I can understand the mistrust of the system, but I can’t understand the conclusion that some anonymous yahoo with no inside perspective somehow has the resources to have figured it all out.
There was always some percentage of the population that believes in that stuff, for a variety of understandable reasons.
That’s… fine. It kinda worked.
The problem is social media has amplified those voices by orders of magnitude because they’re engaging (hence, profitable). The missing panel above is the FB post, YT segment, podcast (all recommended algorithmically) or whatever that led that guy down the rabbit hole.
In other words, It’s not a content problem, but an engagement one.
I definitely agree. I’m old enough to remember when Alex Jones just had his late night radio show in Austin, and he was actually kind of fun back then. It was all about the hollow moon, reptilians, and grey aliens hosting the Bohemian Grove parties. Once he got an internet channel, it was a whole different ballgame.
I miss the days of quaint kooks instead of dangerous kooks.
There was always some percentage of the population that believes in that stuff, for a variety of understandable reasons.
That’s… fine. It kinda worked.
The problem is social media has amplified those voices by orders of magnitude because they’re engaging (hence, profitable). The missing panel above is the FB post, YT segment, podcast (all recommended algorithmically) or whatever that led that guy down the rabbit hole.
In other words, It’s not a content problem, but an engagement one.
I definitely agree. I’m old enough to remember when Alex Jones just had his late night radio show in Austin, and he was actually kind of fun back then. It was all about the hollow moon, reptilians, and grey aliens hosting the Bohemian Grove parties. Once he got an internet channel, it was a whole different ballgame.
I miss the days of quaint kooks instead of dangerous kooks.