Recognising Unconscious Trolling

Disinfolklore as a vehicle for tricking us into feelings that will lead us into acting against our own and our community’s interests operates using the same tools as any good Netflix show. The stakes are just higher: we may end up being manipulated into activities (or inactivity) that is contrary to our values and our community’s interests if we do not consciously recognise when we are being trolled by Disinfolklore. Counter Disinfolklore helps us focus on this goal of recognising when we are being unconsciously trolled, so that we can respond appropriately.

Source: Recognising Disinfolklore

The Netflix analogy makes this passage uniquely accessible. Disinfolklore uses the same emotional manipulation tools as any compelling streaming show — suspense, identification, moral framing — but with civilisational stakes. The key distinction is between manipulation into “activities” and manipulation into “inactivity”: Disinfolklore can paralyse you into doing nothing just as effectively as it can incite you to act. Counter-Disinfolklore’s goal is making the unconscious conscious so that the response can be chosen rather than provoked.

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