I hear it used all the time, but noticed I don’t know exactly what it means. The actual definition of it is very broad.
“The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.”
However, this doesn’t quite feel like how the word is often used. I’ve only ever seen it used with a negative connotation. If I were to spread information about climate change for the planet, am I spreading propaganda?
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Propaganda is a form of information that is designed to persuade rather than to inform. It could have positive or factual claims, but it will typically leave out any inconvenient caveats that don’t serve the agenda, and it will typically misconstrue, exaggerate, or lie. If it’s frustrating to not be able to differentiate between “normal” advertising, news, and propaganda, well, your brain is working normally. Yeah.
It’s not completely ludicrous to label *most* of the mainstream information that bombards us daily as some form of propaganda. From claims that whatever politician literally killed babies, all the way down to ads for “sugar-free” tic-tacs made almost entirely of sugar (with a “serving size” below the technical threshold of legally considering something sugar free). It’s all a matter of manipulating truths, half truths, and outright lies to sell a product or an agenda.
Propaganda traditionally is political in nature though. Typically selling an agenda that serves the interest of the state or a political party.
Bullshit (a broad umbrella that propaganda sits under) is everywhere.
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