Screen LibraryManufacturing consensus : understanding propaganda in the era of automation and anonymity /
"Until recently, propaganda was a top-down, elite-only system of communication control used largely by state actors. Samuel Woolley argues that social media has democratized today's propaganda, allowing nearly anyone to launch a fairly sophisticated, computationally enhanced influence camp...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Published: |
Yale Univeristy Press,
|
| Publisher Address: | New Haven, CT : |
| Publication Dates: | [2023] |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"Until recently, propaganda was a top-down, elite-only system of communication control used largely by state actors. Samuel Woolley argues that social media has democratized today's propaganda, allowing nearly anyone to launch a fairly sophisticated, computationally enhanced influence campaign. Woolley shows how social media, with its anonymity and capacity for automation, allows a wide variety of groups to build the illusion of popularity through computational tools (such as bots) and human-driven efforts (such as sockpuppets--real people assuming false identities online--and partisan influencers). They use these technologies and strategies to create a bandwagon effect by bringing the content into parallel discussions with other legitimate users, or to mold discontent for political purposes. Drawing on eight years of original international ethnographic research among the people who build, combat, and experience these propaganda campaigns, Woolley presents an extensive view of the evolution of computational propaganda, offers a glimpse into the future, and suggests pragmatic responses for policy makers, academics, technologists, and others."--Dust jacket. |
| Carrier Form: | xiv, 214 pages ; 23 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-204) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780300251234 0300251238 |
| Index Number: | HM742 |
| CLC: | C912.3-05 |
| Call Number: | C912.3-05/W913 |
| Contents: |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Propaganda, Social Media, and Political Bots -- 2 Understanding Manufactured Consensus -- 3 State Use of Computational Propaganda -- 4 Automated Political Influencers -- 5 Social Media Companies, the Technology Industry, and Propaganda -- 6 Journalism and Political Bots -- Conclusion : Provocations, Solutions, and the Future of Manufacturing Consensus -- Notes -- Index |