Comment by narag
6 hours ago
If you're a politician, you need people to vote for you. "Your" people will. Try not to alienate too much others so you can fish moderates and get to 50%.
If you're an "influencer" you need engagement. You can live off a 10% easily. And you need retention. So keep the message heated.
Hmm, I'm not sure the former holds true anymore. We're seeing societies getting far more polarised with some extreme rhetoric and and proposals coming from political parties, especially in places like the US and Western Europe.
Kinda makes me wonder if politicians and political parties are fishing for engagement and focusing on the most extreme parts of their supporter base too.
> Kinda makes me wonder if politicians and political parties are fishing for engagement and focusing on the most extreme parts of their supporter base too.
Yes, that's been the explicitly stated goal for the last decade or two. Like, no one is even attempting to hide it.
> Kinda makes me wonder if politicians and political parties are fishing for engagement and focusing on the most extreme parts of their supporter base too.
They definitely are. The goal for Trump this election was clearly to stoke the base with inflammatory rhetoric bolstered by influencers spouting that same rhetoric.
"They're eating the cats, they're eating the dogs, they're eating the pets."
I'm not sure I agree. Leading political parties are certainly fishing moderates, but for smaller parties it often makes more sense to cater to extreme views - both because people who care strongly about it will vote for you, and because it gives you more visibility.
This is an interesting distillation of the article; focusing on _how to use_ social media depending on who you are, but dismissing or de-emphasizing the main point of the piece, which is, what is social media doing to our social discourse?
We’ve succeeded to make people vote for the fight against global warming, which clearly says people have to reduce their lifestyle, so I think there can be enough audience to make this topic the platform of one party.
Have we? I don't recall that option ever being on the ballot in the US.
Well, one party’s stated solution for high oil imports was not to reduce consumption but rather “drill baby, drill!”
Inefficient regulation also incentivizes car companies to make larger less efficient vehicles because they can’t make the smaller ones efficient enough. And the public has no problem buying enormous vehicles… (Doesn’t everyone need an off road extended cab 4x4 truck for commuting to the office?)
Frankly, I do feel there is a segment that seems to over focus on conservation to the point of impracticality.
However, the “single use” consumption has got to end. I don’t even see the debate here. Plastic lids, styrofoam containers, gotta go. Maybe not outright ban, but the culture has to change. Ordered a pastry in a bakery — clerk put it into a large styrofoam container, inch thick stack of napkins, plastic grocery bag, plastic fork/knife.
Unfortunately I was eating it there… All that waste for one pastry baked there?
On the other hand, I wonder if Amazon is the devil we assume. If I drive my car around town to get a few items, maybe it’s more fuel efficient to just have them delivered with others’ ?
5 replies →