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Month: March 2016

Denmark has free child care? Uh, no.

Denmark has free child care? Uh, no.

TL; DR Summary Part 1: Denmark is the world’s happiest nation because of the following reasons (Not true) Part 2: Denmark has a $20/hour minimum wage (No, it does not). Part 3: Denmark has a 33 hour work week (No, it does not) Part 4: Denmark has Free University ? Yes but read why – it’s not why you think Part 5: Denmark has Free Childcare? No, it does not – this claim is a lie. Part 6: Denmark has…

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Effective propaganda poster: Sanders and Trump both fly on jets

Effective propaganda poster: Sanders and Trump both fly on jets

TL; DR Summary Sanders has traveled by bus and also by airline coach but he recently began using a Gulfstream jet charter too. Trump flies on his own corporate aircraft. Trump is a billionaire and he does seem self-obsessed. Poster appeals to the populist perspective of Sanders and the greedy narcissistic perspective of Trump – but the implication that Sanders does not fly a private jet is no longer true. Truth means little in a good social media propaganda poster! (This was shared…

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Logical fallacy: Linking a $15 minimum wage in 2022 to unemployment in 2015

Logical fallacy: Linking a $15 minimum wage in 2022 to unemployment in 2015

TL; DR Summary Occupy Democrats issued propaganda posters in 2015 proclaiming that in spite of a $15 minimum wage, Seattle’s unemployment has gone down and restaurants are booming, But the $15 wage does not take effect until 3 to 7 years into the future. This linkage is a logical fallacy.                 Poster 2 Source: Occupy Democrats.  Shared over 28,000 times. There is no connection between a $15 minimum wage and Seattle restaurants or unemployment in 2015…

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How social media propaganda silences dissent

How social media propaganda silences dissent

The “spiral of silence” is a well-researched phenomenon in which people suppress unpopular opinions to fit in and avoid social isolation. It has been looked at in the context of social media and the echo-chamber effect, in which we tailor our opinions to fit the online activity of our Facebook and Twitter friends. Source: Mass surveillance silences minority opinions, according to study – The Washington Post Rather than increasing perspectives, social media naturally enforces a conformity in ideas, in order…

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Fake news is a profitable industry

Fake news is a profitable industry

TL;DR Summary Fake news is a profitable industry. More on that in a previous post. Fakes news that goes viral, generates lots of ad views; and it is not just The Onion. Social media sharing makes this possible. And makes propaganda sharing even easier. Fake news is, incidentally, a relatively new addition to the media landscape. The Internet’s always teemed with rumors and scams, of course. But the fake news industry — a crop of Web sites dedicated solely to…

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