Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 03:31:26 JST Mastodon Migration

   • William Lindsey :toad:

   Time To Talk About Psy-Ops

   Today @wdlindsy has an interesting thread on a Parker Malloy story about a woman who voted to Trump because she believed he would make IVF free: https://toad.social/@wdlindsy/114093770264536303

   The upshot is that while many criticize the woman, Malloy thinks the media is largely to blame, and does a good job of identifying the media tactics that lead to the woman's misconception.

   While this all may be interesting, the larger issue is the psychological warfare operations at play.

   Read on...

   • Rich Felker repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 03:31:26 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:

     @wdlindsy

     So let's spell it out. Billionaire owners use their media platforms to seed very specific false and misleading narratives and amplify them through repetition and algorithmic manipulation. By the time the casual news consumer gets their disinformation, (eg. free IVF) it has been established as a truth. Not a general truth, but a truth specifically focused at a vulnerable target audience.

     more...

     Rich Felker repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 03:31:43 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:

     @wdlindsy

     The 2024 election is replete with examples of how effective psy-ops amplified disinformation campaigns were effective at swaying voters. It is temping from an informed vantage point to blame these people for being bamboozled. It is also tempting to blame the media. However, doing so misses the full picture and does not provide the basis for effective counter strategies.

     more...

     Rich Felker repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 03:31:53 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:

     @wdlindsy

     First, on assigning blame. Certainly understand blaming these low information voters for not being able to see through the disinformation, but we need to realize that they are also targeted victims of sophisticated and tested psy-ops campaigns.

     Also, it is convenient to blame the media, and the media is complicit, but we need to recognize the media is just the weapon employed in these psy-ops tactics, and it is being targeted and fired by those setting the strategy.

     more...

     Rich Felker repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 03:31:56 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:

     @wdlindsy

     So, what can we do about psy-ops directed against us? The first step is to acknowledge it and expose it to the extent possible.

     Right now there's a very specific narrative the Zelensky meeting was going well until Zelenski out of the blue was rude. Also, he showed "disrespect" by not wearing a suit. This is being repeated ad nauseum, and as false as we know this to be, it is the disinformation low information people are receiving.

     more...

     Rich Felker repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 03:32:09 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:

     @wdlindsy

     One is temped to push back and explain that Trump/Vance was rude first, and leaders don't wear suits when a country is at war. But by doing so you implicitly acknowledge the psy-ops disinformation frame.

     Or to blame the media. The weapon.

     The better approach is to dismiss all of this out of hand very specifically as psychological operations. Use every occurrence as an opportunity to expose and attack the practice of targeted psy-ops disinformation by these billionaires.

     more...

     Rich Felker and Alexandre Oliva repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 03:32:20 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:

     @wdlindsy

     If we can make the public understand the frame that they are under relentless psy-ops attacks from specific shady people and organizations who are trying to manipulate them to act in ways contrary to their interests. That, they need to guard themselves against such manipulations and be more skeptically consumers of information. Then, we will be establishing an effective defensive counter to this pervasive psychological warfare that is warping out society.

     fin

   • Embed this notice
     Brian (beatzai@linuxrocks.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 10:13:20 JST Brian

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:

     @mastodonmigration @wdlindsy it’s hard for me to take them seriously when they complain about how he was dressed when #elon has never shown a willingness to wear a suit and no one bats an eye.

     clacke@libranet.de is my main [fds] likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 10:13:25 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:
     • Brian

     @beatzai @wdlindsy

     Of course, it is nonsense. But if you were to check out YouTube comments right now (don't it's awful) you would see unfettered vitriol against Zelenski for being "disrespectful". This is something that will be repeated in every forum and amplified by selection algorithms and the mainstream media. People who don't pay as much attention to the news will never-the-less absorb a negative impression of Zelenski. This is the objective of this planned attack.

     clacke@libranet.de is my main [fds] likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 10:13:58 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • Brian

     @beatzai

     An analogy can be made to alcoholism. People hate alcoholism analogies, but in this case it is apt. You simply can not tell an alcoholic that they have a problem. They have established a powerful self delusion that they are okay, even if it is obvious to others around them. The only thing that can break through to get them to sober up is some sort of personal crisis. In the case of MAGA this 'rock bottom' moment may be losing their Social Security or Medicare, but don't bet on it.

     clacke@libranet.de is my main [fds] likes this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mastodon Migration (mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 10:13:59 JST Mastodon Migration

     in reply to

     • Brian

     @beatzai

     Very sorry for you. That must really suck. And yes, Fox News is a principle weapon in the information war being waged against this country. The amount of disinformation that their audience soaks up is truly amazing. To be clear, not saying that these folks are blameless, just that they are also targets of deliberate sophisticated psychological manipulation. Breaking the spell is very difficult and with those truly really far gone, probably impossible.

   • Embed this notice
     Brian (beatzai@linuxrocks.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 10:13:59 JST Brian

     in reply to

     @mastodonmigration I’ve always been a maverick and don’t let anyone tell me what or how to think. I love them but I try my best not to discuss politics with anyone, not even my own wife. You’re right that they’re victims of psy-ops but I don’t know if there’s a way to make them see other points of view

   • Embed this notice
     Brian (beatzai@linuxrocks.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 10:14:00 JST Brian

     in reply to

     @mastodonmigration my whole family other than me are MAGA. They DO pay attention to the news, specifically Fox News and therein lies the problem. They exist in an information bubble

   • Embed this notice
     Three plus or minus five (threesigma@mastodon.online)'s status on Monday, 03-Mar-2025 10:14:10 JST Three plus or minus five

     in reply to

     • William Lindsey :toad:

     @mastodonmigration @wdlindsy
     I think the problem with this method is that it supports "the lizard people are behind it all" as much as the truth. When told that the dominant narrative is made up, people are just as likely to go to conspiracy theory as they are the truth.

     This is how we have QAnon and similar crazy stuff, most of which feeds the right.

     It leads to "everything is corrupt, tear it all down", which is what they want.

     clacke@libranet.de is my main [fds] likes this.