Social Media and propaganda

Propaganda in Social Media Today

Propaganda is prevalent in civilization. When people use social media, they are more likely to come across propaganda. Most propaganda educators, on the other hand, adhere to examples based on historical events related to propaganda. In other terms, they characterize it as having been in the past. Propaganda is not a historical phenomenon; it occurs now and is everywhere about us. Propaganda is the deliberate, organized endeavor of manipulating opinions, affecting intuitions, and directing audience action to produce a response that achieves the desired goal. Various scholars and schools of thought have varying meanings of the term. However, the common fact of propaganda is that it prevails everywhere including news, entertainment, advertising, and on social media. Social media channels have emerged around the world attracting over three billion people, entertainment, or advertising. Social media has changed propaganda in unique ways (Auger 370). The creation, spreading and sharing of fake news occurs instantly and reaches a broad audience across borders. In this light, it is plausible to analyze and discuss the various examples of propaganda in social media today and more importantly the techniques that are used to spread it.

Examples of Propaganda in Social Media Today

Propaganda used in social media today can virtually be everywhere, and for this reason, there are various examples of propaganda in social media today. A recent example of propaganda involved Disney’s Magic of Healthy Living. In this scenario, the propaganda was passed by high-profile people and baseball players such as Michelle Obama to try to promote healthier lifestyles for young people and to Disney viewers (Scheiner). The technique that was used to propagate the news was plain forks whereby the Disneys Magic of Health Living wanted people to believe that the propagandist (Michelle Obama) is a ’regular person’ and they can embrace her recommendation about healthy living. In addition, Disney wanted to make an impression that even high-profile individuals such as Michelle Obama and baseball players eat healthily. Although the intent could be beneficial to the viewers, it does not negate the fact that the message was propaganda.

Another recent example of propaganda involved Russia and the U.S whereby it was propagated that Russia hacked the 2016 U.S election. Primarily, this propaganda had passed through all forms of media for the last months, and it was considerably hard for people to either agree or disagree. What made the propaganda even more “true” is the technique that was used to propagate the news. The technique that was used to spread these lies was card stacking whereby the propagandist omitted unfavorable statistics and key facts to manipulate the choices of the viewers. The contest between both presidential candidates (Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump) was considerably tough, and it was easy to induce to the supporters of the losing candidate (Hilary Clinton) that some hacking was done to make their favorite candidate lose the election.

In addition, advertisers have recently turned to the bandwagon techniques to propel their propaganda. The bandwagon is a technique that has been used by propagandists to give other people an impression that if other people are doing something, they ought to do as well. For instance, a recent article written by Sandra Wu of Brinkist Magazine was indicating that Warren Buffet spends 80% of his time reading. The author wanted to give her audience an expression that if they read 80% of their lives, they would become successful as Warren Buffer (Wu). While it may be true, there is no doubt the message was propaganda.

Conclusion

To sum up the analysis, media and social media, in particular, are propaganda warehouses. In addition, the various techniques and approaches that are used by people to propagate their propaganda are making it even considerably challenging for people to identify the truth. However, their main intention has always remained; to spread news that advance a cause. Regardless of its nature, propaganda approaches and methods can be used to influence how people view things. Through propaganda, people can hate, love, kill or even lose jobs among others. Putting into consideration, all these factors, it was conceivable to discuss some of these examples of propaganda and the techniques that were used to propagate each one of them.

Works Cited

Auger, Giselle A. “Fostering Democracy through Social Media: Evaluating Diametrically Opposed Nonprofit Advocacy Organizations’ Use of Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.” Public Relations Review, vol. 39, no. Public Relations and Democracy, 01 Nov. 2013, pp. 369-376.

Scheiner, Eric. Disney Joins with Michelle Obama in Announcing Nutrition Standards for Ads. CNSnews https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/disney-joins-michelle-obama-announcing-nutrition-standards-ads . Accessed 3 October 2017.

Wu, Sandra. The Reading Habits of Highly Successful People. Blinkist. https://www.blinkist.com/magazine/posts/reading-habits-of-highly-successful-people?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=20170630_OU_PRO_ReadingHabitsSuccessful_Desktop_Universal&utm_content=0094865c930a373a9080f1fb14666d1b70&utm_term=00f0186f4 . Accessed 3 October 2017.