Everybody’s talking at me
I don’t hear a word they’re saying
Only the echoes of my mind
Everybody’s Talking by Harry Nilsson
I found a post titled: Facebook Is Censoring Your Feeds and This is Why! I would alter that title to read: Facebook is Censoring Your Feeds and This is Why It’s Hurting Us All.
The first video explains something I’ve been pointing out on my various Facebook pages.
Viva Capitalism! I understand a business needing to generate revenue. Got that. However, this guy makes some pretty good points as to why it is a bad idea for any platform to TELL YOU what you want to see and what you do not want to see. It’s SOCIAL media but you gotta PAY to actually share socially!
The second video is the one I really want you to think about.
This guy is a Progressive and my experiences in many ways confirm his premise. He takes it a step further to point out the danger in this “personalizing” of what information we are permitted to see.
Yes, you cannot possibly read through all those posts on Facebook, however, do we really want an algorithm controlling what we see? Ed Pariser says that Editors have a set of ethics that an algorithm does not. Today that is debatable but that is a discussion for another post.
His points should anger you…..and chill you to the bone. Ed says that this happens to his Conservative and his Progressive friends but I would say that the experience of Conservatives is much, much different. Yes, both feeds are personalized according to the individuals online behavior but I’d be interested in knowing if his Progressive friends have had trouble sharing things. Have their posts been censored by FB? Have their pages been inaccessible during certain intense news cycles? I would bet not.
That, however, is not the bottom line. The bottom line is that we all end up living in an echo chamber of our closely held views and beliefs. I believe that the testing of your world view needs to happen to either strengthen those beliefs or present you with views you had never considered….that can lead to an alteration of your views.
I’ve said many times that there are two world views at war for the hearts and minds of We the People. Our Constitutional Republic was built on the belief that the war should take place in the Arena of Ideas. For this to happen we need access to all the information about those ideas and their possible and actual consequences.
I believe most people hear more from the Progressive world view than the Conservative world view. When they DO hear a Conservative view it is usually in an attempt to demonize said view and the entire group of people who hold those beliefs. This perhaps works in reverse as well, however, the MSM is clearly broadcasting the Progressive World View the loudest.
We have gotten to the point where entertaining an alternate view means we have to abandon all of our Principles and Values. We have also gotten to the point where we are screaming at each other and neither side is hearing any of it. They only hear the echoes of their minds. All of which gets us nowhere. Our discourse has become destructive and many times juvenile. Some read a post that points out a concern about those who are violating the law of our land, our Constitution, and the only response is something on the order of: “they are all idiots” or worse. Yeah, THAT’s going to help.
I cannot even remember the last time someone who holds a different world view than I do was able to discuss things without personal insults. It seems it is becoming the default response of many Conservative voices. This may be a reaction to the attacks from the Progressive voices but it is still not useful. There are things I’d like to share with those who disagree with me but I know the insults and ad hominem attacks will turn them off even before they get to the information I want them to think about.
This should frighten us all. This kind of behavior alienates us from one another and the things we can truly come together on never get considered. While we are yelling at each other there are people who are using that cacophony of voices to silently amass the power to achieve ends which would horrify us all.
Which brings me to an article I found about People Who Were Erased From History. This appears to be a favorite pastime of Dictators throughout history. And you thought Orwell’s 1984 was FICTION! Somewhere behind every dictator is an army of Winstons changing history.
If you do not think this could possibly happen now….here in the United States of America…you are sadly mistaken.
It already is.
Restoring Honor Starts Here 