Yes but this isn’t behaviour modification. This is just putting people in media bubbles then training them into thought loops that reject information outside of those bubbles. It’s not what is being referred to by the method of tech doing behaviour control through systems. If anything it’s actually just the same as media has always worked except translated from television and newspapers to various “influencers” online. Your everyday Daily Mail reader becomes everyday Andrew Tate tiktok viewer or w/e. Same shit, different platform. Is not really a transformative change of how the right gets people. The only particularly interesting thing that did occur in this time period was the methods used to keep people in bubbles and averse to outside information come from cult training methods.
Well surely you agree that our thoughts influence our behaviors, though. If someone never thinks capitalism as a source of their problems, they won’t try to end it.
I agree that the mass messaging is similar to how other forms of media have worked in the past.
iiuc, the new proposition is that influencers are the peasants of technofeudalism: they create content that makes the platform money and are given some money in return. Critically though, the platform has control over the recommendation algorithm and which creators have access to the platform.
If someone is making their money from YouTube, then they must acquiesce to whatever terms that YouTube dictates or face a huge financial hit. That’s why “unalive” and other safe-for-tiktok terms have taken off - creators must adapt to the platform.
Influencers are just the news media or the newspaper. There’s no real difference in what they do, they give information to their audience that is complete and total bullshit in order to make them think something.
This isn’t behavioural modification. It’s just information control. And it’s something that has been majority-controlled by the bourgeoisie to varying degrees forever, more so during the radio and tv generations I would say. Less so during the newspaper era when a lot of competition was occurring and printing presses were being utilised by socialists well.
Critically though, the platform has control over the recommendation algorithm and which creators have access to the platform
This is not different to a news channel having control over what gets put on and what does not. The tech barons actually have less control through algorithms than television and newspapers did. The fact they have less control is exactly why the Palestine message ran away from them and they totally lost control over it.
What is more dangerous is gameification programs. Gameification is a deeply powerful behavioural modification tool, it doesn’t just give people thoughts it completely changes their behaviour. Even here on hexbear we demonstrated this with how significantly different people behaved before and after the removal of the downvote. Each and every only social platform that uses gameification creates a specific environment and vibe through the use of its gameification methods and these methods deeply influence the behaviour of audiences. Reddit-behaviour is not a personality trait inherent to the people that are attracted to reddit, reddit-behaviour is created by its gameification system enforcing a debate-bro atmosphere in which people aren’t actually engaging with each other in each reply you receive, they’re not replying to you they’re instead soapboxing for the potential audience of voters in a zero-sum game of aiming to win interactions so that they get upvotes and the person they’re replying with gets downvotes. It’s not a normal human behaviour, it’s a modified behaviour inherent to reddit’s gameification approach.
This kind of thing can and will spill over into society when the tech barons gain greater control over it and it poses a far greater danger than the social media sites themselves functioning as less well controlled newspapers and tv channels.
This isn’t behavioural modification. It’s just information control.
Information control IS behavior modification, though. If you control my beliefs, you control my behavior.
Fox News made people believe that illegal immigrants are a threat. Those people voted for the fascist that would be hardest on immigrants. Now we’re deporting people.
Social media is where many people find community, and those communities have shared beliefs. If the owner of the platform can push communities away from specific views (e.g. banning use of the name “Luigi”), then they can influence the beliefs of those communities.
There are many ways that social media is just another iteration of broadcasting information to many people, but a way that it’s different is that individuals participate in the broadcast, and their participation is subject to control by the platform they’re on.
It’d be like a billionaire-funded town square that has a private police force monitoring everyone’s conversations, and kicking people out if they say the wrong thing.
Maoist United Soviets of America vs Stalinist Mexico-Brazil-Chile Pact(M-L) 
Really! Have you seen the Alt right playbook?
https://youtu.be/P55t6eryY3g
Yes but this isn’t behaviour modification. This is just putting people in media bubbles then training them into thought loops that reject information outside of those bubbles. It’s not what is being referred to by the method of tech doing behaviour control through systems. If anything it’s actually just the same as media has always worked except translated from television and newspapers to various “influencers” online. Your everyday Daily Mail reader becomes everyday Andrew Tate tiktok viewer or w/e. Same shit, different platform. Is not really a transformative change of how the right gets people. The only particularly interesting thing that did occur in this time period was the methods used to keep people in bubbles and averse to outside information come from cult training methods.
Well surely you agree that our thoughts influence our behaviors, though. If someone never thinks capitalism as a source of their problems, they won’t try to end it.
I agree that the mass messaging is similar to how other forms of media have worked in the past.
iiuc, the new proposition is that influencers are the peasants of technofeudalism: they create content that makes the platform money and are given some money in return. Critically though, the platform has control over the recommendation algorithm and which creators have access to the platform.
If someone is making their money from YouTube, then they must acquiesce to whatever terms that YouTube dictates or face a huge financial hit. That’s why “unalive” and other safe-for-tiktok terms have taken off - creators must adapt to the platform.
Influencers are just the news media or the newspaper. There’s no real difference in what they do, they give information to their audience that is complete and total bullshit in order to make them think something.
This isn’t behavioural modification. It’s just information control. And it’s something that has been majority-controlled by the bourgeoisie to varying degrees forever, more so during the radio and tv generations I would say. Less so during the newspaper era when a lot of competition was occurring and printing presses were being utilised by socialists well.
This is not different to a news channel having control over what gets put on and what does not. The tech barons actually have less control through algorithms than television and newspapers did. The fact they have less control is exactly why the Palestine message ran away from them and they totally lost control over it.
What is more dangerous is gameification programs. Gameification is a deeply powerful behavioural modification tool, it doesn’t just give people thoughts it completely changes their behaviour. Even here on hexbear we demonstrated this with how significantly different people behaved before and after the removal of the downvote. Each and every only social platform that uses gameification creates a specific environment and vibe through the use of its gameification methods and these methods deeply influence the behaviour of audiences. Reddit-behaviour is not a personality trait inherent to the people that are attracted to reddit, reddit-behaviour is created by its gameification system enforcing a debate-bro atmosphere in which people aren’t actually engaging with each other in each reply you receive, they’re not replying to you they’re instead soapboxing for the potential audience of voters in a zero-sum game of aiming to win interactions so that they get upvotes and the person they’re replying with gets downvotes. It’s not a normal human behaviour, it’s a modified behaviour inherent to reddit’s gameification approach.
This kind of thing can and will spill over into society when the tech barons gain greater control over it and it poses a far greater danger than the social media sites themselves functioning as less well controlled newspapers and tv channels.
I think we’re like 90% agreed
Information control IS behavior modification, though. If you control my beliefs, you control my behavior.
Fox News made people believe that illegal immigrants are a threat. Those people voted for the fascist that would be hardest on immigrants. Now we’re deporting people.
Social media is where many people find community, and those communities have shared beliefs. If the owner of the platform can push communities away from specific views (e.g. banning use of the name “Luigi”), then they can influence the beliefs of those communities.
There are many ways that social media is just another iteration of broadcasting information to many people, but a way that it’s different is that individuals participate in the broadcast, and their participation is subject to control by the platform they’re on.
It’d be like a billionaire-funded town square that has a private police force monitoring everyone’s conversations, and kicking people out if they say the wrong thing.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: