As I discussed in last week’s post, our problem is that that social media is becoming more and more sophisticated in its ability to attract our attention and change our way of thinking. A not-so-ridiculous example:
“Lizard People” are a True Phenomenon
According to Wikipedia, the Lizard People are “shape-shifting reptilian aliens who control Earth by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate human societies.” Very scary, if rather obviously Sci-Fi. But for people who have such a jaundiced view of their control over their own lives that they need to believe that something is controlling us, social media sees their interest and keeps feeding them more “news” about the lizards until they really believe!
Making this worse, the other use of a reptilian concept comes from real science. The “lizard brain” is the very primitive part of the brain stem “in charge of fight, flight, feeding, fear, freezing up, and fornication.” (Psychology Today)
Unfortunately, this powerful part of your brain is where addiction occurs.
So if you’re afraid that an alien lizard is controlling your life, you could be right. It’s just that it’s inside you. Now, that’s scary.
Changing Technology
There’s nothing new, here, except the sophistication of the media. As long as you know you’re being manipulated, you can fight it.
We’ve already been through this. Television ads are much more forceful than radio ads. Remember the “subliminal advertising” scare of the 1970s? Messages written on the foreheads of sexy models on magazine pages. Single frames of drink brands in movies to make the patrons buy them at intermission.
What happened to this panic? Well, I gather it didn’t really work very well, and the fear of being outed as a high-tech manipulator scared most advertisers off. Either that or they got really good at it to the point that we can’t recognize it anymore, and it is now part of the deep state that is controlling us all. Your choice.
These Aren’t the Only Attacks
As we are all aware, we are constantly under attack from scammers who want to sell or cheat us, and identity thieves that want our data. We have already developed techniques for dealing with these attacks:
- Hang up. You’re not forced to listen to a stranger making a cold call.
- Don’t use any information they give you. This is the big one. Don’t call a phone number they give you. Don’t click on a link they give you. If VISA calls, hang up and call VISA on your emergency number.
- Always be skeptical. Assume that most social media information has ulterior motives. Practise figuring out what they are.
It’s the same with social media “Newsfeeds.” When Facebook offers you a bunch of video clips to watch, consciously categorize each one before you open it, and as you are watching it.
Propaganda
If the material you’re watching is only there to sell you a product, we already have built-in learned responses to protect us. Never buy a car, a vacation home or a vacuum cleaner on the same day. Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry. Hype is pretty obvious, so don’t fall for it.
However, the more insidious persuasion is meant to change our minds about ideas, and we call this propaganda: “Information used to promote or publicize a particular cause or point of view.” Usually used with a negative, usually political, slant. As in “I’m trying to persuade people to believe the truth, but you’re using propaganda to argue against me.” Not much different from the attitude of many religions, especially the Abrahamic ones; “My religion is the true one. All the others are just superstitions.”
So you really have to watch out for propaganda, especially when it comes from your side of the political spectrum. The documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” is heavy-duty propaganda. The fact that you and I believe that it’s mostly true doesn’t take away from that fact. For example, the highly emotional and completely fictional vignettes of the politically-correct blended family fighting social media addiction is solely there to spur our emotions.
This post is propaganda. I’m trying to help you (or maybe persuade you) to take action to protect yourself against social media manipulation. Pretty sneaky, hey?
Here’s how to do it.
Meta Thinking
This just means keeping in mind what’s happening in the background. We have a part of our mind called the superego that does this all the time. It sits on our shoulder and says, “Oops, that didn’t come out right” when we make a social mistake. It tells us “It’s only a movie” in the scary parts.
Use that skill as you surf. “Why have these people targeted me? What techniques are they using on me? Does that image really apply to the concept, or is it just there to invoke an emotional reaction?” It’s this conscious regard of what you are watching that will save you. Don’t jump wholeheartedly into any idea until you have thought about what you’re thinking about and where you got the idea. Keep asking yourself, “Is this propaganda?”
Make Your Own Choices
Don’t go where they send you. Look for your own entertainment/information. Don’t watch the video YouTube flashes up for you. And do your friends a favour; before you share, fact check.
For the Kids
This is a technique children do not do automatically and have to be trained for. I’m sure you talk to your kids about TV ads. Do the same for the video games they play, the lyrics of the music they listen to, the TV shows they watch. Other ideas?
- Devices out of the bedroom at a specific time every night. If they want to cheat on the rules, let them do it the old-fashioned way, with a book and a flashlight.
- No social media accounts before high school.
- Screen time budgets
This list could go on, but I read a statistic recently (Yes, on social media) that good parents only average six rules for their children. No matter how many rules you have, getting the kids to understand the problem and buy into the solution is all that matters.