A tech platform, or a social mechanism, can be multiple things at once. And doubly so when you're talking about multiple platforms. Social networks are...
* A commercial advertising delivery mechanism
* A US government mass-surveillance honeypot
* A way for Jane Smith to follow what her acquaintances or family members are doing elsewhere in the world
* An outlet for venting frustrations about politics
etc. etc. And all that dopes not really contradict "big psy-op".
It is not a psy-op aside from people trying to get people addicted and exposed to advertising. Zuckerberg once said that people are stupid to share so much voluntarily. Everyone underestimated stupidity vastly. And for public personas there certainly are some advantages and some just use it to contact others. But the normal user perhaps doesn't reflect the costs.
If it isn't, it had certainly worked out like one.
Mounds upon mounds of personal data, recent photographs of the population, countless "private" conversations are all available easily and instantly if you just ask your mate up in SIGINT.
Uncomfortable take, maybe its a necessary PsyOp. In ancient times, when you screwed up the village would shun you and that status as a shunned, would act as a reminder for others to not engage in unacceptable behaviour.
This is what social media is now. If you engage in warcrimes, your face and name will be known to the world for all times.
I'm suspect you're being a little optimistic. Although there is a
small niche for socially positive influence campaigns the overwhelming
function of "necessary psyops" has been for the powerful to make sure
their "warcrimes" remain hidden from the world.
Sadly, I think many of us are still carrying a working model of social
media as a "peoples' tool" from the Arab Spring. There are plenty of
places in the world today where you can see that's been suppressed,
recruited and inverted by those in power.
If we want technology to reduce evil in the world then we need to
redouble our efforts.
Yes, and after societies grew larger than villages, many of them started coming up with things like "courts" and "due process".
Thankfully we're moving back to a more openly reputation-based system. I'm currently looking for a group of seven respected men that will swear oaths to my innocence if I'm accused of anything.
I wonder what a significant change in attitudes toward social-tech
will mean for those of us, still in a minority, who have never been on
it?
No doubt the irony will be I'll have to listen to endless "news" from
friends who haven't spoken to me in real-life for 15 years, about how
"Liberating it is". :)
Nahh that is totally different. When you were not into social media - it was weird and creepy. Now not being into social media is liberating and responsible.
