I moved to Mastodon.socialNov 17, 2023

I want to follow up on the reason I see so much anger and cynicism.

(The anger isn't directed at me. It looks like this: "Trump is above the law! There is no accountability! The DOJ dragged its feet!")

There were some interesting comments about why I see so much of it.

I'll add another: People assume that I am liberal and in the same information bubble and therefore, I will agree with them when they repeat the current memes.

It's a group-think thing.

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Show threadMarcNov 17, 2023
@Teri_Kanefield
If you expose the fact that almost all Americans, whether they regard themselves as liberal or conservative, are trapped in a misinformation bubble, you have to expect anger!
Show threadI moved to Mastodon.social

@prairiedog But of course, the two bubbles are not at all the same.

On the right, disinformation is deliberately deployed as a tool to consolidate power and as an anti-democratic weapon.

On the left, the misinformation happens because of the nature of our current information disruption and the complexity of our legal and political system.

(I actually have a book coming out on disinformation soon with Macmillan, so I've thought about this.)

Nov 17, 2023 at 11:13pmWeb
Show threadPamela EhnNov 17, 2023
@Teri_Kanefield @prairiedog I like that you push back. I may consider myself left, but I despise group-think and don’t like it when my side falls down a misinformation rabbit-hole. I’ve been pushing back very hard on the idea that the DOJ has been dragging its feet when from my perspective, they’ve been blisteringly fast. And I was doing that before I started following you, so it’s basically for moral support because I know im right. Better things be done deliberately and correctly rather than a fast acquittal. But even on other things: I consider myself a diehard feminist and I was just telling someone at lunch today that much of feminist theory is bunk. That doesn’t mean feminism is bunk, just that some of the people who theorize about it are cray. (I suspect a number of leftists are cray too.)
Show threadMarcNov 17, 2023
@Teri_Kanefield
I agree that the two bubbles are not identical, but I don't think it's as simple as intentional disinformation vs unintentional misinformation. (Maybe I'll feel differently after I've had a chance to read your new book. 😀) There is a difference in how porous (if that's the correct metaphor) each bubble is.
Just to consider the war in Gaza: the Biden Administration, as I see it, largely perpetuates Israeli government disinformation. But liberal media like the NY Times, Washington Post, & NY Times, although clearly sympathetic to this view, are also skeptical enough to question the disinformation.