Read the news and feel fear? Have you watched the video and are outraged to the core? You were not an eyewitness to the events and did not question representatives of different parties – but your opinion has already been formed. And, believe me, this is definitely to someone’s advantage! What is post-truth and how are we manipulated in the media?
Truth Is Out There
“Dear guests, we had a good time yesterday, but after you left, we lost our silver spoons.” “What a nightmare, we didn’t take them!” “Yes, we know. The spoons were found, but the sediment remained! An old anecdote perfectly illustrates the post-truth concept that is relevant today.
This term (post-truth) became popular in 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary named it the word of the year. The post-truth was actively talked about during Brexit, the election of Trump and the incredible activity of information manipulation in the media during the US election campaign.
Post-truth, or post-truth, the largest Internet encyclopedia calls the circumstances in which objective facts are less important for the formation of public opinion than appeal to emotions and personal convictions. Simply put, this is a way of manipulating public consciousness – that is, the consciousness of each of us.
We all read and listen to the news, we stumble upon them in the form of banners on websites or reposts in a friend feed. Those who do not watch TV read Facebook – most of us are present in the information space in one way or another. And that means it affects us. And someone influences the way information is presented, playing on our feelings, beliefs and values. It happens every day, sometimes obvious to us, sometimes not at all.
What helps manipulators play with our consciousness?
The necessary conditions
One of the main points is related to the fact that in fact we ourselves are asked to decide what is true and what is false from the flow of information in which we find ourselves. The task of the manipulator in the world of post-truth is to be the first to convincingly present the news about the event so that the audience believes that this is the truth.
Further denials will either not reach the addressees, drowning in a sea of headlines and new incidents, or will be perceived as attempts to “justify themselves”.
What are our delusions that allow manipulators to play on our feelings and make us believe or not believe in something?
1. To begin with, we must consider that there is only one truth.
That is, to exclude the possibility that each side of the conflict or other situation has its own truth. But in most life situations there are many nuances, without taking into account which it is impossible to build a more or less general picture. And the world is not black and white. But if we believe that only one view of the situation is correct, it is enough for the manipulator to simply find the right emotional “hook” that will hook us.
During Trump’s election campaign, some US media reported that the name of one of his competitors was associated with a “secret community of pedophiles.” The scandal continued to flare up on blogs with millions of followers and on social media.
In the publications, the name of the pizzeria appeared, in the basements of which members of the community allegedly gathered. The establishment was attacked both online (in posts and tweets) and offline. Outraged people smashed shop windows and wrote insults on the walls and doors. None of the reports and photo reports of the cafe owners helped, showing that the basements are ordinary empty premises. No one listened and did not believe the assurances that there was no community there. In the end, a man wrapped up in all this information broke into the pizzeria and started shooting. He was sure that he was doing the right thing and saving the children.
2. Modern technologies give us the opportunity to choose the information field
“For years, with your likes, you have been diligently teaching social networks to show only what you like, and only from those people whose beliefs are similar to yours. Ban those who are annoying. All this leads to the fact that in your field of perception there are only news and events that are comfortable for you, and the rest of the world is left behind with all the other problems, other opinions and big data statistics, ”writes one of the Facebook users.
Selective perception and the tendency to judge others by oneself form narrow ideas about the world. We choose what is true for us. And for manipulators, this gives an excellent opportunity to single out a group of the target audience, determine the main values and triggers, and “shoot” well-placed information clearly at the target.
For example, at the beginning of the pandemic, a document resembling a certain decree appeared in groups of cat and dog owners. It contained a clause stating that the pets of people who fell ill with covid would be sent to shelters. The trigger worked – people sent each other fake news they believed in and offered not to go to the doctor if they got sick in order to protect their pets. Not everyone doubted whether this was true.
3. Other cognitive distortions, or typical thinking errors
Among them:
- the phenomenon of a just world (that is, the belief that it is such and everyone should get what they deserve);
- a cascade of available information (multiple repetition enhances the feeling of “truth” – this is especially important in the era of reposts) and others;
- negative bias (another feature of our thinking: we believe in unpleasant, bad news more readily than in good news. And if we are told in a convincing form that some star of a television series, say, a cannibal, we would rather believe in it than in his subsequent attempts to justify themselves.This is a kind of “presumption of guilt”).
4. Another factor, oddly enough, was the desire of the media to emphasize their objectivity
At some point, it became “good form” for the media to present different views on events so that readers can draw their own conclusions. But this approach implies a rather high IQ and the ability to analyze, which not all members of the audience possess.
Ultimately, this approach opened up opportunities for manipulation under the guise of pseudo-objectivity. In order to drag public opinion to your side, it is enough to be the first to tell about the event and evoke emotions in readers – indignation, compassion, fear.
5. Today we really have access to a lot of information.
Much more than the brain is able to “digest”, which does not always have time to adapt to the accelerating pace of life. And it’s pretty easy to get lost in it. Information is already like a drug, and a person outside of its flow experiences symptoms close to drug withdrawal.
Thus, those who control the information and its flow, in fact, have real power. There is a conspiracy theory that the “Third World War” predicted by soothsayers is already underway and this information war. But let’s remember that conspiracy theory is also a type of cognitive distortion.
Shakespeare’s words that the world is a theater take on a new meaning. And of course, which has its own actors and directors. And, opening the news feed, we all turn into spectators of a grandiose immersive show.