Since the invention of the printing press, mass movements have made extensive use of new media technologies as a tool for growing the movement. Fascist messaging functions by appealing to the socially or economically frustrated, and portraying the movement as a means of escaping the real or imagined crimes of some over-arching oppressor. It appears that the model used by later movements was derived directly from observation of the rise of the Protestant Church in Europe. The rise of Protestantism across Europe was framed as a revolt against the excesses of the Catholic Church, and the movement was facilitated by Gutenberg's creation of the printing press, use of which led to the Bible becoming the all-time best-selling book in world history. The Nazi Party of Germany and the Fascisti of Italy used radio to broadcast the speeches of Hitler and Mussolini, along with party newspapers that provided regular updates on party dogma from carefully vetted propaganda lieutenants. The Trump campaign used a "five-factor personality model" targeting method and social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to grow the MAGA movement in the months leading up to the 2016 Presidential election. Effective use of mass media to grow a mass movement appears to follow a single recurring pattern. That pattern consists of using mass media and social media to "condition" followers to replace spontaneous conversation with the loyal repetition of party slogans, and discussion of talking points raised by the charismatic leader.
A growing mass movements needs actual physical rallies of the faithful to maintain itself. Without the sight of a loyal crowd to join, and the sense of community that comes from participating in a large public demonstration, the neurotic-authoritarian will start to doubt the movement's size, and to question how many others really do follow the movement. The catch for the creator of a mass movement is that, given that a propensity for social and economic frustration is a driving factor that leads individuals to adopt an ideology, attempting to create gatherings of the faithful too soon can lead to bickering and ideological in-fighting that will strangle the movement in its infancy. One example of this may be seen in the history of the Nazi Party. Julius Streicher was a key leader in the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. Although Streicher and Hitler were members of the same party, they had very different ideas about how the party should be run. Streicher was a true socialist, who thought the party should be designed as a means of improving the lives of working class people, while Hitler was ultimately a megalomaniac and a monarchist, who saw the party primarily as a tool for aggrandizing himself. Over time there were violent disagreements among party members, and Hitler ultimately placed an order to have Streicher assassinated, and his loyalists removed from the party, with several of Streicher's most loyal assistants ending up in concentration camps. After the conflict with Streicher, Hitler became very selective about appointing propaganda lieutenants who would ensure that propaganda materials created by the Nazi Party adhered to a very strict "party line" that was dictated by Hitler, and his chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
Ultimately, success in growing a mass movement is achieved by replacing spontaneous conversation with the repetition of party slogans and the performance of "rituals of faith" that are taken as signifiers of membership in the community the movement creates. In religious movements, this function is achieved through common prayers, hymns, ritual gestures such as the "signing of the cross", and communal religious rituals. In a movement like the Nazi Party, this effect was achieved through the wearing of uniforms and insignia, salutes, and repetition of "oaths of loyalty" like "Heil Hitler". In Trumpism there was the wearing of the "MAGA" hat, repetition of phrases from Trump speeches, and the encouragement of cartoonish dress-up at rallies, where party members grew to become widely recognized members of the movement by donning garish costumes that included some red, white and blue visual element, as a signifier of their membership in the "Trump Tribe". In all cases, the performance of party ritual ensures conformity and cohesion by providing individuals with limited social skills an alternative mechanism for social bonding. This tendency was reflected in Trump's public rhetoric, where actual discussion of issues was carefully avoided in favor of deflection, name-calling, and constant repetition of those canned talking points that served as mantras for the party faithful.
Online communities facilitate this process by providing a ready means of distributing party propaganda, which can be used to engage in the "instructional process" of conditioning the faithful. The Five Factor personality model created by Cambridge Analytica began with a profile of traits related to "liking" certain organizations. Some of these traits are obvious, such as figuring that someone who likes the NRA, FOX News and an organization like Sons of the Confederacy will probably be receptive to conservative political messaging. Other combinations may not seem as obvious, such as the fact that individuals who have a proclivity for "magical thinking", including belief in ghosts, alternative medicine and astrology are also more likely to be receptive to far right political messaging. Social media also allows the propagandist to target his messaging towards those entertainment and media outlets that encourage "low energy thought" such as reality television shows and professional wrestling, and to avoid bringing in "troublemakers" that like to think too much by excluding those who look at "high energy thought" programming like the radio program Studio360, journals like Foreign Affairs, or this blog. The targeting of individuals by their social media activity allows the creator of a mass movement to fashion a carefully curated "mob" of followers, who are very likely to sympathize with the rhetoric of the party, and to demonstrate a willingness to repeat the party mantras and engage in the party rituals that are provided to them.
Large mass movements in the last century appear to follow a propaganda model derived from observations of the spread of the Protestant Church throughout Europe. Although physical gatherings are necessary to provide followers with proof of the movement's size and strength, there must be a period of "conditioning" that precedes those gatherings, where the faithful are instructed in a variety of party mantras and social rituals. Spontaneous conversation, and the bickering and in-fighting that may ensue when you gather a large group of socially and economically frustrated people together can strangle a movement in its infancy. Online communities may facilitate this process by allowing the creators of mass movements to observe individual behavior, generate profiles of the ideal participant based upon their online activity, and weeding out those "trouble makers" that tend to think too much.
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Image Credit: Detail of the painting Christ's entry into Brussels in 1889
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ%27s_Entry_into_Brussels_in_1889.jpg
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