Someone sent me a link to this article about how Google can influence an election and I found it to be a little frightening. We are all so connected to our devices these days, that I think we forget that the constant stream of information coming at us can affect the way we think about things without us even realizing it. I know for a fact that Facebook has done social experimentation on its members. They admitted as much in 2012 when they altered the feeds of 700,000 member to see their reactions to a variety or negative posts. (Facebook's Not-so-secret Mood Manipulation Experiment ).
I've also heard rumblings about the"gay marriage rainbow profile filter" app that was made available to Facebook users following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold gay marriage. Rumor has it those were a social experiment too. I've read various reports that never definitively corroborate or disprove that it was, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were true. Can you imagine what an immensely powerful tool that would be to have access to the thoughts and feelings of a wide and varied range of the population? Old, young, conservative, liberal, crunchy, hipster, religious, atheist, ethnic, white...they're all represented on Facebook.
To be fair, marketers and politicians have always tried to figure out which ways work best to sway us, so none of this is really new. There have always been polls and surveys and even controversial social experimentation, like the Obedience Experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram, but I think there's a fine line between trying to figure out what makes humans tick so you can learn about human nature either for purely academic reasons or to hopefully persuade them to choose something, and controlling people with manipulation. Some of this stuff just plays out to me a little bit too much like some of the dystopian literature I've read (Fahrenheit 451, A Handmaid's Tale, Nineteen Eighty-Four etc). What are your thoughts? Do you think the "powers that be" are using our Internet activity to manipulate and control us (or at least working hard to figure out how to do so)? If so, what can one do to counter it?
PS: I promise I was not wearing a foil-hat while writing this. :)
I completely agree with you! It would not surprise me one bit if the government was using the internet to persuade people. I would like to believe they weren't doing this but I think the odds of them doing it id better than not. It is hard to do anything these days with out using the internet or social media. If someone is trying to control us the internet would be the way to do it. The only possible counter I could see working would be people getting away from the internet and social media. Everyone knows that wont happen so we are all doomed.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well. It’s a very powerful tool. The Gov't knows that the many people in the age range 9-60 use the computer a lot. With the internet it’s easier to manipulate because the internet is very addicting. With technology being very prominent in this society, of course I believe the government has some part in it. It's really scary as well because when people put their thoughts and expressions on Facebook someone is taking in that feedback that you didn't even know. It makes me think of the book Fahrenheit 451.
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