I had been seeing them for some time but had just been skimming by. I finally had to tell FB to stop throwing conservative propaganda on my wall. I don't know why FB decided that I should see them and then why I should see post after post. Perhaps, in a spirit of acceptance and broad-mindedness, I once clicked on a semi-conservative post, but I honestly can't recall. Moderate conservatism is one thing, but braindead propaganda is quite another.
After I told FB to remove 3 or 4 of these posts within minutes, I thought I should capture a few before they were all gone. I won't go overboard, but you can see how they totally misrepresent things, such as Netflix, Disney and CNN imploding. It's nonsense, but the faithful raise their hands in glee and shout glad hosannas to the Trumps, De Santos, Cruzes, and the myriad other lying cretins.
Take a look at the Disney Woke cartoon for yet another pile of false, steaming merde. It's a variation of the Strawman logical fallacy, in which someone misrepresents something so that they can appear to tear it down in an argument. If you're good at it, people don't even notice that you have pulled a fast one but clap their hands in giddy agreement.
The sad thing is that millions are trapped inside the disinformation bubble of rightwing extremism, and they don't even know it. A recent study noted minds beginning to shift after Fox viewers were paid to watch CNN for just one month.
Other than paying people, how do we get them out of their bubbles and to think critically? Sometimes, I think we are doomed.
20 comments:
For that reason I never joined FB. The Mickey Mouse cartoon is terrible.
I've never joined Facebook because I've believed from the outset that it's a criminal enterprise. I do have a Twitter account which I use to communicate with interesting people.
Incidentally, Musk has not bought Twitter. There's a lot of process before his offer becomes a reality and there's already a doubt that his tender will satisfy due diligence. He's balking. So let's not pass on misinformation by quoting people who have it wrong.
I'm glad I don't visit FB very often. What a disgrace these ads are. :-(
The title of your post says it all.
I closed out Facebook many years ago. I just can't believe how our world has changed as a result of "free speech". Trump's lies and his introduction of "fake news" has done just what he wants ... the complete confusion of what's true and what's pure made-up trash.
When this whole extreme right wing stuff started, I kept xing them out of my feed. I don’t get anything now until they periodically give it another try. I x them again and I’m good to go for another year or more. That stuff is scary really.
I seem to spend more time these days, deleting or marking ads as unwanted that I do friend's posts. grrrr F/B
I think I've mentioned this on your blog before but being politically independent means I get the same thing but from both sides. I used to waste my time telling Facebook they were offensive but it never worked for long and so I just get pretty adept at scrolling right on by.
I like FB for what it is (or what I want it to be) but hate this kind of propaganda. And I'm feeling like we're doomed lately too. The spread of misinformation(lies) and the beliefs many hold are too much for me. I may need more blood pressure medication.
Agree about that thing about FB
If you don't log in to FB for a few days, they get all panicky. The day is not far off when they will come and knock on your door and ask "why are you not using FB?"
I tend to skim through Facebook and rarely spend more than five minutes on it in a day. I have been more actively doing the 'don't show this to me' option.
Present day conservatism is why I can not vote Conservative.
I rely on Facebook to see what my kids are up to, especially the ones in Vancouver!
I don't get any of these ads! it really is tragic the disinformation. We watched Trevor Noah's speech to the party the other day. It was amazing. Google if you choose. Excellent media-press related messages. He gives me hope.
P.S. The furnace is on. JB just gets so cold. Poor man. He's been fighting a cough for months.
I have always considered the Zuck a lowlife who stole the FB idea from his roommate. I joined to see what my kids were doing, and now that they've outgrown it, my account sits idle.
The Internet, especially social media is stress inducing. Unlike a library, which to me is calming and joyful.
Thank you for your note too….. I had read your great essay on the camera when it was first published. I had not thought of it as a way to double expose an image…. which I was aware of from film camera days. It makes logical sense to me now. Thank you!!!
PipeTobacco
We do have a problem and money keeps the problem on the agenda.
Yes. I worry a lot, from time to time, about the misinformation plague. It has always been with us, but the internet certainly facilitates it. Having said that, what Facebook is plaguing me with at present are ads for underwear. I would say I was under the radar, except I am afraid you would unfriend me. So, I didn't say it, okay?
That is why I closed my facebook account years ago and am not on social media. Only a blogger. That's the kind of social I like. ;)
Vladimir Putin hires people to churn out 'merde' for social media platforms, basically to plant fake news. These things can be stopped, but Zuckerberg is not interested in that. He is there to make money.
I do not believe that tRUMP would have gotten elected without facebook and Fox.
I wish it were only social media with this rot (as bad as that is) but I have a long-time friend who has radicalized herself by only consuming Russian state news sites, and a few others, in the last few years (she never goes on social media). Her devotion to Putin is unshakeable! I thought for sure that the invasion of Ukraine would wake her up but no, she just parrots all the Russian talking points. I cannot be her friend anymore (after 45 years). It's rather heart-breaking.
There is so much brain dead ugliness on FB. But I want to know what the other side is 'thinking.' I weep for my country.
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