Thread by @HalMarshall2309

"[W]e have a very old word for persuasive communication with an agenda: propaganda. That term, however, comes with historical baggage. It presumes that governments, authority figures, institutions, and mass media are forcing ideas on regular people from the top down.

"But more and more, the opposite is happening. Far from being merely a target, the public has become an active participant in creating and selectively amplifying narratives that shape realities.

"Perhaps the best word for this emergent bottom-up dynamic is one that doesn’t exist quite yet: ampliganda, the shaping of perception through amplification."

[I am not a fan of this term. I'm eager to find something catchier that accomplishes the same thing.]

"It can originate from an online nobody or an onscreen celebrity. No single person or organization bears responsibility for its transmission. And it is having a profound effect on democracy and society.

"Buttar’s #PelosiMustGo was both typical and unusual. Hashtag campaigns occur all the time, but I happened to catch this one right at the start.

"First, it was a blip in a corner of the internet, but the hashtag soon lit up the modern propaganda system.

"This amplification chain is incredibly powerful; it surfaces civil-rights violations, protest movements, and breaking events, whether traditional media choose to cover those events or not.

"But it’s also how quack medical claims and a daily parade of conspiracy theories are made to trend—#Ivermectin, #SaveTheChildren, #StopTheSteal."

"About the author: Renée DiResta is the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory." theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

Engaging with trolls amplifies their voice. Use screenshots, people.

"Buttar had two key prerequisites for creating a viral moment: an Extremely Online supporter base experienced in Twitter conflict, and a hashtag slogan expressing righteous indignation.

"At 11:57 a.m., a Twitter user who went by @Pondipper and had a modest 1,700 followers, jumped the gun: #PelosiMustGo. Tweet No. 1.

"Buttar himself posted promptly at noon: “Why do you think #PelosiMustGo?” he asked his 113,000 followers.

The tweet inspired several hundred replies and retweets, some encouraging him, others questioning him, others mocking him.

"BUT ANYONE WHO ENGAGED WITH BUTTAR'S POST — WHETHER TO APPLAUD IT OR SCORN IT — WAS TELLING TWITTER ALGORITHMS TO ELEVATE IT."

[I have posted this in all caps to emphasize this point. Do not engage with trolls!]

"My coffee cooled as the hashtag moved up Twitter’s rankings and began elbowing aside trends about AR-15s, golf, Donald Trump’s pardons, and then–Education Secretary Betsy DeVos."