Very little seems to be realised on just how serious an issue this is, This is a complex problem requiring a depth of thought and consideration of the very safety and progress of society, Very little seems to be adressed in a global problem when it comes to the weaponisation of social media today.
From general bullying to stalking and harrasment to the trump administation admitting an alinement to russia in 2025. Every catagory of curruption is given way to much free rein on so called social networks ,all to often if you give somone a mask they will reveal themselfs, the internet has a level of natural social discourse removed enough to be an equivalency of such a mask.
The catagory is prehaps the big irony here with the name of so called ”social networks” and yet some of these platforms apear to be propagating and incouraging anti-social conduct, anti progress and anti inclusion. However you might think if restrictions are imposed for one platform they would have to be fairly imposed for all. and yes to some degree i happen to agree with that, However with a mind set of the leaded leading our leaders we might have a very different view here.
We think that since human nature is really emotional first before its critical thinking second (yea I know some readers will argue they are always critical thinking first, other artciles will tell you why you are wrong ;), but try not to be too emotional about it.) , laws on controll for higher ranks in society would be wIse,
these laws would be against leaders using citizenship’s general social netowrking, But more importantly still have good means of comunication to the general public, the obligation of reliable sources of news media needs to be Aa continued and maintianed standard that got them trusted in the first place, including a needs to be proactive to avoid being reactionary and bias against facts no matter how much those facts make an individual or group of people feel.
This is a challange on so many levels of human nature that its hard to see at first. If it wasnt crucial and challanging to start with then we would not be in the mess we havr today,. These outlets of media are more obligated than ever at this time of writing to take responsibility on how they report news and events. But they cant do this alone. YOU the consumer needs to appply crtical analysis as well to help set an example and lead those who are unfortunatly seen as leading but potentially lack leadership skill sets, we will get to this later.
. Clearly the propaganda machine of russia owed its evolution to the lack of controlls against it. And make no mistake words hold a lot of power when organised at the right time and place infront of the right people for better or worse.
META (formerly known as ,TheFacebook, Inc. between 2004–2005) took on a change of conduct in 2025 that equated to no longer fact checking information. This means that you ,as a consummer have an obligation to be more clued in and spread that which is factual more against that wihch is false, and fraudulant. The worse information out there is the half truths. Especially while people are still too nieve in a majority against a minority who are increasingly more educated and clued in because they apply more and more tools to decern facts over spreading of lies. increasingly as this evolves, these are the people to watch. They may apear in some cases to be A.D.D (ATENTION DEFICIT DISORDER) , However I argue as do others that this is absolutly not the case.
Everytime we have pardigm shifting technologies there are always 2 stages of adaptation,1 its outstrips our wiser higher thinking and stimulates us emotionally 2 eventally higher thinking catches up, digital medias influence has caused changes in our behavour and our brains, In this case the result is an illusion of A.D.D. being caused by the chaos of internet content.
Heres why I say its an illusion, If you are an avid user of this thing refered to as social media but not so addicted to be unsocial then your one of a slowly increasing amount that is training your brain via the competition against digital media over all. Basically whats going on is not A.D.D, its more like a I.D.T (Interest Deficit Training), The plethora of add blocking tools out there are a sheer sign of such things. and your own conduct when your watching a video and the person who made the video starts talking with ”And now a word from our sponsor,”
Chances are that just like me you skip the whole part because the content is in the way multiple times, for example
1 the add has nothing to do with the main subject of the video or anything to do with the reason why you watched the video in the first place anyway,.
2 nothing to to with your general product interest at that point in time.
3 it breaks momentum of interest if its half way through the video,
4 if your as impatient as me , you might even ditch watching all together in favour of more direct conent that feels less broken and consistant ,
There is a solution though, we will get to that in a bit,
Our brains are litrally competing with this type of media to look for the point and conclusion realting to the first reason to start watching in th first place. The counter competion is click bait content.
For instance I have found myself somtimes to be notriously focused on the point , getting there and disregarding anything that is not productive to the conversations subject or point being made to start with. Futher self analysis and interest in human behavour which started off as a venutre into reading body language, apears to be showing me that those who are not internet savy or dont use much online time tend to talk in a larger degree of generalisations before cryistalising the point being made to start with. And no, before you assume it, that is not a generational issue, it happends across all age groups.
If you are cluless of what the tools of basic anaylysis are, then we got a big problem, so let me help you here by laying down a list of very simple actions , simple but powerfull
With such large user bases around the globe with social networks its more of an obligation to fact check than not at all. Yet we have lazy owners of these platforms and blantant cowards in place and in charge of such countires miss use of technical prowess and media.
so heres some things to consider.
- Identify the Source:Recognizing the media outlet and its typical politcal leaniance and or bias is powerfull when dealing with some context, but on its own not enough, . Mainstream media outlets are often owned by large corporations, which can influence their content and coverage so recognising who owns them will be a key factor in adressing the source.
- Examine the Content: Look at how the news media often prioritizes stories that are popular, sensational, or easily digestible, potentially at the expense of in-depth analysis. theres always another deeper level to consider!
- Assess the Business Model: Understand that mainstream media is primarily for profit so the motive for quality can somtimes be over ridden by motives to make money, this can lead to content tailored to meet the needs of advertisers and sponsors rather than the public interest. Or even in the interest of educating the public, these spinsors tend to drop funding the moment the content creator veers off an imagined idealistic style that supports the sponsors products.
- Compare with Alternative Media: Consider how alternative media outlets cover the same topics. Alternative media often provides a more nuanced, detailed, and diverse view of issues, giving voice to marginalized or underrepresented groups.
- Evaluate Credibility: Assess the credibility of the information presented. think in terms of logical resoning and the typicalitys of the subject matter.Of course realise that Mainstream media’s credibility has been diminishing, and some journalists are adopting a solidarity approach to reporting, this tends to focus on representing marginalized communities accurately. rather than going bigger picture on global issues that are being miss reported and even somtimes delibratly miss-interpeted
- Analyzing mainstream media involves understanding its role, influence, and credibility within the broader context of information dissemination. Mainstream media typically includes flagship national newspapers, cable news channels, and news networks, and is often defined consistently across political spectrums
- Evaluate Credibility: Assess the credibility of mainstream media outlets. Recent studies indicate that mainstream media’s credibility has been diminishing, particularly since AMERICAS 2024 presidential election. Understanding the credibility of an outlet can help in evaluating the reliability of the information presented.
- Understand Business Models: Mainstream media is often profit-driven, which can influence the content produced. Outlets may prioritize stories that are popular, sensational, or easily digestible, rather than in-depth analyses.4 This can lead to a situation where the news is “packaged” to prioritize entertainment and profit over complex realities.
- Consider Ownership and Influence: Recognize the influence of corporate and political interests on mainstream media. Major media outlets are often owned by powerful corporations, which can result in biased coverage that reflects corporate goals.
- Engage Critically: Develop a critical approach to consuming mainstream media. This includes questioning the motives behind the content, verifying information from multiple sources, and considering alternative perspectives on any subject matter.
By following these steps, you can gain a deeper understanding of mainstream media and its role in shaping public opinion and discourse.
Now to track back to what i refered to earlier on the broken consitancy of media.
Radicalization & recruitment (RR): The ability to communicate across distances and share usergenerated, multimedia content inexpensively and in real time have made social media a channel of choice for some violent extremists and militant organizations.
