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PeonForHer -> RE: Rally Question (3/21/2016 4:26:49 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: kdsub
Hello Peon
No more than any other democracy in the free world...certainly you are not going to say your country of origin is not polarized when it comes to politics.
I think the only real difference in America today, and much of the modern world as well, as opposed to 50 years ago is simply the advent of instant access and exchange of information, right or wrong. This allows opinion to spread almost instantaneously where in the past it may have taken weeks even months. This increases the apparent turmoil and the impression of a consensus that is not necessarily true. News media seem to pick the loudest voices and the most sensational stories giving credence and false impressions of community thought.
Butch
Maybe the instantly-communicated view is actually the 'truer' view, though. Actually, strike that: I've no idea what 'truer' really means in this context.
As for the news media - they once had a much bigger role in forming opinion - and could dampen it, too, when required. Perhaps this side of the Pond the latter was truer than it was that side: our media were forever wagging their fingers at 'badly-behaved citizens'. The BBC was always the finest exemplar. But people are taking less and less notice of them ....
I read recently that, according to some research, nowadays the suggestion is people are more likely to form their views from what their pals say on social networks like Facebook than they are from the news media. People have pointed to the Arab Spring as one of the major results.
The social control that once existed, and was taken for granted, is certainly decaying. It's no longer a genial game of cricket between two long-established teams of respected chaps in either red or blue caps, any more.
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