The Age of Influence
Originally posted on Medium.
Introduction
The Age of Information was birthed as early as 1949 through Claude Shannon’s piece on the A Mathematical Theory on Communication and has continued through the tech boom and bust of the 90s. But today, it is 2018, and the Age of Information has long since died. The Age of Influence is here. ‘Knowledge is Power’ no longer holds true, because most have access to knowledge, and few actually make use of it.
In the last few years, the following events have occurred, in no particular order: Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States. The UK voted to recede from the European Union. A few reputable Silicon Valley venture capitalists were ousted from their firms. And perhaps most crucially, Starbucks received flack for their holiday ‘red cup’. What do all of these events have in common?
They were catalyzed primarily through media influence, both social and institutionalized.
The last decade of consumer-oriented technological advances has been primarily focused on social network platforms. Platforms which have allowed me to video chat with my grandmother in India, free of charge. Platforms which have helped a boy from Africa receive exposure thanks to viral promotion of his engineering aptitude. Platforms which have enabled rural small-scale farmers to have more control over their yield. Social network platforms which have offered a voice to the masses.
These new voices, rarely heard from at this scale before, have offered the power of social influence to everyone and anyone who has access to the internet, regardless of their social standing, education, location, etc. The Age of Influence has spurred an increase in access to communication tools, and thereby, to social influence. It has also empowered entire populations to make impactful decisions based merely on emotions.
How we have Evolved
The incident that arguably catalyzed this Age of Influence, is the Starbucks Red Cup controversy in 2015. Many Christian Starbucks fans were outraged that the design of Starbucks’ holiday cup had been changed to create more religious inclusion and claimed that the company was waging a “war on Christmas”. Although this incident didn’t result in any apparent changes to Starbucks’ executive lineup or marketing strategy, it did, perhaps, spark this particular train of thought in the minds of many:
“I can now speak up via social media about any topic, person, or institution that bothers me and expect to see real-life consequences if it goes viral.
Another example of the dangers of this mentality, is the US election for the 45th president of the United States. Donald J. Trump won this election due primarily to his ability to capture an undereducated mainland America, by use of social media tools and propaganda. Non-coastal US cities consist mostly of dwindling industries and poorer people, who, simply put, feel irrelevant in this technological era. Trump successfully utilized their feelings of hopelessness and anger to earn himself the presidency.
Meanwhile, in the UK, elderly folks elected to recede from the European Union through Brexit; Fueled, again, by their disdain for the other European countries with low economic yield, and a sudden access to social, and thereby political, influence.
This Age of Influence does not harbor dangers merely from offering a voice to the uneducated, however. It also empowers educated people who are making decisions based solely on emotions. An example of this, is the recent wave of articles being published regarding sexual harassment in the Silicon Valley. The allegations in question included propositions for sex, an unwelcome kiss, a hand on the leg, and touching of the face. It is fascinating to see, that after the publication of many articles citing the same about certain reputable venture capitalists in the Silicon Valley, the response from the general public was one of outrage so significant, that it forced the VCs in question to step down from their firms.
This brings us to a vital concern- The Age of Influence has created a world in which anyone can voice allegations against anyone else and effectively ruin the other’s life, because the audience is readily pointing fingers based solely on emotions and without taking into account the context, factual knowledge or lack thereof, or making note of the propaganda tools being utilized by media organizations to spur viewership.
Due to this new access to technology, most people have forgotten how to interact with one another, have low self-esteem and EQ, and are constantly looking for something that makes them feel something so they can momentarily be released of their emotionlessness. Media publication agencies offer just that- But at a huge price. The price of a man losing his job, family, friends, or lifetime of work, due to a momentary lapse in situational awareness. The price of offering a self-serving moron the reigns of an entire nation. The price of hundreds of economic and trade treaties being washed down the drain.
An instance in which The Age of Influence will certainly play into effect, is in the growing use of Blockchain technology. While there are many ways to leverage the blockchain for business or personal value, the idea that it is somehow better or more secure because it is decentralized, is not just foolhardy, but dangerous. Take this man hacking a major Ethereum exchange as an example of its ‘security’. While the technology itself may be more secure theoretically, the organizations that manning it, are not. Also, in doing business on the blockchain without needing to go through the same protocols as a typical business, your protection as a business or perhaps even as a business owner decreases significantly due to the lack of legal precedence and regulatory power. Without central agencies to decipher difficult situations, giving ‘power to the people’ to create their own rules of engagement may not always result in fair judgement, because the mass public is easily manipulated. Furthermore, cryptocurrencies that can simply be ‘created’ without any baseline value structure or existing population of users set in place, result in worthless cryptocurrencies that merely create inflation. Also, the likelihood of extreme fluctuation in the value of cryptocurrencies is extremely high due to the lack of regulation. This can be dangerous from an economic sense, when you have people who are investing a majority portion of their wealth into crypto, and may react emotionally with regards to their other assets when the value of a certain cryptocurrency decreases; potentially causing a devastating downward economic spiral.
