In these days of information access, people who want your attention for whatever reason seem to always go to the extremes to get it. Fear mongering and over exaggeration have become the means of advertising by which they draw people in to watch their show or click their link. Often these hyped up headlines are used to deceive as well.
In a way, the internet has turned into this side show carnival with all of the callers out there trying to get you to stop at their booth and play thier game.... maybe you will win a prize. If you enter their tent, you just might see the most amazing freak you have ever seen. Go to the big top and see all the entertainment to excite and amaze you. You will be amazed by what you see.
A lot of these hype headlines are hooks to draw you in. See this little puppy. What he does next is amazing. then you waste 2 minutes of your life watching some dog play with a bird or something or other. Or in the political realm you might see something like, what Obama just did will make you mad. Then of course you have to click and find out what it is. Sometimes it is not even a story, but just a headline. Other times you find out, maybe after believing it, that it was a fake story put out by some sort of "satire" page. Yet other times it ends up being a propaganda piece trying to convince you of the evils of the other party. There is so much bull it is hard to tell where the grass is.
The problem with this sort of thing is that it makes people jaded. It all begins to look alike and people tune it out. Then when something comes along the really IS important, nobody believes it, nor are interested in it. They just think it as being more bologna.
Most people just buy their own brand of bologna. They believe what they want to believe and any evidence to the contrary is just denied offhand because they see it as just a different brand of bologna that they don't like. The left will never believe anything from Faux news, nor will those on the right accept an MSNBC description. It is all the hyped up and dishonest propaganda that makes people like this.
Similar things happen in my favorite genre of weather. News outlets put out scare tales of some impending doom coming from the next storm that never come to pass or live up to the hype. Then after a while, people just stop believing it. That can cost lives.
Perhaps it was the memes that began this whole thing. I remember when people first started using them. A picture with a little phrase on it seems to hold more sway on peoples thoughts than any television advertisement ever could. People pass them around like crazy in the social circles. It doesn't matter whether it is truth or not, just that it sends out the right messages and puts thoughts into peoples heads.
Most of it really boils down to money. All those clicks and reads generate revenue for the things being promoted. Money is power. Power is control. Control is money. It is an endless circle, just as any carnival is, to separate you from your money... and control.
Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
No comments:
Post a Comment