stan wrote:There have been articles all over the shop, with him being a raging, violent left wing nutter to a gun loving conservative Mormon.
And this is just another example of the division we are seeing in the world generally at the moment.
EG: The Kirk event happens, then the writers go hard, trying the make the biggest headline they can, so it gets the most clicks and the algorithm pushes it out the most.
So, the range of headlines exist, and the algo pushes certain ones to certain people depending on what you've previously read.
Some people get:
Devoted Christian, Husband and Family Man assonated while educating the Youth of America.
While others get:
Misogynistic Bigot who advocated for guns, gets shot while spreading his hatred.
It's the same event.
But depending on what story the algo pushes you, depends on what 'story' you get about it.
And even though you are aware of the different narratives going on, and how the algo works, you can't help but lean slightly towards the side you are being fed more of. You think you are being impartial, you think you are smart enough not to fall for it, but subconsciously, it does drift you slightly towards one side.
I think most people want countries to come back to the middle and unite a bit more. I think most people agree divided populations are not helpful. But bringing the people back together isn't easy.
If you were to try, how would you do it?
It's not the writers fault for writing headlines that grab attention, that's their job.
It's not the algo's fault for pushing articles and content you engage with, it's their job to keep you on their app as long as possible.
You could say that's why we need a neutral news source like the ABC. But many would say the ABC isn't exactly neutral these days, and even if it was, most people chose to get their 'news' from social media, so won't see it anyway.
It's not the people's fault that they chose to get their news from their phones either.
Solving the division is an important step, but I'm not sure there is an easy, effective way to do it.