(#178) Manipulation vs Messaging: Where’s the Line?

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In today’s episode, we’re pulling back the curtain on something we all feel but rarely talk about:

 Why does so much of what we see online — protests, trends, “viral” moments, political messages — feel engineered?

And more importantly…
 Where’s the line between honest persuasion and outright manipulation?

Kyle breaks down the gray area between influence and orchestration, exploring questions like:

What we cover in this episode:

• Why most public messaging (left, right, corporate, activist) is coordinated
• How “organic” viral moments often aren’t organic at all
• The blurry boundary between influence, strategy, and manipulation
• How social media algorithms amplify emotion — not truth
• Why transparency matters more than ever
• The ethics of engineering a message, even if the message itself is true
• How orchestrated narratives shape our culture without us realizing it

Kyle also shares:

• Research on political communication
• Studies on influencer persuasion
• Data on media trust and social media virality
• Real examples of modern messaging tactics (without naming groups or pointing fingers)

The big question we leave you with:

“If a message is true… but engineered… does it change how you feel about it?”

This episode is all about curiosity, not conclusions — and invites listeners to think deeply about the media ecosystem we live in, and how it shapes what we believe.

Links:

 MIT Sloan research on misinformation spreading faster than truth 

 Study: Shares without clicks on Facebook and social platforms 

 UNESCO influencer fact checking study 

 KFF misinformation poll snapshot 

Social Media:

Insta/X: kyleTHEhorton

Youtube: Kyletalkss

Tiktok: KyleTalkss

Intro: Head In The Clouds by Matthew Morelock

Outro: Surfaces Type Beat - Jellyfish Beats

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