Social media holds a lot of sway over society, which is why some Instagrammers get paid tens of thousands of dollars to advertise certain products because it makes people feel like they have discovered something, as opposed to traditional advertising which feels more like the brand/product is being shoved down your throat.It seems that China recognizes the power of social media which is why in the past they have blocked certain websites, and which is why they also recently been accused of flooding social media with fake posts by paid supporters in an attempt to help sway the public’s opinion of the current government.
China had previously been accused of censoring and even altering posts online, so this shouldn’t really come as a surprise. This is based on recent research conducted by Harvard academics in which they discovered that the current government and its supporters help to generate a whopping 488 million fake posts a year in support of the government.
According to the authors of the paper, “They do not step up to defend the government, its leaders, and their policies from criticism, no matter how vitriolic; indeed, they seem to avoid controversial issues entirely. Letting an argument die, or changing the subject, usually works much better than picking an argument and getting someone’s back up.”
Filed in . Read more about China.