In a naturally occurring environment, when stones and sand move at random directions, the tendency is that most of the stuff will distribute across the available area that it is more likely that they form around the centre, while stuff falling out as outliers are few. The normal distribution is what happens when the samples aggregate. If the elements in the system forming up at the extreme ends of both sides, we can be sure that it is a result of some forms of manipulation.

The manipulation is called oversocialisation, that people have adopted more of a social identity than a personal identity.

The phenomenon is simple. Have you ever been in a situation that you don’t personally buy into a certain popular idea, yet pressured into expressing your support because you’re one of them? For example, you belong to a group of Japanese car motorheads, that for some reasons this is the season to show some support for the Honda Civic. But then you personally just dislike the aesthetics of that particular car because you prefer the Nissan Silvia. But when your group has a rival of fans of American muscle cars and they are showcasing some Chevrolet Impala for the season. You for some reasons like that car because you’ve watched a drama show featuring that ride heavily. But you belong to the Japanese car’s club and it’s your club’s agendum to support the Honda Civic, you’ll feel that pressure to at least post something good about that car despite the fact that you’re pretty much indifferent to the car. And because the sense of belonging of this “tribe” of Japanese car lovers, you just have to show your allegiance, otherwise you’ll be called a traitor.

And this phenomenon is more widespread than in the first glance, and usually not as harmless as what cars you prefer.

Here social media make their entrance.

Because the social media are what you constantly display to your circles, and that maintaining some sort of appearance seems to be an important aspect of life, as people who “disappear” from the Internet gets a pass from RSVP invitations, so people have significantly increased their exposure to social life through social media, compared to what used to be 1 telephone call or 2 face-to-face conversations a week or so. Who you are, what you support, and your views in politics are now under constant scrutiny. That particular scrutiny has exerted pressure onto you that you sometimes just don’t have a choice but to conform to the norms of the communities that you belong.

When the mustering horn of changing your profile pictures to a certain colour is blown, you stand out as a non-conformist if you do not comply. Your individualistic views on matters are no longer regarded. You are now a gear, part of the bigger machinery, the machinery of synchroneous profile picture themes, hashtags and specific keywords decorating your profile descriptions.

Oversocialisation has the outline of some form of tribalism that humans try to maintain as a coherant community, usually against something they are critical about.

And now, legalism enters the chat.

As legalism is never really about obeying laws but about obeying certain “moral criteria” of that community, otherwise you’re an antagonist to be accused and cancelled, it is the perfect tool to maintain a high homogeneity among the members of that community. If you don’t support certain ideas, you’re as bad as a historical mass murderer. If you don’t support something, you are phobic to something, and thus a cancellable sin and you’ll go to hell. And if you support something without changing your profile picture, you’re sus amogus and will eventually get cancelled.

As the corporations who maintain the social media are usually following the example of a certain advertising company, who has become famous for its search engines, using personalised ads and make profits with traffics, it appears some whisle blowers have already confessed what transpired in the board room that they simply prefer the Internet goers get agitated against each other and bigger conflicts generate bigger profits to them.

Connecting dots with dots…

Social media provide the continuous presence of your social image that you always display with a presence. Oversocialisation is a definite result as groups and communities form. Legalism is an overarching way of thinking that people who fail to meet expectations are dealt with swiftly as punishment and get cancelled. Conflicts get severe, the social media get more profitable. Even if some people jump the ship, defecting to the other side, the effects cancel out as the main aim of the social media is to maintain a high degree of constant conflicts. And when everyone is busy with these conflicts, no one pays attention to the pupper masters who pull the strings behind the scenes.

When a country goes to war with another country, the usual reaction would have been indifferent, as the wars are never relevant to you, as you don’t even have imported food from those countries. In older times, the news came to us and we kept to ourselves what our opinions of the wars would be. Now, news arrives through the social media alongside opinions, which are usually emotionally inciting, and agreeing to certain sides seems to be the socially acceptable thing to do. So if you support this country, you’re a heartless bastard who turn a blind eye to massive killings. If you suppor the other country, you’re a bloody racist who holds a grudge against certain ethnic groups in your own country, probably also a conspiracy theorist.

Do we hold the rights to remain neutral or indifferent in these situations? The answer is no. And I do not need to explain why as you all have experiences one way or another.

And when we spend time in these conflicts, our true enemy has their own ways. And in the end, no matter which side the war has concluded, which party gets elected, which ideology wins the hearts of the people, these puppet masters who orchestrate the controlled oppositions will win a pot. Because they simply profit from the conflicts, not from the results of the conflicts.

And I shall conclude this article with a quote from Gundam. “何故、世界はこうも歪んでいるのか。その歪みは、何処から来ているのか。何故、人には無意識の悪意という物があるのか。何故、その悪意に気付こうとしないのか。何故、人生すら狂わせる存在があるのか。何故、人は支配し、支配されるのか。何故、傷つけあうのか。なのに何故、人はこうも、生きようとするのか。” (Why is the world so distorted? Where does this distortion come from? Why do people have unconscious malice? Why don’t we try to notice their malice? Why is there an entity that can derail even life? Why do people rule and are dominated? Why do we hurt each other? So why do people try to live like this?) – Setsuna F Seisi, 2007, Mobile Suit Gundam 00

And the answer to the above question is obvious. We don’t know who the true culprit is, but someone is there, moving the world with obscured hands.