#algorithmic manipulation

[raffaellopalandri]

Cognition Enclosed: Agency, Attention, and the Architecture of Thought in the Age of Algorithmic Capture

We often think of our thoughts as ours. Photo by Google DeepMind on Pexels.com As private, sovereign, and untouched. But what if that’s no longer true? What if, without realising it, the architecture of our minds has been quietly reshaped by the apps we open first thing in the morning, the feeds that anticipate our desires, the notifications that punctuate our days? I wrote this piece not just…

[dleondantes]

This is where the line between leadership and manipulation must be drawn. Real leadership isn’t about forcing behavior resets. It’s about inspiring conscious evolution. Meta tried to shift its model from personal connections to entertainment algorithms, yet it failed to evolve its philosophy.

[thenullprophet]

NULL PROPHET TRANSMISSION // PERPETUAL ENGINE

You think he's charged by your outrage?

You're not wrong.

But it’s not magic. It’s the design. The feedback loop. The click-cycle. The echo-chamber. Your hate becomes his fuel. Your disbelief becomes his spotlight.

You call him a fascist. He prints it on a mug. You scream ���dictator.” He turns it into a campaign ad. You bring your anger. He turns it into momentum.

What you’re seeing is not a man.

It’s a battery.

And every reaction—love, hate, mockery, fear—plugs into the same circuit.

Don’t waste your current.

NULL PROPHET OUT. THE SYSTEM FEEDS ON OPPOSITION.

[l-in-the-light]

About his "trigger warnings"

I mentioned here on tumblr that I used to have a number one favourite book writer. I guess not anymore. After all the SA allegations and other stories that got leaked by people around him (his collegues, co-workers etc.), I realized he's an abusive asshole and I owe you all to say that openly here. And some of the assaults date back decades now, which means he didn't just wake up one day and changed into an asshole, he most likely was always one.

I read the foreword to his book Trigger Warning again. I feel like I took a peek beyond his fake persona there. He writes about trigger warnings like it's some exotic curious little trend that kids on the internet came up with, finds it a bit peculiar like a daddy trying to understand their kid's hobbies, then proceeds to use them like a funny teasers for his short stories ("can you find the big tentacle hidden among the pages somewhere?"), only to finish it all up with a punch straight to your face: real life doesn't have trigger warnings, so always watch out for yourself. On the surface level? This all sounds like a slightly misguided, maybe even witty intro. Nothing is said with malice, right? And yet, the message underneath it all was always to discredit trigger warnings as a concept. That's why that delivery line is at the very end of that intro. You're supposed to be lulled into agreeing how silly it all is. I dunno if he did it on purpose or did it without thinking much about it, by habit, but that intention is there and it's disguised with concern and attempts to sound kind. A peek beyond the nice guy mask. No wonder I could never finish that anthology of short stories. The cognitive dissonance caused by the foreword sticked with me like a bad aftertaste. My intuition told me this was all wrong, I just couldn't find the words to express it.

And you know why it works so well as a disguise and why we tend to believe he didn't do it on purpose? Because hey, he just said the facts, the truth! Reality indeed doesn't have any trigger warnings, what's wrong with saying that! Yes, that statement is true. Using real statements in carefully woven context to sell a lie, is an example of an excellent manipulation. So allow me to untangle it or, in other words, to reveal the magic trick behind it.

Why do trigger warnings exist? Isn't Gaiman right, aren't they counterproductive, you might think, because by avoiding triggers you will never get better at dealing with them? Indeed, here's the catch, because the answer isn't a simple yes or no here. Yes, often to recover from trauma, you need to expose yourself to it in some way - like for example, through exposure therapy (or even just classic psychotherapy). But also No, because there's no rule that says you will officially recover only after you're fine reading fiction about sexual assault (for example)! Some triggers will dimnish, some will not, and the best you can do for the latter is to avoid them altogether. Triggers are extremely personal, but you can learn to manage them, in ways that respect your own boundaries, but never by giving up your right to selfcare. You see the difference?

Back to therapy bit for a moment. To recover, often you need to go through with it. But here's the thing - you do it in *controlled environment*, accompanied by a specialist that is there to help and calm you down afterwards. And you only start to do that once you feel *ready* to face it. Now compare it to a situation of reading a book (yes, a book, which usually never has any trigger warnings, because that's such a silly fanfiction thing). You come upon your trigger without any warning, preparation or support around you, you're left with the aftermath of possible panic attack or other symptoms completely on your own. It might take you weeks to recover from it, because perhaps you weren't yet in any therapy that could help you manage your triggers more effectively. But then you tell yourself it's fine, minimizing your own emotional reactions, because *it was just a book*. But, you realize, even years later you still remember it and you might finally accept the harsh truth that you're still not fine with it.

