Algorithms And Zombies

Populism and the tyranny of algorithms have invested social media with a power hitherto undreamt of, replacing civil debate with emotionally driven echo chambers that distort reality and erode critical thinking

The problem with social media is the algorithm-driven business model that rewards engagement. The more emotional and sensational the content, the better it is for the revenue stream of the social media platforms. The anchors, influencers and freelancers thriving on cheap sensationalism, pornography and appeals to emotions instead of the intellect, are the main culprits as well as the beneficiaries of the tyranny of the algorithms. This model used by political parties creates like-minded WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter groups of people, besotted with the same political parties and their leadership.

These groups act as echo chambers which echo and magnify the same content, taking the emotions to a new feverish pitch. Those who join such social media groups can have no exposure to any alternative reality and therefore start believing the narrative of their groups as the gospel truth. The tendency to stay in the group is also reinforced due to one’s own emotional biases and prejudices, whether due to irrational love for a hero-like figure or out of pique for other political parties or groups.

Cut off from alternative reality and contrarian views, debate and understanding are eclipsed while blind beliefs and prejudices get strengthened.

It is therefore the tyranny of the algorithms that has snatched the art of dialogue and civil debate from society, where people are happily incarcerated in their logic bubbles of emotions and prejudices, refusing to break the jail and see an alternative reality. Social media influencers, in a mad rush to make money out of the algorithm-driven business models of social media platforms that reward engagement and sensationalism, continually gaslight their followers by plying them with information that appeals to their baser instincts of fear, anger, envy and lust.

Anyone once caught in the web of this manipulative virtual world finds themselves trapped in an emotional cul-de-sac, making exit from the group difficult for fear of the peer group’s opprobrium.

The perils of in-group dynamics include a continual quest for validation and snowballing of self-belief, which shuts off contrarian views as heresy bordering on blasphemy. The post-modern era that had ushered in an age of incredulity and individual scepticism of grand narratives had accentuated individualism, which is on the wane in the face of an implacable wave of post-truth emotionalism, where objective facts are deliberately eschewed in favour of personal beliefs and emotional catharsis.

Emotions, biases, prejudices, and viscerally driven narratives therefore rule the roost in this post-truth age, where Gen Z and Alpha are getting “fragilised” emotionally and intellectually, as mentioned in studies such as The Coddling of the American Mind by American scholars such as Jonathan Haidt.

The big tech monopoly needs to be challenged through a nationwide awareness campaign where responsible use of social media is encouraged through the right incentives and penalties

According to Fareed Zakaria (Age of Revolutions), the relentless march of technology is creating haves and have-nots. The have-nots feel left out or are afraid of the frenetic pace of change and therefore resist change and seek refuge in certainties of a bygone age or the promises of a utopia emerging from the febrile imagination of the populists.

Populists and demagogues can capitalise on these feelings of identity crisis and cultural shock to lead the credulous followers up the garden path with promises of an empyrean future based on airbrushed memories of a mythical past.

Populism and the tyranny of algorithms have invested social media with a power hitherto undreamt of. With the power of reaching the homesteads and the campuses with equal ease, social media and communication technology have combined to place algorithm-defined reality in the palms of housewives, labourers, students and the elderly without the protective buffers of editorial oversight.

Attempts to regulate social media often come up against organised campaigns by social media owners, i.e. tech billionaires, who wield tremendous influence due to their financial muscle.

Several studies show that dynastic politics is a bane of Pakistani polity, where families control politics due to an entrenched system of dynastic affiliation and a historical tendency to pander to tribal, clan or ethno-linguistic identities.

Under this environment, the inbreeding of thought and groupthink proclivities are reinforced through social media bubbles, where in-group thoughts are sacralised, and alternative thoughts are debased. Twitter has become the present-day town square, whereas Facebook is the family reunion that leaves little time and appetite for people to form real connections outside their socio-political cohorts.

For a semi-literate society like Pakistan, where gullibility and superstition are the norm, both in urban and rural spaces, algorithm-enabled customised social media feeds reinforce existing biases and prejudices, creating socio-political polarisation.

The tragedy for the tech-savvy new generation, with diminishing attention spans and a lack of appetite for deeper study, is that these social media feeds and in-group validations act as an emotional palliative in an increasingly competitive world. Letting social media feeds and influencers think about oneself deprives one of critical reasoning abilities, leading to the zombification of the mind.

It is no small wonder that we are seeing a multitude of zombies on social media praising this or deifying that group, without questioning and challenging assumptions based on intellect rather than emotions. This susceptibility to falling for messianic figures and superheroes has given rise to a culture of “Waiting for Godot”, depicted in plays where the entire nation waits for a messiah to descend from the heavens to solve its issues in the shape of a “deus ex machina”.

Since social media regulation and censorship run up against a wall in democracies, societal responsibility and pressure to hold the tech billionaires owning social media platforms accountable assume top priority. The engagement-based remunerative models of social media platforms like YouTube need to be changed to embed fact-checking and accountability in the algorithmic architecture of the platforms.

No single country can achieve this, just as no country can impose curbs on the excesses of artificial intelligence singlehandedly. The redesigning of social media algorithmic architecture has to be a global responsibility, without which the Chinese or Russian models of strict censorship and erection of firewalls would be the ultimate solutions.

Zombies are a dangerous breed, and their semi-literate variant is even more dangerous. Pakistan, therefore, seriously needs to study this phenomenon and come up with solutions that are both socially and technically feasible.

The big tech monopoly needs to be challenged through a nationwide awareness campaign where responsible use of social media is encouraged through the right incentives and penalties. Credible fact-check platforms, legal accountability and de-incentivisation of the present YouTube monetisation model may be some of the solutions, but would require a global effort to achieve the full range of desired effects.

We need to institute these checks and balances before the algorithms turn the rising tide of zombies into an uncontrolled flood.

Note: This article appeared in The Friday Times
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are of the author and do not necessarily represent Institute’s policy.