. . . they wanted me to use their site instead of my blog.

The recruiter asked for a video conference and was shocked when I told her that I don't want to monetize.

Several people (including a few friends privately) that the MSNBC outrage has gotten worse.

I offered this theory: During the Trump era these networks thrived because there was an easy target for outrage.

Since then, they've had to rely on baseless rage-inducing speculation.

2/

I think another part is that individuals can monetize so easily.

I remember when I discovered Twitter analytics: It showed me that when I said something disparaging about Trump, my engagement went up.

I was appalled and never looked at Twitter Analytics again.

So many factors in this new world of media encourage posts that outrage people or confirm their biases.

3/

I just wrote a book on Disinformation and included the election lies, so I don't say this lightly, but both of these tear at the fabric of a democracy:

(1) disinformation and misinformation
(2) the kind of outrage and fury that exacerbates polarization.

Unfortunately, both of those are profit driven.

maybe that should be next week's blog posts and I take off the rest of the week 😉

I spent an absurd amount of time writing this week's post because I knew I was going against the current.

4/

@jorgecandeias @Teri_Kanefield It also puts food on tables and a roofs over heads. I've long held that democracy and capitalism are two sides of the same coin, where the problem space both are living in and failing to solve is power imbalance.

OK, maybe not a coin, but a tetrahedral die with knowledge/audience and weaponry on the other two sides.

Don't own the powerlessness. Every little bit weights the die.

@jorgecandeias @Teri_Kanefield Then we need to back up with people and help them understand the ragebaiting and how they can be susceptible to it. Yes, it feels inefficient because it takes a lot of time and patience, but people can smell whether you just want their vote or if you're really invested in empowering them to be a better voter. That's the smell of fear, and that's exactly what we're trying to de-escalate.

Rational discourse tends to avoid cortisol.

@janisf @Teri_Kanefield That takes a whole lot more time than what we have in very many places. Including the US, but not only the US. That's the whole problem. That's why it's a feedback loop I don't know how to get out of. When you're dealing with fascists, and we are, you can't lose once. You only seldom have the chance to try again if you do.

And people don't have that good of a sense of smell, unfortunately. They wouldn't be voting en masse in manipulative conmen if they had.

@jorgecandeias @Teri_Kanefield There are the fascists, and there are the people who run under the wing of fascism.

Here's your new target demographic: rural women. On the fringe of that are female students at private colleges. These are the people who change party when they see a picture of a fetus and eat 12 true-crime stories for breakfast. They are also easily swayed by "cute guys."

They (we?) swing hard.

https://flatlandkc.org/news-issues/meet-jessica-piper-missouris-dirt-road-democrat/