Propaganda or Opinion Pushing?
Propaganda is something that we have seen every day since the start of Covid-19. From wearing masks to the vaccine to the election that happened at the end of the year. News with heavy bias is all around us and causes a strong rift between people. Propaganda creates tensions in persons on the internet all the time. It’s all about being on the bandwagon and if you aren’t on the bandwagon, oftentimes people refuse to acknowledge that there is another opinion out there.
According to Merriam Webster the definition of propaganda is as stated;
“the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person”
This is the first thing I think of when I think of propagnada. The traditional “I Want You” poster for military recruiting.
This tweet and the attached article are great examples of propaganda. This post by the person describes the actions described in the article as “evil”. You can clearly see where this person’s thoughts and bias are at. My first thought about seeing a post like this is ‘yikes’.
Do you ever feel that propaganda-type posts are attacking you for the way that you believe? Or just get the sense that if you don’t hop on the bandwagon you’re not welcome at all?
Even others are speaking out about the propaganda that is floating around and causing rifts. Without seeing the entire post the picture that Instagram chose for this picture to grab the attention of people screams propaganda.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNbCSbVFFqd/
All in all, most propaganda is to try and get you to jump on the bandwagon but people often use it to put each other against the other or push their opinions on one another. But even then, not all propaganda is a bad thing and it can bring people together as well as pull them apart.