Filtering Madness
Global mass insanity seems to be indelibly marked into the era we live in. IMO, it’s fed by the New Wild West of information. More appropriately mis-information, from a near infinite array of sources. Things really need to be self-filtered and many folks simply don’t have very good filters.
Extreme right and extreme left borders on an electronic Martin’s and McCoy’s; conspiracy theories range from plausible to absurd ( don’t get me started on chemtrails, or NASA bashing), and straight forward tv news hardly exists as they’ve morphed into one dimensional political opinion outlets or culture candy machines. Personally, I find most all news stations on radio to be the last bastion of a somewhat even handed presentation. Who would have thought that in the universe of new media, and old one would be the most even.
Social media is ground zero for craziness. Much of it is harmless social interaction, while some components of it feed the insanity with tremendous reach. A few observations on two major sources:
Tik Tok, while a deep and entertaining ride, devolves into Low IQ theater where idiocy is at a peak. The Global DNA of the new mainstream is on a sad display. Again, often entertaining, but simultaneously distressing to observe when it goes into the dumb, gross misinformation or toxic zones.
Facebook seems to have evolved into the general interest hub. Kind of a white pages ( for those of a certain age) to connect socially, with LinkedIn being the business focused yellow pages. Facebook has a toxic side but if personally filtered, can become an habitual check-in and connection place. That self filter is once again important in maintaining ones sanity.
The list goes on of other sources with the common ground being the importance of self filtering.
Back in the older days we had the Cronkite factor. Google him if you’re too young. He and others were serious, usually even handed presenters of 360 degrees of information. In watching old tapes, it was straight forward and free of carney, tricks, marketing-by-slogan and nonsense, covering a wide range of informational topics. That era will of course never return, but new modern versions that won’t require aggressive self filtering just might. It’ll take some really futuristic thinking to balance the technicolor world we’re in with “ mass appeal intelligence” that rewires the information playbook for 2021 and beyond. It is unlikely going to blossom from the current players. It’ll be new players that develop the news game plans Not easy. A few thought starters on the topic simply as an FYI are here: https://www.leeabramsmediavisions.com/the-future-of-tv-news
For now, we’ll never go back to the old ways, but even the Wild West was tamed, and maybe the mass insanity of the modern era can see that same outcome. Lofty goals, but new ideas can be a powerful course corrector. In the meantime, I’d just encourage folks to fine tune their self filtering to avoid feeding the epidemic of global mass insanity.