Blog 11 - Propoganda

Today in class during the awareness presentation, I learned more about propaganda. I learned that propaganda is information that is biased and intentionally misleading information shared to promote political stances or agendas with the goal to influence public opinion. Propaganda often shares the half-truth which is what makes it misleading. 

Every time I hear about propaganda, there is always mention of its use during wartime. Propaganda was very popular during World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. The posters often shared messages trying to persuade the audience to join the army, or influence their stance on the current controversy. 

The presentation on propaganda led me to do a little more digging. I found in this article that there are four common techniques used in propaganda including emotional persuasion, disinformation, denial of truth, and fight against propaganda. 

Emotional persuasion uses messages to pull at people’s heartstrings because many human opinions are based on feelings and emotions rather than facts or reasons. These messages rely on logical fallacies and cognitive biases. Logical fallacies are sneaky errors in reasoning while cognitive biases are errors in the interpretation of information from our brains. 

Disinformation is basically fake news, it may look real and truthful, but the information is false or not the entire truth. In order to use disinformation, propaganda would exploit some crack in the story then find a way to mix the truth and lies. Sometimes conspiracy theories or rumors are presented as news and create disinformation. 

Denial of truth is when someone denies that a fact is truthful or that something doesn't exist. People using this method try to persuade people to be on their side of denial. Denying that climate change exists is an example of this method. 

Propaganda can be effective, but it can also be dangerous due to its persuasive effect. The internet and social media have impacted the way propaganda is spread and has changed the form. Instead of existing in the form of printed posters, propaganda can be rapidly and widely spread on social media and websites. This encourages me to do true and factual research before basing my opinions on a single Instagram post. 

Additionally, this article shares many examples of how past propaganda has been transformed and used in other ways like memes or the same images but different messages. 

Blog Post 10 - The Spiral of Silence Theory

The Spiral of Silence theory was created in 1974 by a political scientist in Germany named Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. The theory claims that people tend to stay silent when they feel like their views do not align with the majority’s view of the subject. The theory also claims that the main reason an individual will stay silent is due to a fear of isolation. This isolation does have a spectrum. There could just be isolation from one friend or one friend group. On the other hand, a person could have extreme isolation such as losing their job or status. 

One important concept of the theory is that it revolves around major controversial topics such as abortion, presidential candidates, and legalizing gay marriage. People are not typically silent about their opinions for things that are not as relevant and controversial as their favorite fast-food restaurants. 

The internet has opened up a world of opportunity for the people in the minority opinion groups. Being able to voice your opinion through a screen is a lot less intimidating than facing an entire group of people at an event that has opposing views. There can still potentially be extreme isolation consequences like losing your job depending on the manner of the message. The internet also gives the silent minority a way to connect with others with similar views that they otherwise would not have met. For example, Facebook groups are a great way to connect with like-minded individuals and groups. 

Throughout the presidency of Donald Trump, there have been extreme actions taken against Trump supporters. These actions have led to many Trump supporters not speaking up and sharing their side out of fear of isolation, judgment, and hate. 

One example comes from Manchester, New Hampshire where homeowners in Milford and Brookline received letters threatening them for supporting President Trump in public. The letters claimed that the receivers had been identified as Trump supporters and their address been added to a database. The database serves as all of the places they should attack if Trump wins the election. The letter also recommended that they ensure they have quality coverage for fire damage on their home insurance policy. 

I have also seen many statements posted on social media claiming that if you support Donald Trump then you automatically are put into a certain category or label. The article I read provides the following quotes. 

“You cannot be a leader on racial justice and support Donald Trump.” - Dan Felte

“You cannot support Trump without implicitly endorsing his white supremacy.” - Dan Bristol, NextGen America

“Donald Trump is racist. If you still need to be convinced of that fact in 2020, you’re either also racist, due for some serious self-reflection, or both.” - Ronelle Tshiela

The University of New Hampshire Survey Center reported that ⅔ of Donald Trump supporters didn't want to put a Trump sign in their yard or a bumper sticker on their car out of fear of vandalism. The report also shared that 45 percent claim not to discuss their support for Trump with friends or coworkers.

I personally noticed way more social media posts, signs, commercials, and other advertisements supporting Joe Biden than I did for Trump. This could potentially be because of people’s fear of judgment, isolation, or another potential backlash. 

This specific example of the Spiral of Silence theory could impact the outcome of the election. Only time will tell.