Die Neue Propaganda

Date of Completion

4-22-2021

Degree Type

Honors Thesis

Discipline

Art (ART)

First Advisor

Garland Kirkpatrick

Abstract

Behavior modification is the use of analyzed data, collected from user engagement, to automatically alter a user’s experience to influence their behavior. Behavior manipulation serves to keep users addicted to a product and to sell ads. The problem is that behavior modification has negative real life consequences: misinformation, polarization, and even violence. Using motion graphics, my project Die Neue Propaganda shows how changes in your social media feed slowly influence your mood and opinions, making you more extreme and polarized. My long-form video depicts a first-person view of a social media feed. The posts in the user’s feed gradually more red and combative in tone. Once the user’s feed reaches its peak, it zooms out and shows the perspectives of more and more people on their devices, indicating the network of users modified by the algorithm.

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