one way to understand the moment we're in as "As Seen On TV". when TV was new, people did not understand how alien, how different, it was as a source of knowledge and information. they treated it with level of trust it did not deserve. so "seen on TV" constituted endorsement. 1/

we collectively learned that "seen on TV" could be bought or influenced, well beyond what was openly disclosed a ads or sponsorships, and "As Seen On TV" has faded to a kind of campy joke (even a way of imbuing products with camp). 2/

similarly, we collectively have not understood how different the internet and social media are from other media, have been caught of guard, are making dumb inferential mistakes. but maybe, like with television, we do eventually, collectively learn. 3/

of course, on TV and on the internet, the influencers and manipulators will be learning and changing too. maybe internet media evolve so fast we are destined to lose the cat and mouse game. 4/

maybe, but maybe not. we are changing our priors not just with respect to existing internet platforms, but also with respect to emerging media. that's a bit sad, to lose the sense of hope new media used to bring! but maybe it constrains media toward greater virtue. /fin