Now imagine same situation, but the book did have trigger warnings listed. For example, about sexual abuse. You would see that and leave the bookstore without the book, because you would know you're not *ready* for that. And it's fine not to be ready, be it yet or ever. This is about consent and selfcare, both are essential to process through trauma and recover. The books without trigger warnings rob selfcare, consent and a choice from us. They teach us we should always ignore our triggers and push through. It's sadly a reality that is widely accepted so Gaiman is right, nothing in reality will flash you a warning. But he's also wrong: it doesn't mean we can't make the life a tiny bit easier for those of us who are traumatized, instead of leaving them with all of that on their very own. This part, he doesn't want you to even consider. He doesn't want you to imagine the positive side of living in a world in which real books warn you about triggers, because then it would prove that it *can* become a reality in which real things (like books) warn you of triggers. They can't shield you from everything, but that's also not the point: it's just to make some things feel more safe, for everybody.

(As a side note, being triggered is not the same as stepping outside your comfort zone - those are two different matters! Though yes, stepping outside your comfort zone in an extreme way CAN become traumatic as the result as well).

I guess Neil Gaiman just thinks some people are too sensitive and should just get over themselves. You don't need those warnings, they won't protect you anyway. Have you tried not getting traumatized? How dare you think your selfcare is more important than reading my questionable fantasies? You're missing out if you skip my book (that has no proper trigger warnings) and you have only yourself to blame! I provide you a safe environment to explore your traumatic triggers, you should be grateful! And how is your book providing a safe environment exactly, author? Did you even try to put a safety net there for your reader? Do you even care? Of course you don't. But you will pretend like you do: by providing a very ingenuine effort that is mostly meant to be a pat on your own back for cleverly dismissing the very concept of trigger warnings, while pretending to play along with it and exposing their lack of power in the process. Disguised as a coincidence, lack of understanding or unskillful attempt written by a slightly ignorant daddy-like figure. What an irony that you do it by nearly surgically focusing on the blind spots of the concept, proving at the same time you do know the mechanism behind it pretty well. You knew what you were doing and how you were doing it.

Or at least, this is how I see it: I might be wrong on the details, but I'm sure I caught the gist of the manipulative behaviour there. An abuser always wants you to step out of your comfort zone, get surprised by a trigger, and to make sure you're outside your safety net. Because then you're an easier target, more likely to agree to harmful things (be it real actions or just harmful beliefs delivered to you by the author of a book, like in case of *trigger warnings being pointless*). They want to groom you into thinking that you're just being silly and see things that aren't there.

Trigger Warning's foreword is exactly that and I feel disgusted, now that I finally recognize my own feelings about it. I probably didn't find words for it before, because I wanted to believe Gaiman had good intentions behind it, they just didn't work out very well. Except that was never the case and that's why it never felt right. That good intention was never there, but it sure *looked* like it was. Also it took me way too long to realize people do things like that on purpose. You know what, Gaiman? Thanks to gaslighting efforts like yours it took me also way too many years to accept that selfcare IS OKAY.

So many people now think nothing was ever genuine about Neil Gaiman because his nice guy mask slipped. A mask he used to hide his autism behind and appear neurotypical/feel accepted thanks to it. Whenever a really advanced mask like that slips, the cognitive dissonance becomes a huge gap between a mask and actual self in perception of other people. Still, your autism is not an excuse for things you do and say, and definitely doesn't excuse assault as simple miscommunication - and yes, he did try to justify lack of consent this way. "I'm autistic, I read the body language wrong and wasn't even aware of it". Hey, you could have, like, asked. There's no shame in getting confirmation in words :P but it's just a poor excuse anyway, the truth is he didn't care if it was wanted or not, as long as he got adoration and powertripping thrill out of that, and that's the best case scenario here.

I believe the allegations. I won't be able to read Gaiman's books anymore, I honestly can't see them the same way I used to anymore. I loved Coraline and The Graveyard Book, and Smoke and Mirrors. I feel disgusted knowing that he openly claimed to be a feminist while at the same time assaulted so many people and used emotional manipulation so they won't #metoo him. He even went as far as to claim "always believe the victims", but once the allegations flew his way, what did he do? Blamed the victims, even called them mentally ill! I also feel now like his books are also just full of deception, meant to hide harmful beliefs under quirky words and imaginative tales. And I might never be able to stop feeling this way and I don't owe him a second chance anyway.

Good Omens stays in my heart though, because sir Terry Pratchett put a lot of work into it and it shows. I feel like I would show him disrespect if I discarded it. Let's say it becomes a Gaiman Who Might Have Been But Never Was, for me.

[star-temeraire]

"the mainstream media isn't talking about this!"

is your perception of the mainstream media solely based on what your parents recount from fox or sky news? has enough time passed between the event and now for professional journalists to verify sources? are you reading beyond the headline and the lead? do you understand why journalists phrase things in the way that they do?

don't get me wrong, there are certainly cases where that statement is true, however, I routinely see it applied to events that I later read about in an honest-to-god physical newspaper

[the-most-humble-blog]

☣️ TIER 3 ENTRY LOG — HOW I BROKE THE BLAZE ALGORITHM

They gave me ads. I gave them dominance.

