Ryan Holiday's book comes with a byline - 'Confessions of a Media Manipulator'. Ryan trained with Robert Greene of '48 Laws of Power' fame and was Director at American Apparel with books translated into 20 languages. One can safely assume he knows what he is talking about.
Ryan talks of bloggers as a community (any social media influencer or content provider) and how small unverified stories are planted and picked up by large conglomerates citing source as these unverified sources. One cane easily see the danger of such a trend because was previously verified and cross checked and published. Now rumours, fake news, viral sensations, breaking news rule the roost with fake research adding to it. Ryan advises us to look and pay for accurate news and not make do with free inaccurate news. Blogs profit with their pay for click policy which makes them use unethical tactics like making up headlines that draw a click, or use a visual that draws a click where the content is completely unrelated. When blogs profit, people lose, he says.
Ryan says that with these sensational headlines from small blogs stories get picked up by legacy media and then by national media where it becomes the truth almost. He cited how one particular blogger posted a story about a lady who said nothing racist but lost her job because the way the post read made her sound like a racist. He apologised but the damage was done. Or this guy who threatened to burn the Koran and finally did it, was blacked out by most media for the sheer mischief and trouble it would cause, but then a small blogger posted that story resulting in 27 people being killed in Afghanistan as a retaliation.
Clearly traffic is money and bloggers strive to drive traffic at all costs, by any means. He cites Hulk Hogan's leaked sex tapes as an example of how far they go without taking permission or even verifying the sources (like JFKs pic with several ladies in a boat). The blogger and publisher get together and drive these stories that can manipulate public opinion, can influence elections and power centres, can bring down and push up people. Ryan talks of how people are bribed subtly to promote stories in related influencers, commissions being paid for traffic, celebrities endorsing stuff for commissions and so on. The way stories are leaked deliberately which are then fanned to go out of control. How people do not seem to do any research and depend on press releases for their information, how many depend on Wikipedia and how someone read out of wrong name in a major event based on a Wikipedia account.
The mantra he says is this - if it does not spread, its dead. Another PR gem - If your response is not as interesting as the allegations, don't bother. The current form where subscription models have died and free content is provided adds to the fire. Ryan says shamelessness is a virtue in these spheres. They are seekers of attention and cannot stand silence. One poignant story of one person who was hounded and was on a media trial based on fake news finally asked after the courts acquitted him - where do I go to get my reputation back?
It's interesting and its mostly stuff we know to some extent but what surprised me was how fake stories can be easily peddled on the internet and sold to make viral news, to see ideas. Dangerous stuff.
But then, Ryan is a self-confessed media manipulator so one gets that sneaky feeling - is he manipulating us again?