Lesson 11: Media and Information Literate Individual
Hi! Welcome back to my blog! In this week's blog, we have to research the 17 fallacies and propaganda techniques of mass media and answer the weekly questions such as "What is the most important thing that you learned today?" and "How can you apply that learning in real life?"
- Glittering Generalities- also known as Glowing Generalities is a vague word or phrase that's used to evoke positive feelings rather than to convey information.
- Guilt by Association- means that you personally didn't really do something wrong but that people who you are associated with did. You are judged by the company you keep, so you can be viewed as guilty because of your association with wrongdoers.
- Half-Truth- is a deceptive statement that includes some element of truth. The statement might be partly true, the statement may be totally true but only part of the whole truth, or it may use some deceptive element, such as double meaning.
- International Vagueness- results when strategically-motivated senders choose messages with less definite interpretations when they could be more precise; specifically, they opt not to send the message that, given the receiver's equilibrium response, would maximize receiver utility.
- Labelling- is defined as the process of attaching a descriptive word or phrase to someone or something. An example of labelling is the process of putting signs on jars to say what is inside.
- Latitudes of Acceptance- in social judgment theory, a range of attitudinal positions that includes a person's preferred position and the range of positions that he or she considers acceptable.
- Loaded Language- also known as Loaded Terms or Emotive Language is rhetoric used to influence an audience by using words and phrases with strong connotations associated with them in order to invoke an emotional response and/or exploit stereotypes.
- Love Bombing- is the practice of showering a person with excessive affection and attention in order to gain control or significantly influence their behavior. The Love Bomber's attention might feel good, but the motive is all about manipulation.
- Milieu Control- describe tactics that control environment and human communication through the use of social pressure and group language; such tactics may include dogma, protocols, innuendo, slang, and pronunciation, which enables group members to identify other members, or to promote cognitive changes in individuals.
- Name-Calling- is a form of verbal abuse in which insulting or demeaning labels are directed at an individual or group. This phenomenon is studied by a variety of academic disciplines such as anthropology, child psychology, and political science.
- Operant Conditioning- also known as Instrumental Conditioning is a method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence, whether negative or positive, for that behavior.
- Oversimplification- they are describing or explaining it so simply that what they say is no longer true or reasonable. One should not oversimplify the situation.
- Rationalization- is a defense mechanism in which controversial behaviors or feelings are justified and explained in a seemingly rational or logical manner to avoid the true explanation, and are made consciously tolerable by plausible means.
- Red Herring- is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion.
- Scapegoating- is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals, individuals against groups, groups against individuals, and groups against groups.
- Unstated Assumption- are premises that a deductive argument requires, but are not explicitly stated. Deductive arguments are popular and can be rationally persuasive, but people don't always state all of the premises that their deductive arguments require.
- Virtue Words- These are words in the value system of the target audience that produce a positive image when attached to a person or issue. Peace, hope, happiness, security, wise leadership, freedom, "The Truth" and etc. are virtue words.
For my insights:
image source: https://www.amritsardigitalacademy.in/blog/social-media-marketing/
In the lesson I've learned about the Unmasking of Media Messages and the most used techniques of messages with ulterior motives such as; Ad Hominem, Ad Nauseam, Appeal to the Authority, Argumentum in Terrorism, Appeal to the Prejudice, Bandwagon, Cherry Picking Fallacy or Selective Truth, Classical Conditioning, Cognitive Dissonance, Plain Folk Approach, Demonizing the Enemy, Diktat, Disinformation, Euphemism, Exaggeration, Foot-in-the-door Technique, and Framing. Among these, my most understood and encountered techniques are; The Bandwagon, which is the tendency of an individual to acquire a particular style, behavior or attitude because everyone else is doing it. The Cherry Picking Fallacy, it is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data that may contradict that position. The Disinformation, or also known as Misleading of Information, that is spread deliberately to deceive and is as subset of information. The Euphemism, which is a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing. The Exaggeration, which is the representation of something as more extreme or dramatic than it really is, and this may occur intentionally or unintentionally. The Foot-in-the-door Technique, is a compliance tactic that assumes agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a second, larger request. So, initially you make a small request and once the person agrees to this they find it more difficult to refuse a bigger one.
image source: https://www.logicserve.com/blog/how-to-overcome-the-menace-of-fake-social-media-accounts/
In knowing these things or techniques rather, you should be able to Unmask the Messages in the Media. For example (1), if you see that all of your friends in the social media is now supporting a Corrupt Politician because everyone is doing so (Bandwagon), you should be wise enough and not be affected. Example (2), Just because someone is messaging you the truth about a certain story, that doesn't mean that they are telling you the whole story (Cherry Picking), you should first dig deeper or ask other people who also know the story before taking certain actions because there might be misleading information (Disinformation) that can cause internal conflicts. Example (3), if you want to inform other people about what the Corrupt Politician is doing, you can use codenames (Euphemism) so you can spread awareness and still at least avoid some conflicts. Example (4), if there is a typhoon and a lot of people are in a trouble, in order to help many of them and efficiently, you should assess the priority of their needs, if they are still safe inside their houses or the flood already took control and if their neighborhood is really affected by the flood (Exaggeration), because the greediness of other people can cause other people's safety. And lastly, Example (5), if you are a busy person and someone asked you for a small favor and you agreed. And then, they asked for a bigger favor (Foot-in-the-door), you should not do it if you have no time for it because they will just keep on asking for favors knowing that you won't say no to them.
Please do not easily believe in everything you see and everyone you think you know on Social Media!
Thank you for reading my blog, See you next week! Stay safe, stay well! Ciao!
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