Sociologists, political scientists and historians all confirm the effects of rapid social change. For that matter, most Americans recognize those effects: when the world one inhabits seems different every day, when previous cultural assumptions are being upended daily, widespread disorientation and animus shouldn’t surprise us.
We are at one of those moments in human history when change–especially but certainly not exclusively the almost daily advances in technology–challenge the millions of Americans who grew up with telephones anchored to walls, written messages sent via the post office, and cars that required far more extensive human control.
I am one of the millions of older Americans who watch grandchildren using devices we only dimly understand, and struggle to comprehend the dimensions of–and arguments over–Artificial Intelligence. I’m not one of those who reject these creations out of hand, but I do recognize an uncomfortable fact: we really don’t know how these “advances” are changing human and social behavior.
And that admission brings me to what is perhaps the most pervasive and troubling of these new communication mechanisms: the proliferating social media platforms and the algorithms producing the dopamine that keeps users glued to them.
A recent article in Lincoln Square was appropriately titled, “Life Under a Clicktatorship.”
The article began by noting that the faux “Situation Room” portrayed on Trump’s social media during the Maduro kidnapping had (inadvertently?) shown a screen with X in the background.
With the best intelligence systems in the world at their fingertips, they were checking X in the midst of the mission? Combined with the curtains separating some section of Mar‑A‑Lago from the rest of the President’s resort, the images create an almost surreal air. It felt as if a group of twelve-year-old boys in a basement had been handed control of the most lethal military in history—and were using it to boost their online brands.
The article noted that Trump effectively uses social media to draw attention, reshape norms, and fuel conspiracy theories–in this case, turning “avowed MAGA isolationists into enthusiastic colonial imperialists overnight.” But the challenge we face is, as it insists, far more worrisome and widespread than the single talent of our demented President.
Social media operates like a drug. It feeds us dopamine and rewires our brains’ reward pathways, and those “unhealthy dynamics” are made worse by the anonymity offered and (as the article notes) the fact that “standing out online often demands being awful—channeling negative emotions like anger and outrage, usually based on misinformation or conspiracy theories.”
These characteristics of social media have been shown to have a profound effect on voter behavior. They also affect how policymakers use public power. The author argues–pretty persuasively–that the members of Trump’s administration aren’t just using social media to support their preferred narratives. There is evidence that many of them are deeply addicted to it.
We would be concerned if a senior government official was an alcoholic or drug addict, knowing it could impair judgment and decisionmaking. But we should be equally concerned about Pete Hegseth and Elon Musk’s social media compulsions—just as much as their alcohol or ketamine use, respectively.
The Trump administration is made up of a cabinet of posters. For many, that’s how they won Trump’s attention. The head of the FBI, for example, is a podcaster—that’s his main qualifier for the job.
They view the world through a social media lens in a way that is plausibly corrupting their judgment and undermining their performance.
Thanks to the nature of the current information environment, most Americans occupy information “bubbles.” I certainly do, and I rather imagine most of my subscribers are right in there with me. That said, most ordinary people still don’t spend much time on social media–a fact that motivates those the article dubs “outrage farmers” to compete for followers by engaging in outrage and employing bots programmed to exacerbate division.
Those who spend excessive time online exhibit more and more extreme behaviors in order to keep the dopamine coming. And as the author points out, living in these bubbles distorts reality far more for the rich and powerful, who already have limited contact with ordinary people.
When government officials are addicted to social media, they prioritize pleasing their audiences rather than their constituents.
For instance, the Podcaster/Director of the FBI reportedly fired veteran FBI leaders to curry favor with online critics. USAID was the first federal agency killed by online conspiracy theories—with tragic results.
At a time when Americans are already deeply polarized–social media addiction is deepening our divisions. It’s a problem.
As an investigative journalist, I truly appreciate the advances in technology. For my research into the killing of Charlie Kirk, it has been a masterful experience. When it forgot our conversation from the day before, I told Gemini AI I was disappointed, and it apologized, calling itself my “intellectual partner.”
However, you have to be able to communicate what you want it to do. It is also excellent for fact-checking, but once again, you have to communicate clearly what you are seeking. Remember the old adage, “Garbage in, garbage out!”
It gave me a positive report on the Brookings and Atlantic Council until I called, Bullshit, that they were both MIC and CIA tools. It then confirmed that fact and explained why. So, you have to “communicate” clearly.
Notice the theme?
Also, if you use social media for entertainment, you are missing the point. I use it as a tool and filter out the rest. I’m on and off quickly. I use X to see what’s trending. If you notice, many of today’s news articles embed social media posts, especially Trump’s Truth Social, where he actually manages the country with posts. He gives orders to his administration through social media.
It’s a good idea, but you have to be careful and communicate clearly. That is not Trump’s strongest asset. LOL
And, Dan Bongino was a podcaster like his boss, Kash Patel. He resigned from the FBI and thought he’d slide back into his old role, but he was in for a rude awakening. Nobody showed up to listen to him. The ones who did hammered him for being a trader and a conman. He spent years demanding action on the Epstein case, then was actually chosen to do something about it, and he did nothing. He actually did worse than nothing, since he went around telling people that Epstein killed himself and didn’t blackmail any of his clients. LOL #idiot
p.s. I hope blog subscribers saw Mark Carney receive the red-carpet treatment at the airport in China recently. Trump has pushed our closest neighbors into the arms of China. Once they leave, and it becomes profitable, Canada will not return. #ouch
The Amazing Generation, a book written recently by Jonathan Haight and Catherine Price, tells young people in a format tailored to them about the way the “tech wizards are rewiring their brains.”
