As we advance in psychology, we increasingly learn about so-called dark psychology, or how to exploit human cognition to influence other people’s judgment and decision-making process. Social media companies utilize this form of social engineering to get your attention. The problem is that the left thinks they’re immune to this form of manipulation, that only the right is a target of social engineering. In this article, I will show you that social engineering is a problem that affects all groups.
The most significant advancement in social engineering happened when Cambridge Analytica and other groups started building psychological profiles of users, using user data, browsing habits, and web history to gain an increased awareness of what links you click, what makes you click, and what kind of arguments can influence you the most. Cambridge Analytica is considered one of the reasons why Donald Trump was elected in 2016. Republicans and the right continue to dominate online discourse, effectively using TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X to dominate the political discourse.
The primary use of this type of information is in reinforcement marketing, also known as identity branding. Companies and political parties target specific political groups, subcultures, and individuals with certain profiles to enhance and strengthen their identity. Social media giants typically categorize users into boxes, ensuring they only see posts aligning with their assigned identity or subculture. For example, if YouTube detects that you are clicking on or watching videos from a far-right figure, it will categorize you as far-right and show you only far-right content.
It goes deeper than this, however, and social media companies also psychologically profile you, studying your tendency towards anxiety, neuroticism, what kind of things make you angry, and knowing what buttons to press to evoke your emotions. One way of reinforcement is to constantly show you the mistakes that other people make while only showing you the success and value of your own in-group. Social media knows that the one way to make you feel good about yourself is to make you angry at others who are different.
Emotionally exploitative strategies on Social Media
One of the most significant forms of emotional exploitation is manufactured outrage. Articles written with extreme, exaggerated headlines, showing out-of-context quotes, directly aiming to make you angry. Typically, the content is speculative, based on “what could be happening” instead of “what is happening.” This form of content has driven the left to view the right as “worse than ever.”
Reddit, a left-wing-dominated platform, is full of this form of content. It causes them to have an exaggeratedly biased view of right-wing political candidates. Most left-wing groups have been shown to have an overly negative or dramatic view of the right, and are often completely incorrect about the policy or platform of right-wing parties.
Moderate right-wing figures are effectively ignored or hidden from media discourse. In contrast, extreme right-wing profiles gain constant attention in the algorithm simply because their emotionally evocative content drives more clicks. As a result, moderate right-wing figures have had no choice but to adopt similar strategies or to retire early. The left supports this drive by focusing their attention entirely on these candidates. It feeds into their view of the right as “unreasonable” and “evil.”
Understanding the Left Wing Psychological bias
Every person has a bias, no matter who they are or which group they are from. The left, while a diverse group of many different parties, is no different. Psychologically, people on the left value broadmindedness, harmony, and long-term thinking, while people on the right value achievement, tradition, and pragmatism more highly.
Social media giants and unethical actors often target the left by exploiting and reinforcing their core values, which they then manipulate—for example, the left highly values harmony and self-expression. Trolls and bots that infiltrate leftist spaces tend to exaggerate this desire for harmony to shut down critical internal discussions. This form of gatekeeping helps maintain harmony within the group but stifles freedom of speech. By labeling and attacking individuals on the left as right-wing whenever they express dissenting opinions or ask critical questions, the left alienates its voter base. It makes its groups increasingly prone to elitism.
How Social Engineers use your Idealism against you
The left, often characterized by idealism and utopianism, focuses on improving the world, and society can be enhanced through collective effort. However, this idealism can be exploited in various ways. For instance, an unethical individual might become blinded by self-righteousness, reinforcing their arrogance. Some on the left can cultivate an image of superiority by writing and sharing articles that depict themselves as perfect, morally infallible, and exceptionally well-informed.
Nevertheless, this image can present its challenges. First, it can become an impossible image, as most people are human, and few can live up to the left-wing ideal. The beliefs echoed by the left are often realistically possible in the here and now and require joint teamwork, long-term thinking, and a progressive, step-by-step approach. By demanding that this idealism be implemented today and that their political figures be perfect, morally perfect, they reinforce the view of the left as out of touch with the everyday man. The left has a recruiting problem, as many people are sympathetic to left-wing idealism. Still, few feel they are educated enough, perfect enough, to hold the fickle or represent the party. How can I join the Green Party if I fly, drive a car and eat meat? Can I sympathize with or support feminist causes while letting my wife do most of the housework? Can I vote with the working class while working for a non-union company?
We Need A Social Immune System
Trolls, AI-bots, and malicious actors infiltrate political groups, reinforce negative tendencies, and exploit psychological loopholes to cause the movements to self-destruct, become alienated, and extreme.
The only solution is to develop a social immune system.
We need ways to work together to become more aware of our psychological biases and prevent ourselves from falling victim to malicious and unethical strategies. It’s clear what we’re doing today needs to be fixed. Name-calling isn’t working. Elitism isn’t working. Lying or pretending to be perfect isn’t working. The only way forward is for the left to become more open and tolerant, more allowing critical internal discourse, and more willing to play the devil’s advocate to see the other side more clearly. The left must also become less accessible to exploit with negative and exaggerated headlines. We need to resist articles written only with misleading and fallacious arguments. We need to become better at seeing and recognizing competent and exciting arguments from the other side of the political spectrum.
Most importantly, we need to stop the name-calling and labeling of the other side. We need to stop misconstructing their arguments. We need to explain what the other side wants in a way that the other side would agree with. Only then can we have an intelligent and constructive debate.
