“How internet memes are used to manipulate your behaviors: An example.
Chances are that you have seen this meme floating around, especially around elections. It isn't what you think it is. It is not a friendly digital handshake. It isn't meant to help neighbors mend fences. It is a deliberate instrument of psychological manipulation.
I worked in Marketing for nearly two decades. I know this kind of device when I see it. Let me explain.
Note the childlike simplicity of the image, the super basic smiling face. The finger pointing up at it. The open posture. The baby-like head. What part of the brain is this image stimulating? It looks like the kind of flip card used in psychological tests, right? Or something from a children's book. Why do you think that is? What emotions is this image designed to instantly trigger?
The message
Now note the subtlety of the message, layered over the image: I'm the adult. You're the child. Also note the cleverly toned-down passive-aggressive scolding, the peer pressure at the root of it. (You want to be an adult too, right? Don't you want to be a grown-up?)
Script-flipping
Note how it flips the script: "No matter what I do, I'll still be your friend" is flipped to "no matter what you do, I'll still be your friend." It's easy to miss. Take a second to appreciate the insidious cleverness of that technique.
It makes you (the "child") feel guilty and "bad" for holding someone (the "adult") accountable for their harmful actions.
It also changes the subject from an objective harmful action (voting for a divisive, hate-filled, or antidemocratic agenda, for instance) to the subjective realm of "being friends" and the emotional safety that comes from preserving social bonds.
Tapping into the human operating system
If it wasn't already clear, beyond the deflection, it's also an authority play. It exploits hardwired adult-child archetypes AND people's need to belong and feel accepted by their peers.
Psychological manipulation: That's all this meme is about. (Or did you think it was designed by some random soccer mom somewhere?) This meme is deliberate. It was designed by people who know exactly what they are doing and how to achieve the response they want.
The purpose of this meme and others like it is to normalize malicious political views and suppress pushback, using guilt, confusion, and social pressure as subconscious levers of control. It is not designed to bring people together regardless of their political views. That is not its purpose.
Learn to spot when you're being manipulated by online memes.
PS: Whatever "side" you may be on, and whatever your politics may be, if you're sharing this meme, either you've been had, or your penchant for gaslighting is showing.
Despite how unsophisticated it looks, this is one of the best ones I've seen.”
When this one hit my friend group, posted by somebody's parent, it got torn apart. I felt badly for the adult who thought they were "being nice" but fuck that shit.
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