About 10 years ago, I wasted an hour on TikTok and it was then I realized how useless it was. I deleted the app. A few years later as partisan content exploded on Facebook, I unfriended all the people posting inflammatory stuff and completely changed the way I was posting content, and almost never sharing unless it was something I generated myself. I never was on X, or instagram. Facebook, for me, is back to what my family and friends are up to.
To give an idea of how algorithms on social media distort reality, I was traveling a few years ago. We were staying just south of Orlando. I googled “top rated restaurants near me”. The #1 result was a yelp listing. It was for Old Country Buffet! Yelp had accumulated some 10,000+ 5 star reviews for this particular restaurant. Thinking about this it made some weird kind of sense. Families escaping Disney and $10 hot dogs looking for a quick, reasonably priced meal found this place But Okd Country Buffet does not fit my definition of “top rated” restaurant. But that incident showed to me the shortcomings of social media and the algorithms that drive certain content to the top.
Living your life driven by social media would give you one terribly warped view of the world.
Todd, have you considered that you might just be manipulating AI? It doesn’t give you what you want until you make your perspective clear, then it gives you everything you ask for, with citations to confirm it. Try reversing your perspective on one of the issues you’ve given AI to investigate. See what it would give you if you were MAGA.
Dan,
The algorithm manipulation is why users wanted Facebook to be open source like Wikipedia. Do you think Elon has changed the algorithm to promote right-wing posts over other posts. So, you got algorithms and also bots manipulating what people see. Influencers who post their anti-oligarchy research on YouTube and gain popularity, get blocked or demonetized because a company or the government demands it.
In other words, if you are truthful and gain popularity, you are dangerous. You will be attacked by bots, manipulated by the algorithm, blocked and/or demonetized.
Once we have open-sourced alternatives, I’ll be using those sites.
Sadly, you have identified our culture very well. My heart aches for our children and grandchildren. dumptrump is destroying kindness, integrity, and decency in a way that is jeopardizing our world. We must protect the future or there won’t be one.
I am not on FB, nor on X, or any other of these things, and, yes, I am in my own bubble, I suppose, but see no reason to look at Faux News, or any of the other similarly idiotic sources of BS, in order to learn/see what they are spewing. And, my cardiologist would not want my B/P to soar.
Hegseth and Mr. FBI are both clowns with no serious resumé, and are there because Trump can not stomach anyone with real bona-fides.
A great and important column that subsumes both our cultural and political problems. Whomever named dopamine got it right….it is “dope” and it causes people to become “dopes”.
Western European nations strongly support democracy because their populations are not largely shackled to religious sects that are commonly right wing. The public policy of those developed nations shows greater empathy and the people record greater happiness.
In this comment thread, Todd mentioned conflict entrepreneur, Dan Bongino. Bongino’s K-12 education was Catholic. The site, Church and State, posted the 15 mind control techniques used by churches and cults. They include manipulating emotion by making impossible promises and horrific threats, separating believers from non-believers, the virtue of willing obedience, etc.
The AI generated answer to the Google query- how many Catholics are Fox hosts-
provides insight into the Trump power dynamic. AI’s list has noticeable omissions like Bongino who filled in for Fox hosts and former host, Jeanine Pirro, who graduated from Catholic high school. Facebook posts describe other Catholic Fox hosts, Rachel Compos Duffy, Martha MacCallum and Brett Baier, not identified in the AI list.
In the right wing broadcast sphere, there are GOP outliers from sects other than the Protestant evangelical and Catholic sects. But, where is the equivalent to Fox’s influence that has hosts who are liberal religionists? They probably wouldn’t employ the well worn mind manipulation techniques that are so successfully taught in places of worship.
“The article began by noting that the faux “Situation Room” portrayed on Trump’s social media during the Maduro kidnapping had (inadvertently?) shown a screen with X in the background.”
Move ahead to yesterday with Trump posing with his second-hand Nobel Peace Prize which he claims is rightfully his. His “partner-in-crime” Machado should have been more deeply investigated by the Nobel Committee; something this illogical and stupid must have been evidenced in her political past. If the Nobel Committee does not rescind this award, from one who has no idea what it means or is totally disrespectful of the honor, can we trust their choices in the future?
Or will Congress and SCOTUS protect his ownership of this honor?
Peggy,
I couldn’t explain how it works very well, so I asked AI about it, and it hit the nail on the head by writing:
“Ultimately, while the goal is to provide balanced and factual information, the inherent reliance on establishment data means that institutional frameworks are often the default starting point for many responses.”
That has been my experience – the default is pro-establishment because that’s where it gathers most of its data from. However, if you keep digging and ask anti-establishment questions, it will, if possible, deviate from their scripted answers. I have offered my opinion on certain topics, which were plain shut down as opinion, not fact. I would imagine that any MAGA viewpoint would be shut down as well because there are no facts supporting their view.
For instance, regarding the Charlie Kirk murder, it stuck with the FBI’s narrative as its initial scripted response. When I had it review a video that captured the two guys before the shot and showed them immediately removing the lavalier and detonation device, it led us down different paths. Then it became a research partner and legal expert since it has access to all state and federal laws. It wrote all my letters and FOIAs, or told me which website to submit my requests.