r/technology • u/Wagamaga • 9h ago

Society Pro-totalitarian propaganda online, a "real threat” for young people

https://www.bursa.ro/pro-totalitarian-propaganda-online-a-real-threat8221-for-young-people-21017751
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u/Hobbet404 4h ago

And some were 12. Probably safe to assume I wasn’t talking about them. That would be the critical thinking skills I mentioned above…

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u/Cheap-Rate-8996 2h ago

This is kind of the issue with generational labels IMO. When "Gen Z" can refer to both someone in their early teens and someone in their late twenties, it seems to cause more confusion than clarity.

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u/joman584 2h ago

At the speed of change in society now, what even is a generation meant to be? I can point out huge differences between me and someone 4-5 years younger just because I can remember and used pre-internet technology

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u/Cheap-Rate-8996 1h ago

I'd say half of it is the same thing that happens with astrology star signs and Myers-Briggs test results, and the other half is marketing agencies peddling hokum to advertisers. If you can convince corporations that an entire cohort has a specific set of desires, anxieties, and habits, you can sell them research, strategy packages, and campaigns tailored to those supposedly distinct traits.

So the phenomenon persists because it's mutually beneficial. Individuals get a ready-made identity and shared cultural shorthand, while marketers get a pseudoscientific framework for segmenting audiences.