“These systemic distortions, Hall argued, could be countered in part by the agency audiences have in “decoding” broadcasts variously and interpreting the meaning in light of their own social contexts. Public responses to any given broadcast will not be homogenous.”
“The internet makes this agency more explicit, allowing oppositional “decodings” to circulate in participatory, distributed networks. This allowed particular stories to go viral to the degree they presented consumers opportunities to express opinions. Used tactically, such viral media could consolidate the discontent with broadcast media’s official stories and mount necessary challenges against that agenda-led discourse, increasing visibility for neglected issues and promoting informed activism”
“But viral media proved to have many other tactical applications as well: to misinform and mislead, as well as distract, amuse, advertise, flog, bully, and harass.”
“Tactics comprise a specific type of activity. In The Practice of Everyday Life sociologist Michel de Certeau distinguished between tactics and strategies. Strategies, he argued, are used by those in power as systems of control; tactics are enacted as resistance. De Certeau describes looking down on a totalized vision of New York City: The grid system is the strategy, and the individual at ground level, negotiating the grid system and taking — or making — short cuts is being tactical.”
“In de Certeau’s terms, fake news is tactical, as it is a purposeful co-option of signifiers of “the news” in order to subvert the practices of profit-driven journalism and social media platforms and their click-seeking strategy lines.”
“Fake news creators, like SocialVevo had done earlier, had successfully hijacked the attention economy, exploiting how these underlying personal identity needs had helped render the contract between creators, distributors, and recipients of information unstable. The nature of the tactic was not a matter of warping news content as much as playing on the demand for measurable attention at every level of the informational system.”
“At first glance, tactically viral fake news resembles to the Situationist practice of détournement, virtuosic prank-like acts designed to turn “expressions of the capitalist system against itself.””
“Virality, then, is tied not to political ideology but stems from the corporately owned communication infrastructure that permits it. That infrastructure privileges attention above everything and implicitly reshapes information to suit that purpose. When it comes to fake news, it’s not ideological applications of virality that corrupts it as a strategy; corruption stems from the incentivization intrinsic to news platforms.”
“George Orwell saw euphemism in political discourse as a contagion. We now face a contagion of chaos.”
“His ineptitude played as tactics, thwarting the strategy of Clinton’s conspicuous competence. He was able to make competence and integrity themselves seem suspect, criteria embraced by the establishment to muddle and corrupt the political process.”
“This strategy makes him and his administration a difficult opponent to counter. It’s exasperating and destabilizing to try and engage with someone so fluid and farcical, with so much energy expended analyzing, critiquing, and fact-correcting.”
“Not only does his administration show little regard for facts or coherence, they seem actively on showcasing their disregard. The endgame here will be to make the real more fake-seeming, and the fake more-real seeming.”
“If we accept that destabilization is now this administration’s hegemonic strategy, then we must figure out how an opposition can tactically resist. In the face of epistemological chaos, organization will be key.”
“At a local level, citizens must come together to both help each other and protest — we are already seeing this happen. Would-be foreign allies must not appease Trumpism. Businesses must systematically put ethics before capital and political alliances. Domestic politicians who oppose Trump must methodically address their complicity in his presidency.”
“From this viewpoint, fake news as détournement worked, regardless of the political agenda. It made apparent how mediatized politics may strip citizens of agency while the ostensibly democratic governmental systems that effect power remain occupied. It has made clear an incompatibility between media, business, and liberal politics. And it has revealed how a man like Trump can be democratically elected, highlighting some of the deep-rooted cultural forces that positioned him as a desirable candidate.”