Cable TV has been around for only four decades, but in that time we have witnessed a rapid evolution in how media is used in the game of politics and narrative control. As people shifted to making the internet and social media their only source of news and entertainment, it was only natural that most of the propaganda techniques from Cable TV would migrate along with them. (It is a fact of nature that predators migrate along with their prey.) It is obvious that the wild west days of social media are over. If this is good or bad remains to be seen, but those of us who have been paying attention are able to track the migration of these elements and thus, better understand how they function.

If you don’t pay, you can’t play.

Experts

Experts are the oldest form of influence in media. Four out of five marketing executives agree. It is a pretty easy game to only allow experts who agree with the Official Narrative onto the program. This is true on social media as well. Experts who toe-the-party-line have a very easy time being seen and gaining followers. Experts who oppose the Official Narrative will find social media to be as quiet and remote as the Gobi desert. Problems began to arise during the Cable TV years as the Official Narrative drifted further and further away from public interest. As this happened it became harder and harder to secure actual experts who supported the Official Narrative. Thus, it became necessary to protect and reinforce the efforts of the few “experts” left. The first to be call up were the Trolls.

In a sport like basketball or football, the team that controls the tempo and style of play always wins the game.

Trolls

The first modern Trolls were Rush Limbaugh, Chris Mathews, and Bill O’Reilly. And just like any simple life form, they really did not changed much in their migration to social media. The primary goal of any Troll is to make the public lose trust in the person considered to be a threat to the Official Narrative. In this effort Trolls will use their only weapon… a double edged sword: the first edge of this sword is their stubborn adherence to the Official Narrative, and the second edge is their ability to agitate and undermine people. Most commonly they use sharp, quick, and aggressive rhetoric to knock anyone off their game so they cannot muster a coherent response. On social media, if a troll shows up in a person’s comment stream they are not trying to be right, they are trying to agitate the person so that their mood and temperament changes. This affects the tone of their writing and the structure of their logic. To the observer the person becomes desperate and aggressive, which is easily sold as abusive and fanatic. It is very important to remember: The primary goal of any Troll is to make the public lose trust in anyone who opposes the Official Narrative. But, to keep the public from losing all trust, Confidence Personalities were tasked with redirecting people’s attention back to the chosen experts and the Official Narrative.

Con Artists, or confidence men, make people feel good in order to gain their trust and exploit them.

Confidence Personalities

The best examples of Confidence Personalities on Cable TV are the late night talk show hosts. They are all confidence men. Ninety percent of what they do is make people relax and feel good. The other ten percent is repeating talking points and reinforcing the Official Narrative. Social media has allowed these Confidence Personalities to become more effective as they are able to focus on specific demographics. For example, a middle aged man on Twitter will be shown unsolicited posts by young women who are intelligent and funny, pretty and casual in their style, saying things that are clever and mildly flirty. Ninety percent of their posts will just be fun and engaging. Ten percent will reinforce the Official Narrative or support another Confidence Personality. The evidence the person is paid is that there is no apparent reward for their efforts. They are not selling anything or trying to support their own business. They are nothing more than perfectly beautiful people who have nothing to do all day but be flirty with strangers on social media. There should be no doubt that there are many different type of paid Confidence Personalities now, all targeting a specific demographic,.. even on gaming social media sites where teenagers gather to play games together, there are people who get paid to gain their confidence and influence their perspectives.

Synthesis and Degradation

Hopefully it can be seen how all of this is constantly adapting and evolving. All to protect the official narrative, the integrity of the chosen experts, the public image of the confidence personalities, and the freedom of the trolls. This all will evolve further. Look for more Experts morphing Confidence Personalities; like Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and even Jordan Peterson. And notice the increasing number of politicians behaving like Trolls. There is a very prominent Politician Troll in the media now. Notice how he stubbornly reinforces the Official Narrative and undermines anyone who might challenge it. It would be a tragic mistake to think that he, or any of these people are working against one another,.. The Official Narrative is their God.