It’s not always about the actual coat itself.
The ethereal transitory societal warning bells chime with a unison of eloquence not meant for a study in beauty and grace, but as a resounding symbol echoing the volatility of a detrimental political environment implacable to compromise. The resulting mayhem and chaotic discourse threatening at least the ideological destruction of common sense, is only exacerbated by the ominous presence of the trio of information brokers and social media titans, and to a lesser extent the prosperous beta digital boutique industries providing an alternate reality to the formative generations.
Within the context of the variable game of smoke and mirrors where the anchors of truth and fact are perpetually redefined based on the viral inclinations of what the community strives to believe during a 15 second window, survival is contingent on manipulating perception, and the proliferation of subsequent content which satisfies the attention span, while forwarding a furtive ulterior motive. Similar to death by thousands of paper cuts, the propensity of social networks to gradually warp the minds of users with an unhealthy dosage of brain candy in releasing a flood of endorphins is not riveting, but effective. And the deflating track record is supported by the number of adults still engaged with the F***book platform, even in the aftermath of numerous scandals and transgressions that deliberately silence half of the community in a political maelstrom of subversion and intrigue. Einstein is apparently enjoying a hearty chuckle at a cosmic Danube riverside café with other dignitaries in witnessing the putrid nonsensical display of a quick and painful death to the attention span, and has just ordered clouds and clouds of popcorn in anticipation of the 2020 election.
Screengrab from the daunting underbelly of the world’s largest marketing agency troublingly delving into news.
Speaking of the presidential posturing and train wreck of unproductive online dialogue sure to emanate from Google, Twitter and Mark Zuckerberg’s empire, F***book has once again engaged in the Merry-go-round lifecycle of pending controversy and ineptitude. For the second time in three calendar years, the corporation has opted to hire a human influence in populating the maligned “news tab”, and supplementing the infamous algorithms, and bots. In a move that smacks of elitism, and the surprising presence of tepid innovation, the social network has hired a former Fox news producer as a chief evaluator of content. All of the major tech news sites are reporting that the move to adopt a information “curator” role, and fulfilling the position with former Fox and Friends producer Jennifer Williams makes the organization a viable source for balanced political views. However, what is being overlooked is the stilted and ambiguous political advertisement terms and conditions, and policy, an infrastructure that is fatally flawed and is the perfect tonic for creating confusion over the next few months.
While Google and F***book are aggressively pursuing political ad placement, and have restructured their news delivery services with human moderators, Twitter has opted to sit out the tumultuous stretch run of the campaign hijinks out. While the charming songbird of the digital wonderland has made a vested effort to revamp the emanation of content, the potential pratfalls of misinformed candidates and rogue foreign elements convoluting the election process is at least being addressed.
It’s common knowledge that citizens of Murmansk endure a frigid subpolar climate outside of the irradiation influences stemming from the nuclear cores of the Russian naval Northern Fleet. In the cosmopolitan neighborhood of downtown, the idea that a luxurious fur coat is adorned in a wintery and tinsel scene of decadence, defies the utilitarian concept of either donning rugged cold weather attire, or freezing to death. The blatant case of window dressing is similar to the audacity of F***book to release multiple public directives claiming that the visibility of news on the platform will be reformed regardless of political standing. In each and every instance of an incredulous and shallow public relations campaign, the methods for improvement in achieving a fair and balanced environment end up being marooned in the frozen tundra of a bizarre wasteland. From hiring a team of news professionals, to replacing the humans with bots and algorithms, to once again hiring journalism veterans, while keeping the bots, and finally announcing the creation of a curator position filled by a former Fox News producer, the disjointed series of decisions shows a bias against logic. Lost in the ineffectual chain of forgettable attempts to gain control of the information flow, is that the social network has actually regressed in allowing personal accounts to freely share information with friends. The tattered remnants of the 2016 election digital debacle still randomly block or hide posts, leading to frustration, yet unfortunately not a mass exodus for the sake of sanity. And the shameless repetitive narrative ungraciously stereotypes the Soviet hacking community as the sole disruptive element of political influence.
Curiously, the tech industry universally responds slowly in adapting to the confines of society in adapting to reasonable traditions and standards that have withstood the test of time. The handling of news content and political advertising up to this point has been less than underwhelming, a performance that is not compatible with a mere oblivious gesture of forgivable ignorance. There exists no latitude for a digital venture to get a pass on operating policy and ethics in claiming that this dazzling and shimmering internet is just too vast and complex to follow the rules. That mentality expired a decade and a half ago, and legalism has led to accountability for the majority of electronic businesses, the offending degenerates can be counted on one hand.
However, the battlefield for the future pits the tech giants against the core of humanity that is literally imploding, as imagination and perception is the preferable course of action in the banishment of fact.
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