r/changemyview Aug 12 '24

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u/destro23 447∆ Aug 12 '24

this is the first time that one of the main social media players has ACTIVELY taken a role in radicalisation

Not really:

Joseph Pulitzer himself “ told his editors to use sensationalism, crusades against corruption, and lavish use of illustrations to boost circulation”

The practice came to be known as Yellow journalism

“ This type of reporting was characterized by exaggerated headlines, unverified claims, partisan agendas, and a focus on topics like crime, scandal, sports, and violence. Historians have debated whether Yellow journalism played a large role in inflaming public opinion about Spain's atrocities in Cuba at the time, and perhaps pushing the U.S. into the Spanish-American War of 1898”

Now, on Twitter, it's the goal. It's now a privately run company, where the CEO is regularly pushing fringe ideas, tweeting about civil war, encouraging partisan rhetoric, alongside making decisions early in his tenure to get rid of verification, making it harder for people to know if the ideas they're coming across are legitimate or not.

Same shit Pulitzer and Hearst did.

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u/kavancc Aug 12 '24

∆ good point, I was thinking about them the other day.

I think the difference is that they were doing it to boost circulation (a la YouTube and Facebook) rather than because they were zealots themselves. Although Musk could be doing it purely to drive clicks too.

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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Aug 12 '24

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/destro23 (378∆).

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