I absolutely agree with the role of social media on our rising polarization.

Many people have talked about and analyzed this. But the analysis that I find most insightful is also the first one that I read. https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulato.... It not only discusses how the dynamics of what goes viral leads to polarization, it also explains how the economics of how news is delivered today mirror those that created the yellow press over a century ago. And why both wind up delivering polarizing conspiracy theories with limited factual accuracy.

I have no idea what to do about the problem. But at least I feel that I can understand it.

The Daily Stoic was created by Ryan Holiday. I believe that he really did a lot to encourage current popularity for Stoicism.

But it is interesting to note that he seems to have gotten into Stoic philosophy to make up for the sins that he committed as a digital marketer. Of his books, his expose on social media and digital marketing, https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulato..., is my favorite.

If this worries you, read, "Trust Me, I'm Lying" for more frightening insights into the world of journalism:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0074VTHH0/

This has been working exactly the same ever since the invention of the media. This problem is not specific to Twitter. Actually doing something like this (creating something out of nothing) is PR 101.

If you are not familiar but interested in learning more. This book is a good primer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0074VTHH0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...

yes precisely! i'm sure Facebook's methods are very susceptible to these types of attacks. Hopefully they still are in 6 years and we can get jobs fixing this for them lol.

I also really recommend this book https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulato...

The type of attack is a lot more oldschool but nonetheless, pretty effective.

I read this and my first instinct was "what PR team pitched this story?"

Maybe none. But one way the times could re establish credibility with me is to be transparent about how much the writer engaged with pr reps or communications teams in each story. It doesn't have to be exhaustive.

By the way- Part of my journey to this level of skepticism was "Trust me, I'm Lying" by Ryan Holiday https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulato...

>Gawker fucked up a lot. But our media landscape is worse off without it.

I disagree that we're clearly worse off. For a good explanation on why, this is a pretty good read:

https://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulato...

The thesis, for those less interested in buying the book, is that when we embraced blogs like Gawker and Buzzfeed as a source of news content, the quality of our news decreased drastically.

You went from sort of the New York Times subscription-based model, where people are subscribed already and your journalists can focus on the quality of your content, back to the days of "EXTRA! Read all about it," where everyone is just trying to be heard over the thousands of other available blogs.

So our headlines became clickbait, content became lies, and because it's so pervasive, there is little to no accountability.

The hogan case is important because it adds accountability.

Standard marketing BS these days [0]. Announce the coming announcement for the pre-ordering of an unreleased product. A fake news event to generate the exact press they're getting.

I wouldn't be surprised if they announce the price before that timer goes away, just to get another round of press.

[0] Stuff like this is outlined in "Trust Me, I'm Lying" - http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator...

> I mean, seriously, what on earth are you addressing here? Who are you talking to?

For anyone that's equally confused, I highly recommend reading the book "Trust Me, I'm Lying": http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator...

What's happening right now isn't entirely intuitive, so it's understandable to be a bit lost, but what the parent is talking about is a serious, legitimate issue.

Have any of you read the book: Trust Me I'm Lying (http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator...)? I have not, but have had many discussions with friends who have read it. It's my understanding that the premise of the book is that mainstream media isn't as relevant as they use to be due to the rise of blogs; mainstream media picks up stories from a lot of blogs. Many of these stories are planted there by media manipulators to drum up controversy and thus increase sales.

Admittedly, I don't have evidence to suggest this, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was just a publicity stunt.

Edit: I'm not claiming the hack was a publicity stunt, I'm claiming that I wouldn't be surprised if the cancelation of the movie was a publicity stunt.

Awesome. Reminds me of "Trust Me, I'm Lying". I don't recommend using any of the techniques in the book, but if you're interested in media, the book provides a unique view into the guts of the system.

http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator...

Ever read this?

This book is full of examples of shocking things bloggers/journalists do: http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Me-Lying-Confessions-Manipulator...