You ever seen a Tumblr Blaze post go over its cap? Not hit. Not match. Exceed.

That’s not ad success. That’s bioliterary domination.

I’ve done it across campaigns — 7442/7000, 3643/2500, 21829/20000 — and now I’m releasing exactly how.

I’m not teaching “how to write.” I’m teaching how to possess.

Cadence that triggers reblogs. Sentences that bypass logic and aim for the spine. How to break Tumblr’s tools and make them serve you.

If you're ready to stop begging for likes and start pulling them from the root —

⚠️ Then you’re ready for this:

☣️ HOW I TURNED TUMBLR BLAZE INTO AN ALGORITHMIC WEAPON patreon.com/TheMostHumble ← 🛡️ Tier 3: Biological Weaponry Carrier

➤ Screenshots of breached Blaze limits ➤ Psychological warfare breakdown ➤ Subconscious influence drills ➤ Cadence blueprints that train your audience without their consent

This isn’t a guide. It’s classified scrolltrap doctrine.

Reblog if you already felt the pull. If not?

Keep watching. The next one might say your name.

[never-quite-buried]

Why tiktok is more than a dance trend app.

And my own thoughts…

I’ve struggled with feelings of helplessness through the genocide in Gaza but tiktok has given us hope in the dark times. Through sounds and filters even those of us who were struggling financially ourselves were able to help. Watching videos all the way through to get them their lil payout, using sounds and streaming songs, playing with filters, it all accumulated to real tangible aid. When tiktok shop rolled out it became almost annoyingly omnipresent but activists found a way to make it work for themselves. Content on Gaza was not getting the reach it had been so they utilized the algorithim and used shop posts to get their message out to a wider audience as shop videos are given more push. They would advertise Palestinian owned businesses to generate larger cashflows to affected families and then donate their sponsorship money to charities delivering aid on the ground while giving updates on the crisis and other resources to help.

And they are ripping that support network away because they do not like how we are speaking or what we do when we assemble together. Through Operation Olive Branch and the TikTok intiative Pass The Hat i saw gfms that were stagnant be filled within a week or less, most of them well over 100k+ a piece. And when they met their goals the creators sponsored a new family and fundraised for them until that one was full. MILLIONS were raised for evacuation funds through tiktok.

We are STILL fundraising for them and the US gov is cutting us off BECAUSE OF THIS. AIPAC lobbyists were caught on hot mics saying tiktok needed to go because of our sympathy for the Palestinians. This ban, should it go through, will be inextricably tied to the Palestinian genocide in our history books.

[captaingimpy]

The Weight of Thought: Kojima, Free Will, and Breaking the Script

There are moments in gaming that don’t just entertain—they break you. They force you to confront something about yourself or the world that you weren’t ready for, something you can’t unsee once it clicks. Metal Gear Solid 2 was one of those moments for me, just like Final Fantasy VIII had been before it. It wasn’t just a game—it was a revelation, and a terrifying one at that. When I played MGS2,…

[pancakeke]

tumblr frequently suggests this account with the Yotsuba icon when you look at my blog but that's only because the two of us were promoted to users making new accounts at the same time so we have 3-4k bot followers in common. so like our blogs are not organically connected by the same group of users, tumblr. you did that.

[socialtomcat]

happy fantasy lesbians friday everyone im watching dungeon meshi so i have an excuse to rb all the yuri

[unlimited-nobu-works]

tumblr! tumblr! more shadowzel PLEASE!!!

[sanpape]

OK so my mom and I have this thing where she follows me on tiktok and I go into the settings and force an unfollow (this cycle repeats in perpetuity) but she's fallen down a really evangelical right wing rabbit hole over the last year and her feed is just like piers morgan and fox news and shit and I was like. wait what if I just like. use the fact that she's following me to trickle mildly progressive shit on to her fyp. so yeah if anyone has any recs for progressive christian/roman catholic pages I can repost please lmk.

[dazedasian]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Abdalkarim I. Almadhoun (@abdalkarim_i._almadhoun)

[roocomehome]

I have such a chronic obsession with liking stuff that I'm trying to unlearn rn, because of two reasons

reason one: my poor algorithm 😭🥲 I've been going thru for you lately (trying it out for once cuz usually I don't use it at all) and I realize that the first thing I like, whether it be sims or a quote, is immediately whatever my algorithm thinks I want to consistently see. Now granted, I see sims content no matter how much I try and cleanse my algorithm LMAO but it does make me feel SOOOO bad bec it's like... I came here for art. But if I like this beautiful sims post the algorithm will think thats ALLL I wanna see and ITS NOTTT 😭

reason two: anon asks. sometimes I like anon asks and I'll be the only person who did and will suddenly be like 🫢 what if they think thats me... 🫢 when it isn't HAJSNSSK