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Invisible Rulers

The People Who Turn Lies into Reality

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Invisible Rulers

By: Renée DiResta
Narrated by: Anna Caputo
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About this listen

 A brilliant, original analysis of the radical shift in the dynamics of power and influence, revealing how the machinery that powered the Big Lie works to create bespoke realities revolutionizing politics, culture, and society.

Renée DiResta’s powerful, original investigation into the way power and influence have been profoundly transformed reveals how a virtual rumor mill of niche propagandists increasingly shapes public opinion. While propagandists position themselves as trustworthy Davids, their reach, influence, and economics make them classic Goliaths—invisible rulers who create bespoke realities to revolutionize politics, culture, and society. Their work is driven by a simple maxim: if you make it trend, you make it true.

By revealing the machinery and dynamics of the interplay between influencers, algorithms, and online crowds, DiResta vividly illustrates the way propagandists deliberately undermine belief in the fundamental legitimacy of institutions that make society work. This alternate system for shaping public opinion, unexamined until now, is rewriting the relationship between the people and their government in profound ways. It has become a force so shockingly effective that its destructive power seems limitless. Scientific proof is powerless in front of it. Democratic validity is bulldozed by it. Leaders are humiliated by it. But they need not be.

With its deep insight into the power of propagandists to drive online crowds into battle—while bearing no responsibility for the consequences—Invisible Rulers not only predicts those consequences but offers ways for leaders to rapidly adapt and fight back.

 Elections & Political Process Politics & Government Social Sciences

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All stars
Most relevant
Have been following Renee's work for a few years. I heard her first on the infamous 'Joe Rogan Podcast' talking about Russian influence campaigns during the 2016 election. She was a researcher tracking online influence and the spread of narratives as part of the Stanford Internet Observatory. If you are a serious individual who revels in facts, credible and sound research then hear what she has to say. Her qualified opinions and insight into the social media and online influencer world that infects our minds lately (for better or worse) are timely. Renee is no amateur, she is not a pundit, she is not a 'CIA asset', she does not work for the US Government and as much as her detractors have tried to slander her, has never been involved in online censorship. If you want to know who the real censors are then look at her critics. She has since been hounded by those who would prefer that researchers like her did not do their work or lift up the curtain behind social media influence campaigns. This is the beating
heart of modern propaganda.

This book is framed by her work as part of the now 'cancelled' Stanford Internet Observatory. She traces a fascinating thread in how online influence works. Whether that's foreign propaganda from Russian bot farms targeting US domestic citizens as well as the radicalisation and monetisation of every day 'influencers' who have captive audiences where they create bespoke online realities for niche audiences and can make serious money. In these bespoke realities the 'truth' is whatever serves viral spread, earns them more followers, clout and money. I am not surprised she was hence targeted and slandered. Why? Because the real truth is inconvenient for those bad actors who want to wield social media as a weapon for propaganda and profit, both foreign and sadly domestic. If you want to understand how we got into this online mess and perhaps the way forward, read this book. Excellent.

Long awaited and it did not disappoint.

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This was a clear history of propaganda and how we got to where we are now. This book is a vital and important input into how we can move forward if we truly want to live in a world of shared reality.

Empathetic intentional clear

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