Who is Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator for?
Trust Me, I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator is a must read, for people who believe in viral videos, and trust the news sources, they get from social media.
Outside of my own personal belief about how we are programmed through various outlets, this book sheds light on that fact as well.
This book goes into depth, which ironically is not saying much because the methods used are shallow. They unfortunately are immensely effective, and work on pretty much everyone.
Memes, and other tools have been used online to control our perceptions of events, the fact that we are partial or biased to certain topics just makes these tools, way more effective, with less effort on the perpetrators side.
How do most people receive their news?
Trust me I’m lying, points out the biggest elephant in the room, which is blogs.
Most people will argue they don’t read blogs, but yes you do. People share articles all the time on Twitter and Facebook, and a majority of us click them and read through them.
Some of us avoid them because we read the name or the blog or site and won’t bother with it because we never heard of them before.
But a portion of us will purposely share fake news, for engagement on social media platforms and to just be a troll.
Why is fake news a thing?
The easiest and simplest answer is money, Facebook makes money by selling ads, if you believe they sold ads unbeknownst to them to Russian operatives during the 2016 election you are naive.
If you tried to run an ad on any major platform, the guidelines are so strict, you would probably run the risk of your ad not being approved, due to various obvious reasons, and well as minuscule reasons.
Outside of Facebook, blogs charge for ad space to make money off the traffic coming to them.
If a story is wild enough you will leave Facebook, to read that story, and that blog will be paid for you viewing that post, because there is an ad or pop up on that page.
Why would someone post fake news
Blogs are the new magazines, you don’t have to pay a subscription for it, because they run ads.
So its similar to how TV stations have commercials, the ad will play or be viewed regardless.
If they can stir up your emotions, and get you to click through their site, you only increase their revenue.
Not to mention the fact that most blogs, use bots and other means to gather and post content, most people never stand a chance.
Summary of Trust Me, I’m Lying
Who is Trust Me, I’m Lying makes it clear, that we are doomed as a society, because of the fact that false information is so easily spreadable.
Even when the truth comes out most people will have only read or cared about the first portion of that story that they heard.
It has always been the winners who told the history of the world, now anyone can do it.
Traditional media, has always been mistrusted, and because not many people even watch news, we are more susceptible to believing even more lies told, but someone sitting at a keyboard.
Other books he’s wrote, that I own and have reviewed.
The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue
Perennial Seller: The Art of Making and Marketing Work that Lasts
Growth Hacker Marketing: A Primer on the Future of PR, Marketing, and Advertising
What books do I recommend from the list above?
The Obstacle is the way is a must read, and you can read my review for it here. It is probably his second most complete work in my opinion.
Ego is the enemy is a good read, but I would say skip it, its not really in my top 3 of his works.
Conspiracy is a complete skip, in my book.
The Daily Stoic is definitely a nice compilation, of daily inspiration,
Trust me, I’m lying, is a must read for those, who still believe in a world of organic traffic, and can’t decipher between pr stunts, and real life.
With the Perennial Seller, I would recommend Seth Godin’s work over this book, but its highlights the importance of creating meaningful long lasting work.
The Same can be said about Growth Hacker As well, there are other authors I would recommend.
Summary of Ryan’s other work
The Obstacle is the way, is a must read.
Ego Is The Enemy, skip.
Conspiracy, skip.
Trust me, I’m Lying, is something that should be read.
Daily stoic, is an absolute must have.
The Perennial Seller, is an okay read I would recommend for people who mindlessly jump from project to project.
The Growth Hacker, has beneficial information over it, I would recommend over or in addition to the perennial seller.
Comentarios