America: The Dystopian Society
Since the beginning of history, America has been embellished through a horror known as propaganda. The truth behind this non-stop cycle of propaganda is a mystery worth digging deeper into. The basic dictionary definition of propaganda is “misleading information given to the public” (White.) It may seem as simple and innocent as that, but it's more evil than it appears to be. People of high status, such as government officials, politicians, and celebrities are all true manipulators as they use innocent civilians as their pawns. This group of individuals use brainwashing tactics to gaslight and manipulate modern American society. Social media has elevated into several platforms in which the people of high status take advantage of the public and spread propaganda. Some might argue that celebrities and politicians who use social media only use it to build their platform and send messages in positive ways. While this may be true in certain situations, the government wants society to believe this and fall right into their brainwashing scheme, allowing the citizens to suffer from mind control.
It's absurd to imagine the amount of people who blindly put their faith in the government. Think about how often the media has been abused by the power of politicians. From manipulating campaigns, to promoting misinformation on an industrial scale, the spread of propaganda is more common in the community of politics than it appears to be. But how can one person alone create such secretive chaos? Politics need the help of “computer-based technology that facilitates the sharing of ideas, thoughts, and information through virtual networks and communities” or social media in simpler terms (Dollarhide.) Taking advantage of this power, political parties spend “millions on private sector ‘cyber troops’, who drown out other voices on social media” (Social Media Manipulation by Political Actors an Industrial Scale Problem). They use specific citizens, such as the ones who have a high media platform, to help them on spreadings false messages throughout social media. According to Oxford’s researchers, nearly 60 million dollars were spent on bots and amplification strategies. Media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are given $10 million for promoting political advertisements. Take former president Donald Trump as an example, many of his presidential messages were through Twitter. “Of Trump’s 10 most-popular tweets, four contained false claims related to the 2020 election results” (Rattner.) These unreliable, false claims made by presidential candidates give a clear understanding of how corrupt the governmental system truly is. The government's use of constant propaganda affects America and shapes it into a propaganda, dystopian society.
The news allows Americans to become addicted to the raw exploitation of fake news. Almost every news channel creates stories produced with a dash of propaganda. As a different form of communication, news centers speak directly to their audience every single day as a routine to create a systematic schedule for citizens to fill their brains up with propaganda. “So much propaganda today is about framing the conversation on false terms or overwhelming the public with disinformation, even mainstream outlets like the New York Times or the Washington Post can contribute to the problem” (Illing.) Tuning into these news channels and even radio stations on a daily basis can lead to the dependency of fake news, creating a brainwashing and mind control facility. The news isn't as innocent as it seems. As it informs you about daily updates on the government, it's also creating the reliance on needing to know more and more information as a form of mind control. A great example of mind control is shown throughout the book “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, where the citizens have gotten into a daily habit of hypnopaedia, which was formed by their government system to brainwash and manipulate the citizens. “My baby. My baby…! Mother! The madness is infectious ” (41). The repetition creates their brains to believe the words unconsciously. Americans are used to fake news revolving around them almost all the time so it should be considered basic human nature to fall for propaganda so easily.
Politicians and government officials aren't the only ones indulging in propaganda. Celebrities and social media influencers are in on it as well. Celebrities are a different category when it comes to people of power and high status. These are people that are well known and highly liked in many cases. The average person depends on their favorite celebrity and grows emotionally attached, almost as if they’ve known them their whole lives. The dependency has driven Americans to go as far as glorifying, idolizing, and even worshiping these people without even realizing it. Celebrities have a few mind control tactics up their sleeves when it comes to a particular topic mentioned before: social media. Many people fall into the lure of purchasing products online promoted by their favorite celebrities. They have “the best ways to promote companies products, set different trends, and voice opinions” (LaFreniere.) When the average American falls into this trap, they are setting themselves up to be used and abused by the evil manipulators disguised behind the mask of celebrities. It has become modernized basic human nature to behave and have the same opinion as these celebrities. Take celebs like Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Rihanna, for example, they all have over 65 million followers on the social media platform called instagram and are able to grasp the attention of anyone who catches a glimpse of their so called “reality.” With an intensely high follower count, more and more people are tangled up in social media mind control tactics. The media projects an abnormal celebrity image out to the public, allowing individuals to be drawn into this scam.
The fear of technology and individualism takes place within the topic of propaganda due to the modernization of social media. Many people are influenced and manipulated into having the same opinions as one another, leading to less individualism. Changes in regulations in social media and platforms given by people of high status should be balanced out by the government. Americans are foredoomed by all the corruption, manipulation, gaslighting, and brainwashing by all the propaganda filled in American society. The addiction of Americans injecting themselves with propaganda and fake news on a daily basis is degrading the whole nation.
Work Cited
Dollarhide, Maya. “Social Media: Sharing Ideas and Thoughts.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 7 Dec. 2021, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-media.asp.
Illing, Sean. “How Propaganda Works in the Digital Age.” Vox, Vox, 18 Oct. 2019, https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/18/20898584/fox-news-trump-propaganda-jason-stanley.
LaFreniere, Natalie. “Celebrity Influence on Today's Society.” Medium, Medium, 30 Apr. 2018, https://medium.com/@nlafreniere/celebrity-influence-on-todays-soiety-77321834955a.
Rattner, Nate. “Trump's Election Lies Were among His Most Popular Tweets.” CNBC, CNBC, 13 Jan. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/13/trump-tweets-legacy-of-lies-misinformation-distrust.html.
“Social Media Manipulation by Political Actors an Industrial Scale Problem - Oxford Report.” University of Oxford, University of Oxford, 2021, https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-01-13-social-media-manipulation-political-actors-industrial-scale-problem-oxford-report.
White, David. “Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers.” Study.com | Take Online Courses. Earn College Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers, Study.com , 2021, https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-propaganda-definition-techniques-types-examples.html.