Introduction
In today’s world, if you ask yourself what influences people more than anything else, the media will be one of the answers. Young people’s screen time is skyrocketing, and the social world has become the primary source of information. All transformations in societal values and changes in the state’s ideology are reflected in the media’s activities. The negative impact of modern media is evident in the manipulation of mass consciousness, which utilizes replicated standards of behavior, controls, and transforms a person’s inner world and psyche.
At the present stage, the media have evolved from simple means of finding, processing, and transmitting information into tools that control the human brain. Instead of expanding the horizons of human consciousness and giving it independence in judgments, modern media increasingly tightly manipulate the crowd’s consciousness. Thus, the media are no less dangerous than means of mass destruction, and the task of every individual is to be able to think critically and to distinguish the truth from a lie.
Manipulation Techniques Used by the Media
The flow of information has reached unprecedented proportions: distinguishing reality from falsehoods is becoming increasingly vital. The media use various methods, and understanding their characteristics will help you recognize manipulation. Lies, the substitution of concepts, inconsistency between the text and accompanying photo materials, and the absence of references to sources are just a few examples of what can be observed in a series of propaganda materials (Aral & Eckles, 2019).
Nevertheless, the first distinctive manipulation method is a blow ahead, based on the advanced removal of negative information for the leading target group. At the same time, this data obtains maximum resonance. By the time the data arrives later, and an unpopular decision has to be made, the audience will already be tired of the topic and will not react too negatively.
Equally significant is the emotional charge; this manipulation technique is designed to evoke feelings. Providing the necessary information with the appropriate emotions enables bypassing the barrier and triggering an explosion of passion in the individual (Krafft & Donovan, 2020). A similar manipulation effect is used in several reality shows, where participants speak in high-pitched tones and exhibit emotional excitement, encouraging viewers to keep watching and empathize with the main characters (Aral & Eckles, 2019).
Moreover, opinion leaders are an increasingly popular method that is widely recognized. Nowadays, everyone has a favorite blogger whose advice they blindly believe. It is enough to call a person an expert in any field, and his words will be taken uncritically.
One great example is cigarette advertising in the 20th century. Advertising campaigns of that era sought to convince audiences of tobacco’s healing properties. Magazines often depicted ruddy doctors in white coats proudly blowing smoke. Numerous posters depicted in bright colors appealed to children and were found fun, unaware that cigarettes could harm them (Wu et al., 2019).
The media easily manipulates people’s opinions by interpreting information in its own way. In other words, they create one based on real information that will be more profitable. After all, the media only have to frame the picture or change the angle to distort information.
The most straightforward, yet typical, technique is repetition. “A lie repeated a thousand times becomes the truth,” said Joseph Goebbels (Krafft & Donovan, 2020). To use this approach, manipulators should simplify the text, making it susceptible to a low-intellectual audience. Strange as it may seem, it is practically the only way to ensure that the necessary information is conveyed to the audience and correctly perceived. The information shared is firmly ingrained in the listeners’ subconscious and will then influence their consciousness, and therefore, the commission of specific actions. The veil of lies is dense but still porous, and everyone must be able to recognize manipulation.
How Not to Become a Victim of Manipulation
At first glance, it seems pretty simple: to avoid becoming a victim of manipulation, one must recognize it. However, not everyone knows the most effective ways to recognize and ignore incorrect data. The first indication of manipulation is the language itself. If a politician or presenter uses incomprehensible, specialized, or general words, they are likely trying to hide something. It is easier to say, “All possible measures have been taken to implement the Juvenile Deviant Behavior Plan,” than to admit that the education of students in today’s schools is lame (Aral & Eckles, 2019).
Therefore, it is equally important to analyze all available information on social networks, regardless of source type. Since the manipulator often triggers emotions, try to temper them. Having perceived the message, trying to retell it to yourself, and using your categories and concepts are important (Krafft & Donovan, 2020). As you may recall, the manipulator uses sophisticated language to outsmart you. However, once you move to your own inner, native language, the magic of manipulation dissipates.
Most notably, when faced with manipulation, you must look for the intention the manipulator is trying to hide. Critical thinking is the key to finding quality information and distinguishing it from fake sources, and one needs to devote free time to its development. It is always necessary to verify the page’s web address, as fake news sites sometimes use spelling errors or uncommon domain extensions.
It is essential to research the author’s background to determine their credibility, including whether they are a real person, their reputation, whether their articles align with a specific area of expertise, and whether they consistently address certain issues (Wu et al., 2019). Reliable news includes numerous facts, such as data, statistics, and expert quotes, along with other relevant information. The more information an individual receives from various sources and perspectives, the more likely it is that accurate conclusions can be drawn.
Conclusion
For many decades, two global, sometimes opposing tendencies have existed in the media: the audience as an object of manipulation and the audience as a participant and partner in the information process. Social networks were not originally intended to be used as a political or manipulative tool. They planned to be a free and democratic space for friends and relatives to communicate. However, as soon as social networks, with their vast opportunities to segment users by interests, gained a large audience, they became the domain of business and politics.
The media are increasingly being used as a quick and inexpensive way of mass-promoting false information. I want to state that the media and communication means sincerely reflect their creators in all their incarnations, aspirations, and thoughts. They are the most potent weapon; studying means examining the creators and their creations. It means understanding the arena where various companies and media channels fight. To avoid living in an information vacuum, one must think critically, and analysis is a necessity in today’s world.
References
Aral, S., & Eckles, D. (2019). Protecting elections from social media manipulation. Science, 365(6456), 858-861.
Krafft, P. M., & Donovan, J. (2020). Disinformation by design: The use of evidence collages and platform filtering in a media manipulation campaign. Political Communication, 37(2), 194-214.
Wu, L., Morstatter, F., Carley, K. M., & Liu, H. (2019). Misinformation in social media: definition, manipulation, and detection. ACM SIGKDD Explorations Newsletter, 21(2), 80-90.