Media manipulates us, primarily to get us to click on their articles, to create buzz, and to help make particular topics trend higher in the algorithms, which translates to advertizing dollars and income for them.
WHO PAYS FOR the ads? Who is behind the scenes promoting certain stories and in turn their viewpoints?
Follow the money I like to say!
The people behind the curtain, paying for the advertising or who pull the strings often sit in elected positions, who personally profit from public opinion being manipulated!
The manipulation can appear to be subtle, or it can be very clear and overt, depending on which site you visit!
Editorialization is an art practiced often in media.
Why stick to regular facts, when exaggeration or outright lies are so much more interesting to read?! Our media outlets have come to resemble the tabloids because people love to read salacious stories!
A more subtle form of manipulation occurs when the deliberate use of adjectives and adverbs are chosen to heighten a writer’s personal views, giving the news a slanted feel. Since this closely resembles how many gossipy people think and talk, this can be more difficult to spot.
For people who speak in more hot-headed ways, news media sources that also speak in the same way will appear to echo their thoughts, so being able to discern the lies is much more difficult for them because they’re caught up in the emotionality of it all.
What we reap is what we’ve sown!
We live in a society that prizes lies and exaggeration, all to put up a false front! Facebook, Instagram, TicToc, and other social media sites have enabled this by rewarding people monetarily who have the most followers, which only further reinforces this behavior! Who DOESN’T want to be rich and famous?
We’re all to blame for this, to one extent or another!
Tell me you’ve NEVER clicked on a juicy headline, NEVER liked a post that was even a little slanted, or NEVER shared anything which wasn’t appropriate, and you’d be in the MINORITY!!
MOST people have at one time or another clicked on a juicy headline! I have! I try not to for the most part, but I still do it, sometimes in spite of myself!
All of this online activity adds up to helping promote more lies, more manipulation, more exaggeration!
Every time we click on an article, every time we like or comment, we are helping make the topic trend even more! The algorithms are very obliging and will suggest more similar content for us, eventually leaving us surrounded only by those voices!
How do we stop this?
We stop this insanity by NOT clicking, by NOT sharing, by NOT commenting!
It’s difficult, I know! If you want to help change this, you can do your part by NOT DOING these things!
There are some media sites that always seem to offer at least slanted information, some are outright inflammatory.
As tantalizing as it may be to see what the latest gossip is, if you wish to take away their power to continue to manipulate, stay away from their sites!
If you struggle with that, are you perhaps a little addicted to the trash they put out?! Just asking!
Becoming aware of how much we’re all manipulated is the first step to becoming able to step away from it, purposefully!
This is something we can do for our mental health, as well as helping to make the world a tiny little bit better, for not contributing to the mania is helping to reduce it!!
I hope you’ll poke around my Archived Posts to find a wonderful trove of supportive and encouraging posts! Don’t forget to Like, Comment, and Follow my blog! If you want to become a Guest writer, please contact me and we’ll work out the details!
More things to ponder:
The ‘Difficult Person Test’ – something we needed but were afraid to ask for!
Internet shaming is more than repressed anger; there’s everyday Sadism underlying it.
What is Shifting, and is it really so new? Is it good for Mental Health?
What CAN we do to change the world?
Wishing everyone a wonderful future!
When the elephants poop in the ring… and other unexpected things!
“What kind of love do I allow in my life?”
10 Steps to Owning Our Happiness
Is Love Enough to Help Someone Kick a Drug Habit?
Angry judgementalism is tearing us all apart!
Setting “Boundaries with consequences”
Red Ocean or Blue Ocean? How do you think?
Making a change… “How do I take that first step?”
Blessings!
Tamara
https://tamarakulish.com/ Archived Posts: https://tamarakulish.com/archived-posts/
My books: Developing Happiness When You Can’t Find It and How to Heal Your Life on a Deep Heart Level are available in paperback and Kindle. Audio book available!
Guided Journals help you work on a particular issue by answering questions to help see patterns and to find solutions:
Removing Inner Blocks, Anger Journal, Guided Anxiety Journal Joy & Mindfulness Journal My Boundaries Journal My Inner Thoughts Journal
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Tamara Kulish 
It feels sad to know that authentic reporting is a rarity now and all the skills are utilized for a manufactured purpose and financial agenda. I am more of an observer of it all, allowing the real life events to filter in intuitively that feel aligned closest to truth. Rarely is there 100% truth in one perspective or one side. There are so many nuances to be considered. The quick-success media sites are too busy for me – I am a bit slow paced in processing information. So I am mostly sure I do not participate or engage with any sensationalized news.
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I’m with you! I try to stay away from all the opinion pieces and the ones which are obviously hyped. Political stuff just has me shaking my head because the more outrageous and inflammatory a person presents themself as being, the more people follow them to get their dose they’ve become addicted to.
However, there’s real situations in the world where I want to be informed so I do scroll and look to find information. All the laws being put forward to restrict women, people of color and the LGBTG communities are things I want to keep on top of. The war in Ukraine has me on the edge of my seat, as I have family on my father’s side there and we don’t know how much Putin is bluffing but given the horrors that he is inflicting, we know he’s very cold blooded and nations are trying to prevent WWIII.
It difficult to shut oneself off completely from the news since it affects so many people I know in North America and I’m Europe. *sigh!
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I hear you and undersatnd the layers of what you are saying. This is a Yes-And kind of perspective about how we don’t want to be pulled into the trenches of it all and yet stay aware of what is happening, added to that are our emotions for humanity as a whole and then our loved ones that we care/worry about. I relate because I live on the other side of the planet from my parents and relatives. Praying for your family members in Ukraine _()_
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🙏🙏🇺🇦🇺🇦🙏🙏 thank you! Praying for your family too!
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Excellent points and strategy to minimize the effects of these practices. Thank you, Tamara!
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Thanks! These days there’s so much slanted and blatantly false news being put out to purposely rile people up. It’s working because we see people’s anger, frustration and hatred spewing out on each other.
We blame the media, but if we can restrain our fingers from clicking obsessively on these articles, we can do our part to turn off that flowing tap the media is providing!
It’s very difficult to resist temptation because it’s all so salacious!
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