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I think there are three types of people in the world today:

1. Social media junkies
2. Alternative media agents
3. Mainstream media customers

Social media gets such a bad rap! It distracts. It shortens attention span. It kills the art of conversation. It breeds isolation and loneliness. It triggers depression because we can never live up to the perfect lives of our friends. It is truly evil!

How does it do this? It triggers the production of dopamine at the base of our brain.

“Dopamine is about novelty, surprise, the sense that we are on some exciting track. It puts us into states of readiness, looking seeking etc. almost always for things outside of our skin. It’s about go go go!” (Dr Andrew Huberman, 2022)

The internet, draped as it is right across our planet, gives us a canvas upon which we can all paint pictures for all to see! No one checks for authenticity, accuracy or importance (although some get censored at source). The result? Often merely random, twisted, trivia. No wonder social media gets a bad rap!

Social Media Junkies

Their lives are controlled by social media. Upon waking up in the morning, they click to see who has messaged and how many likes they have had overnight. They reluctantly close their eyes at night on the high of their latest hit.

Life is consumed by the small world of their personal network. They can’t remember having a personal creative moment. Their thoughts and actions are reactions and responses to others’ thoughts and reactions.

They can’t define creative thinking, far less use it. The world beyond their network is meaningless and irrelevant to their living in the moment. The only external input is entertainment and their only exercise, video games.

The life of the SM Junkie is to be pitied. Loved ones will try to encourage them to ‘cut down’. But that’s like suggesting to an alcoholic to ‘have one less drink’. They need a complete cold-turkey detox. They need support never to become an SM Junkie again.

Alternative Media Agents

Someone whose life goals spring from their own creativity and passion. People whose lives resemble criminal detectives or political or commercial spies. Naturally suspicious. Critical thinkers while awake and asleep!

They have become AM Agents having been betrayed by mainstream media. They have uncovered the nature of nudge psychology, commercial in confidence and political propaganda.

Their life goals focus on building authentic narratives from the ground up. Built on foundational principles of right and wrong, truth and lies, good and evil, and the truth is never relative. Personal perspectives are valid, but can never trump truth.

AM Agents can be agents for good, building up their network, community and nation, championing freedom and life. AM Agents can also be agents for destruction, chaos, confusion, offering control but ultimately death.

Mainstream Media Customers

Their lives are comfortable and predictable. Their narrative is crafted by others. Their appetites are created and satiated by the same providers. The infomercial cannot be distinguished from the news media.

Breaking news and sensationalism feed their never-ending appetite for another dopamine hit. As the number of MM Customers shrinks, the purveyors of their product become increasingly lethal in their cocktail of ever-so-choreographed ‘news’ feeds.

Sadly, their eyes have been blinded and their minds dumbed down, no longer able to filter with critical thinking. I am amazed how many are content to be directed, controlled and manipulated to perpetuate the grand narratives drafted by the global leaders’ intent on managing our lives for their own ends.

It seems to me that the MM Customer can easily shift to SM Junkie, or more commonly, they can become a hybrid of the two. I have never seen an MM Customer partner with an AM Agent; these two lives seem to be incompatible.

Alternative Media

Every day, men or women with smartphones film real events and stories and shame the mainstream media into covering their story, even when it contradicts the dominant narrative. These AM creators have nothing to gain other than the truth. They are not beholden to external controls, and initially, at least, their content is not subject to censorship.

Critics will say they have no credibility, as they have no accountability. True, but they have to admit, the camera cannot lie, can it? (Perhaps with Artificial Intelligence (AI), it can).

The fact checking and perspective filtering must be done by the AM Agents. They never take one untested source as gospel.

If you hadn’t guessed, I would describe myself as an AM Agent. I have been in this role for a few years now. Prior to this, I was an avid MM Customer. However, in the interests of integrity, I confess I am also a critical user of YouTube, LinkedIn and Telegram.

Does that make me an SM Junkie–AM Agent hybrid? I don’t think so. I think that I am using these three SM sources for my AM Agency goals.

It has taken a great deal of time and critical thinking. It has taken effort in cross-checking these AM providers. But as the years have gone by, I have found my ones and twos in various fields, that I have grown to trust. I love the fact of their alternative nature, their lack of Big Tech ownership. In fact, many would be able to point to their own transformative journey out of MM provider to AM.

The Future of Alternative Media

How can these AM providers afford to do their work? They will inevitably look for an income stream. But with that comes the danger of control, and the need to only colour inside the lines.

Censorship is huge today. I am sad, but far from surprised, that it does not get that much MM attention. It seems to me that the argument that censorship is a good thing, hinges on the claim that it keeps populations safe and free from fear. It might, in the short term, but at what cost?

In my view, censorship can never be good, as it inoculates against personal responsibility and critical thinking while elevating the role of the state. If censorship ramps up, we will certainly be in a new world order where men and women will have to craft a whole new lifestyle if they don’t want to submit to the dictates of the MM providers.

Call to Action

Four years ago, I could never have analysed the media situation like this. I think our first step is to know ourselves. How do we interact with media in our lives?

When we know where we sit, let us study where our family and friends sit. Finally, let us analyse where those who influence us stand.

I think these reflections can protect us and our loved ones from being deceived, a very present danger in our day.

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Image courtesy of Adobe.