Psychological Warfare and Manipulation on the Internet

You have likely experienced that uncanny moment when an ad appears on your screen for something you were only thinking about or had mentioned in a passing conversation. While we often joke that our phones are eavesdropping, the truth is far more complex and, frankly, more fascinating. We are living…

We’ve all fallen for a headline that completely caught us off guard at least once. It has surely happened to you, you see something so shocking on Facebook or Instagram that you immediately want to share it with all your friends or in the family Viber group. But have you…

The internet was theoretically supposed to broaden our horizons, but in practice, it has forced us to dig into our own beliefs. In the previous article, we dealt with the technical side of the story. I explained how algorithms select information and create “bubbles” where we hear only our own…

Have you ever hopped onto Instagram just to check one message, only to snap out of it 45 minutes later watching a video about traditional knife-making in Japan? That’s not a coincidence, and it’s not on you. Designed to be addictive (The Slot Machine Effect): Mechanics: Pulling the trigger (Pull-to-Refresh)…