerful impact on the ‘narrative of everything’ and on how we now operate as a species in the third decade of the 21st century, so let’s discuss it.
Question, how long has it been since social media been around, and the answer is, forever. People have always talked to people, gossiping, and criticizing as we do, this is just human nature. So, what happened to change it? And you all know this, the world changed in 2004 when a fresh-faced geek in the US by the name of Mark Zuckerberg popularised a social media platform for the internet. And that is the date when everything changed. Roll on 16 years and what has evolved, and again you know the answer.
Consequences of social media as we know it in 2020
Your individual algorithm has been created through your social media activities, shopping and purchasing, viewing in general, (including all those dodgy sites you may choose to check out), and including all your friends. Bottom line here is that your algorithm knows you better than you do, because you might forget, your algorithm never will.
What is the most valuable asset in the world? Your data and the best bit, you have given it away for free and have given permission to companies who want to sell you stuff, or manipulate you in different and subtle ways, which we will talk about later.
Our attention spans have shortened dramatically
We have become angrier and less tolerant and fundamentally more divided
We will post on social media without impunity, i.e. Do not say anything on social media you would not say to someone’s face. But we do it all the time, hence fuelling 4 above
All this is subliminally affecting your perceptions, i.e. you do not even know it is happening to you
It is closing down free speech, with the two new words and phrases that have been added to the 2020 social media lexicon, ‘Woke’ and ‘Cancel culture’.
That is a quick overview of how I see social media has insidiously infected society in the third decade of the 21st century and if you do not realise the above you have not been paying attention. Now, let’s go one level deeper.
So, the question now becomes, now we have everyone’s algorithm can we use this information to subtly manipulate people in making decisions other than just purchasing a new Dyson? And this is the scary bit. And this is where I am in speculation mode. I am not a scientist and I do not know what is going on in the psychological departments of Facebook et al. Just allow me to put a few things out there.
Your data
OK then, you have my information, what could you do with my information that I may not be aware of, or would have not considered for even a second? And the simple answer is, virtually anything.
No Peter, you are wrong, why would they want to manipulate you? It called power and control, (the flaw in the human psyche), as was always the case, it just so happens the technology is now available to do it very very subtly indeed without you even knowing it is happening, a very vicious circle we have locked ourselves into. The keys have now been turned on you.
So, the bottom line here is, whoever controls the social media companies controls you. When you put this into words it is quite a logical process. In 16 years, the course of human perception has been changed; we are being subtly manipulated ever second in my opinion. To know this is happening is the first step to taking back control on your journey to enlightenment.
Fear
Social media has driven the narrative for this pandemic. Why was the lockdown so successful? Because of fear, fear that was spread at warp speed through every social media channel. The Facebook memes drove all mainstream media. The mainstream media who we should expect to challenge the narrative are but a mouthpiece of government. Look behind the global media corporations, BBC, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox et al and ask, who is pulling their strings? They all seem to trot out the same narrative, where is the investigative journalism? The media is so sanitized and so on script that I find it too hard to watch. So, mass media (all social media plus all mainstream media) now creates the agenda. All governments, all intelligence agencies, all corporations know this.
This is the saddest thing in my opinion, in that in a time of global information and communication, (like never before), instead of becoming more enlightened and conscious human beings we have become less tolerant, more aggressive and less conscious. This should not be the case - you would expect with more knowledge that we should be more tolerant and accepting of other people’s opinions. I would also suggest that if we are more knowledgeable, we should be also be happier and more content. The very opposite has happened, and this is something we should all be very worried about.
Manipulation of perception
I am putting this change down to social media and how our perceptions are being subtly manipulated through the algorithms that are now controlling us. Why is it that we can no longer accept that other people will have their own opinions that just may differ from ours, so what? That is called healthy debate in my opinion and is a fundamental right of the individual. Why is it then we now must shout down and shut down other people who are not deemed to be following the mainstream (therefore correct) narrative?
If you do not agree with the narrative, (and in the case of the pandemic, what is decreed by the WHO), your posts are taken down from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, et al, you many have had the experience. We now have a new name for this, it is called, ‘Cancel culture’. This is happening now across all social media. Social media is being censored massively now, by those who are dictating the narrative. Do you realise this, even though it is not even subtle and we the masses are accepting this?
This is fundamental to our basic human right to freedom of speech and this is very serious. You have just lost your right to free speech in 2020 and this is the precursor to censorship of everything, all controlled by the people who sit behind the media corporations. This is one of the main tenets of the Orwellian dystopia that awaits us all. As a species, homo-sapiens are “sleepwalking to extinction”, if we fail to take back control of our lives.