Internet trolls – especially in the political sphere – have a number of functions. They are a distraction. Trolls will engage activists in petty arguments, and, of course, the activist, taking this as a teaching opportunity, will happily go down the rabbit hole. It’s pointless. No argument will convince them of the merits of independence. They don’t even have a vote. Most likely the person on the other side is in an office in Wolverhampton following the instructions pinned to their blue cubical wall.
Accidental ‘Fake News’ Experiment
A shark on the road is what it is. It’s a shark on a road. This is Ockham’s Razor 101. It didn’t happen. Yet it’s easy it grasp, it tickles the imagination, it allows us to be seen to be enraged or be one of the smarty pants who myth busted it. What it is, is bubble gum for the brain. But what we are missing is that this is precisely how the media – the “real” or “mainstream” media – has operated for decades. Now these techniques of mass anaesthesia are being used – thanks to the internet and social media – by people and organisations that have more sinister messages to spread than shark memes.
Theresa May’s Photoshopped Democracy
May doesn’t need to follow the old formula of beat cop politics. She knows that it is already redundant. All she has to do is let the cyber analytics people create the better-than-perfect illusion to just enough of the right category of voters that all is well.
The Bureaucratic State, Fear, and the Kafkaesque
In this reality the author self-censors and conforms freely for fear of being seen and scrutinised by the now realised Big Brother state and state-dominated society. This is a democracy that behaves itself by conforming to the will of the state – to the will of power – en masse as a result of accepting as true the “promises of later success” and with vague hopes of the benefits and vague fears of the powers of the masters.
Philosophy and Technology
Except in the event of a worldwide electronics apocalypse, this cyber revolution, together with all the changes it has brought and will bring about, is here to stay. While we may know the odd person who has resisted the urge to begin using Facebook or Twitter (are these already passé?), everyone – at least in the developed world – benefits from the progress we all share, and we all suffer its consequences.
‘Words Smith’ is Filling Twitter with Beautiful Things
Follow @UrFhasaidh If you are one of those people who think that Twitter bots are annoying, then you may take some satisfaction in knowing that a bot is a nightmare to create. Last week I spent an entire night programming my very first Twitter bot from the husk of a previous Twitter account. My reason … Continue reading ‘Words Smith’ is Filling Twitter with Beautiful Things
Random Public Journal 