I’ve posted quite a bit on here since I created my account, posts I consider non-controversial, since I’m not interested in arguing or getting into heated topics like politics. Even so, I still get the occasional snarky comment. Out of curiosity, I sometimes check the person’s post history when I see something like that, and without fail, their profile is full of snarky, negative, or hateful posts overall. It always makes me wonder: do people like this genuinely get enjoyment from surrounding themselves with negativity? What’s the thought process behind it?
The Alt-Right Playbook: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJA_jUddXvY7v0VkYRbANnTnzkA_HMFtQ
I’m not saying astroturfing doesn’t exist, just questioning the idea that Americans are being left without a place to enjoy or feel comfortable in. If anything, I see astroturfing doing more of the opposite, shoving the American propaganda machine into every crevice it can. Which “coincidentally” happens to align well with Russian interests, too.
The whole point of making american politics omnipresent is to make it uncomfortable. The american right lives or dies by its ability to make its audience fearful and angry, to channel those uncomfortable feelings into either infighting or apathy, and to reinforce those feelings constantly. It’s not designed to make americans feel comfortable even if it reinforces already held beliefs. It’s supposed to keep people off-balance.
I would argue though that it depends on the space you’re in. Conservative bubbles are astroturfed as fuck to inspire fear, sure, but it’s supposed to assure people that they are in the “in group” and there is a justified “other” to vilify and take the blame everything bad in the world. They have all the answers, and all you need to do is share on your socials and vote for the right person.
But I guess I’d consider political doomscrolling (which it seems like this is more veering towards) to be a separate phenomenon, which is not entirely immune to astroturfing either, but does not have it as a prerequisite. That discomfort is usually just the product of anxiety among people who realize they are not in the in group and are sharing their concerns.
My experience with the conservative bubble is not one of assurance. When I was a kid the news was constantly about how Christianity is under attack from The Liberals and we’re on the brink of annihilation, all the time. One of the other signatures of repressive societies is that, even if you are visibly “in” via whiteness, maleness, overt Christian displays, etc. there are always enemies among us, socialists or gays or whatever the invisible enemy du jour is. And even if you aren’t gay or socialist, there is always a risk of being percieved as such and expelled from the community. That threat of expulsion is ever-present and requires constant displays of conformity to quell suspicion. You quit going to church, you laugh too much with another man, you have a Democratic mailer lying around your house, any of these are grounds for being exiled by your community. It’s constant stress, by design.
You’re just questioning the idea, eh? The “American propaganda machine” is the right wing who coincidentally aligns with Russia and the Russian mob for decades.
Yes, the right wing who goes out of their way to make the internet feel as “America First” as possible, that’s what I said. Again I ask, how does that not make Americans feel comfortable in online spaces? Unless you’re referring to one of the “wrong” kinds of Americans that the right-wing doesn’t approve of, I suppose.