You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism
You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism
Authoritarians and tech CEOs now share the same goal: to keep us locked in an eternal doomscroll instead of organizing against them, Janus Rose writes.
I found this to be a great write-up on how social media enables fascism by providing a sense of false agency: Posting online we feel like we are doing something, and we end up wasting our time shouting in a void rather than actually resisting.
Many of my journalist colleagues have attempted to beat back the tide under banners like “fighting disinformation” and “accountability.” While these efforts are admirable, the past few years have changed my own internal calculus. Thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Hannah Arendt warned us that the point of this deluge is not to persuade, but to overwhelm and paralyze our capacity to act. More recently, researchers have found that the viral outrage disseminated on social media in response to these ridiculous claims actually reduces the effectiveness of collective action. The result is a media environment that keeps us in a state of debilitating fear and anger, endlessly reacting to our oppressors instead of organizing against them.
Plus, it takes time to have a political impact. If you are burnt out from just getting by you're basically not going to do it. One of the main reasons that rich people have more influence is because they are paying other people to clean and maintain their stuff, cook their meals and mind their children. They have time on their hands, and headspace.
Pretty sure there is a core of truth in that but the other side is also true. Where I live, the youth has no other input then tiktok and getting owned on tiktok is equal to getting owned politically.
Of course this means you should not engage in endless political debates. Still it is highly beneficial to debate online to hone your thoughts so you can articulate them well.
Imo the right mix does the trick. Spread what you think is important, keep your feed free of trolls and misinformation, get out there with your sign and march with the others. Organize online to find likeminded people, etc.