Ayesha's Share: Barack Obama Considers His Role in the Age of Trump
- Jun 22
- 1 min read
From Ayesha: “People who are going to be decisive in elections going forward do not seek out information about politics—they encounter it,” David Plouffe, Obama’s longtime strategist, told me.
Since reading this article several weeks ago, the one concept that has been etched in my mind since is that of 'encountering' information, particularly political information: what are the systems, behaviours, plans, strategies that are being put into place to ensure people 'encounter' the content you want them to be exposed to? What are the implications of increasingly convoluted [political and/or cultural] communications plans that are put into place to influence who sees what, where, and when? To encounter something is to unexpectedly happen across it, perhaps in a less-than-likely place. There's a subtlety to the idea of merely encountering certain types of political and/or cultural concepts / ideas / theories in places we wouldn't expect to - what does this mean for how we make decisions about the platforms we turn to for information? As a lifelong advocate of listening to the 'other side', engaging in civilized debate, and hearing people out, I don't take issue with encountering unfamiliar ideas; what gives me pause is the idea that there is likely a great deal of strategy, engineering, and perhaps even some questionable intent behind this unexpected exposure.
Comments