[georgemcbay]

> it was easier in the past when information was so much more expensive to distribute.

As a 52 year old my life experience disagrees.

It is much easier now because information flows both ways and "They" have a lot of information on you (and everyone else) and can use that information to manipulate you with algorithmic ragebait, and to extract maximum rents (in all aspects of commerce, not just literal rents) from you, etc.

Not that things were ever perfect in the past, they certainly weren't, but increasingly so much of everything is literally just an outright fucking scam these days and all of it is being turbocharged by various forms of "AI" adjacent technology and increasing deregulation.

[SoftTalker]

I agree that algorithms tune what you see, it's easier now to give people what they are predisposed to respond to. But back when everyone got their news from Walter Cronkite he had much more power to shape the narrative. Everyone was seeing the same thing, at the same time, and they didn't have easy access to a dozen other points of view from around the world.

You can still do that today, you can confine yourself to the CNN or the Breitbart view of the world, but that's not your only option. You have way more opportunity to be well informed now.