Comment on Instagram Caught Hiding Posts That Say "Immigrants Make the Country Great"
Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 5 hours agoWhat is the money doing? It does what we do for free. The algorithm favoured the right because they create content. It’s not a finger on the scale saying show people more right wing stuff. It’s the the right share and create content because they actively engage and participate online rather than sit in the sidelines. But the left wing causes and political parties see more donations than the right on average.
Democrats are able to raise more capital. Left leaning voters earn a higher Average income than right leaning. There’s money on the left we’re just less effective and more apathetic.
zeca@lemmy.ml 5 hours ago
There is a finger on the scale though. Youre underestimating its weight. When we disagree on the “left” having money and sharing stuff, etc, i think we actually just disagree on who is the left. In my view, the left is probably a smaller group than in your view. This smaller group i consider left doesnt have much money, and does get a diminished voice in social media despite engaging a lot (relative to its demographic proportion).
Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
I would argue you marginalizing the left into a smaller group is pretty beneficial to the right and you might want to view it critically. Like if you were the right with a lot of money and effort in astro turfing and targeting the left online then maybe you have succumbed to something they may have pushed. How would you know either way?
zeca@lemmy.ml 2 hours ago
Sure. I dont want to demonize people that arent left. Theres a portion of those that align with us on certain topic, some are apathic, and some are also violently against us.
Sure I may be taken by propaganda sometimes. Its not easy to tell. But focusing on specific issues helps clear that a bit. Someone that calls themselves “left” but doesnt believe in a completely socialized healthcare system, do they really have a leftist view on this topic? Im all for joining forces for some cause, but are the wealthy “leftists” really for, or against, inheritance taxes, socialized healthcare, …?
Besides, this doesnt touch on the issues of social networks priviledging certain political positions. If you look at instagram, most posts that appear are recomendations of the network to the specific user, rather than posts of who they follow. The interface pushes you off of what you intended to see and into a personalised recomendations playlist. Demobilizing “progressive” content à la us Democrat party gets normal reach in those platforms, while actual mobilizing content gets reduced reach.