Key Insights: How We are Targeted

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19u6zZ8-qSkKa_AnU82L6CxBBQd0QwJ6LMKw8ds1_Enk/edit?usp=sharing

Propaganda can be used in many different forms for many different reasons. The Top 5 Insights that I chose to write about were Propaganda and the Attention Economy, The Dark Side of Propaganda, Conspiracy Theories, Art and Activism in Propaganda, and Terrorism as Propaganda. Although these insights are all different, they have one thing in common, which is the spread of information being used to convey a certain message. Propaganda and the Attention Economy touches on how we are targeted by algorithms and personalized journalism, and how some see this as positive and others see this as negative. This is the way in which platforms are able to cater to what we want to read, based on our search history, and how they recommend more content to us based on this information. The Dark Side of Propaganda touches on elections, politics, and why people trust people who blatantly lie to them due to their beliefs. Conspiracy Theories touch on what is fake news and what is real news, such as Covid-19 conspiracies and the Holocaust denial, which are harmful forms of propaganda. Art and Activism in Propaganda was one of the only positive forms of propaganda that I wrote about, and this touches on how beneficial propaganda can influence people to make a change and raise awareness about social issues in society. Terrorism as Propaganda touches on how extremist information can be spread through online forums and how extremist groups use the internet to share propaganda and influence people to side with them. Propaganda, as you can see, can be both positive and negative, depending on what and who it is created about or for. These are all very important topics surrounding propaganda and give many different points of view about different information, and I learned a lot from writing and researching about them as well.