Rahul Sood, a serial entrepreneur and CEO/founder of esports startup, Unikrn, recently executed a his own ICO. He comments-
“Blockchain technology will completely disrupt traditional banking and commerce. Unikrn is in a highly regulated industry, and Blockchain allows us to build incredibly transparent AML and KYC systems. In terms of other companies coming into Blockchain and Crypto, 95% of the ICOs I’ve seen do not have a good reason to be on Blockchain, therefore they’re running an ICO just to raise money.”
So how does one navigate this new Age of Influence? Richard Schlackman, a pioneer in the digitalization of politics, echoes-
“We’re no longer innocent until proven guilty- Because anything is believable, everyone already has sides, and people are confused. (To survive this) you’re going to have to keep documentation and persevere. We’re in a reaction to the future right now; History occurs in circles, as (Giambattista) Vico says; We make progress, and then we spin back. We’re having a reaction to this new access to information.”
The Age of Influence, despite the connotations the title may catalyze in your mind, is a time in which anyone can thrive. It is ultimately an era during which it is far easier to thrive than to survive. Surviving entails a defensive approach to engaging in this environment, while thriving entails an offensive approach. It’s far easier for anyone, regardless of background, to run to the media and blackmail or slander a person, without having any proof. It’s far more difficult, however, to protect yourself from someone who is attempting to discredit you, because even with proof, the general public is quick to point fingers of blame. Furthermore, in today’s world with everyone’s data being stored, sold, and shared, often times with their consent but without their knowledge, if a hacker wanted to take you down, you’d be gone by Monday morning.
Perhaps then, the only effective defensive solution, is to avoid creating enemies, and maintain clear but diplomatic lines of communication. You might also seek to diminish your own visibility in the face of the general public and attempt to live a more private life. In the US in particular, public figures are put on pedestals and treated like gods. As soon as a public figure so much as picks his or her nose, the media, and in turn the public, react in utter dismay. Fame and success now comes at the price of living under constant scrutiny. Because certain labels are easier to point fingers at, caucasian men being at the top of the list within the US, it’s now become a game of ‘pin the label on the donkey’ for media writers.
One might ponder why a scandal might aid the career of a pop musician but hurt that of a politician; These two career paths cater to drastically different demographics that care about different ideologies. Take, for example, Tomi Lahren. She is well known as a conservative and a Trump supporter. Her show was cancelled after she mentioned that she believed women should have the right to abort pregnancies, because it detracted from her public image. The further one detracts from his/her public image, the more impactful the detraction itself.
After hearing this, you might think that it’s best to go on the offensive in this game, but be forewarned- If you attempt to blackmail or slander a person with media influence, you will be placing a sticker on your own forehead that warns people not to place their trust in you. Let’s reference, once again, the allegations that were made against certain Silicon Valley VCs- The women who were making these allegations will certainly find that they have a harder time engaging with people who have high visibility after the fact. 90% of the highly visible serial entrepreneur and VC friends with whom I’ve engaged regarding this topic have also remarked to me that while outwardly they have promised to help solve the gender disparity in the community, they’ve become frightened to hire female talent or invest in female-run organizations due to the recent allegations.
As a society we can only hope to survive this era through creating a more thoughtful mindset: Asking ourselves if what we’re reading, listening to, or watching has any conclusive evidence stated; What kinds of propaganda techniques are being applied; And thinking through the scenario without reacting emotionally. There are many things that media tells us, that we should, according to them, be emotional about, but few that actually impact our daily lives. It seems only appropriate, therefore, to follow these questions with, “Is it even necessary to react?”
Conclusion
One might pose the question, ‘why term it the Age of Influence if there is no ‘pay to play’ in place’? This term is most appropriate because despite the fact that access to influence is easy, establishing credibility is not. Social networks such as Facebook have demonstrated that most people will share articles posted by their friends over a source that bears no personal influence.
The Age of Influence is fostering a mob mentality that thrives on self-righteousness and poorly thought-out decision-making processes. Media agencies who can leverage this mentality by using propaganda techniques to ultimately win the game. Those with highly visible public profiles are now challenged to be politically correct in a time in which it has become increasingly difficult to do so, due to anyone being allowed to be offended by anything you say or do. There are ways to leverage this dynamic to your advantage, as President Trump has demonstrated, but it may come at the cost of your own, honest voice.
