Fifty years ago, the internet was an escape form the real world. Now, the real world is escaping the internet.

2024/07/06

Pseudotrustpunk is a new variant of cyberpunk that combines the concepts of “pseudo-trust” and “punk.” It depicts a society where information is entirely controlled by capital after the complete demise of the internet spirit. Works of this genre focus on information manipulation and capital control, portraying ordinary people’s extreme distrust and resistance to the internet, only using instant communication when necessary. Meanwhile, corporate giants continue to deeply influence society through pervasive internet propaganda. This genre is a science fiction theme describing postmodernism or late capitalism.

—— Shenxpresent

Background

Pseudotrustpunk arises from the highly developed contemporary information technology and capital power. As information technology advances, the authenticity and freedom of information are significantly weakened. Capital forces control the dissemination and content of information through complex manipulation methods, turning the internet into a world filled with false information and control. Trust in the internet among ordinary people collapses completely, and they only use instant communication when necessary, no longer trusting any other information sources.

Characteristics

1. Social Structure: The Pseudotrustpunk world is an extremely unequal dystopia where information and resources are monopolized by a few corporate giants. Ordinary people struggle to survive in a manipulated information environment, education is fully industrialized, and valuable information and knowledge become barriers to social mobility.
2. Technology and Information: Despite advanced technology, the credibility of information is extremely low, characterized by a large amount of AI-generated marketing information. The internet is filled with guiding and extreme dopamine-manipulating means. People are very cautious about using the internet, mainly for instant communication, no longer relying on it for other information. The internet has lost its function of obtaining information, becoming a hobby similar to cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.
3. Network and Reality: The proliferation of generative AI and the media industry leads to information overload. The seemingly infinite internet information creates an oversupply. Even if people try to detach from the internet, more and more advertising screens, broadcasts, and other products of the Internet of Things or internet’s “invasion” into reality begin to flood ordinary people’s lives, putting everyone’s life in a state of “information overload.”
4. Social Relations: Due to the unequal distribution of resources and the Matthew effect, ordinary people continue to split, reducing trust among people to a certain extent. This phenomenon is related to consumerism and its by-product, refined egoism. Some people still using the internet fall into cynical modern cynicism for hopeless class ascension. The rapid acceleration of the loss of curiosity about unknown things among ordinary people often manifests in indifference to various affairs from a young age, as everyone strives to filter information. With the proliferation of recommendation algorithms and the intensification of the filter bubble effect, people become less empathetic. People generally become indifferent, selfish, and ruthless.

Pseudotrustpunk stories often showcase the profound impact of information manipulation through the blurred lines between reality and the virtual world. In this genre, the boundaries between reality and virtual reality become indistinct, with information distortion and the collapse of social trust becoming part of everyday life. People struggle in the fog of information, trying to maintain self and rationality.

Inspiration Sources

1. The Decline of the Advertising Industry: The advertising industry, once a thriving field, is now facing a survival crisis. With the rise of ad blockers, increasing consumer privacy concerns, and growing skepticism towards targeted advertising, traditional advertising models are becoming obsolete. Experts point out that the effectiveness of digital advertising has significantly declined, leading to the so-called “advertising apocalypse.” In the Pseudotrustpunk world, this decline reaches its peak, with advertising being replaced by more covert forms of influence and manipulation, such as subliminal sponsorship content and AI-driven personalized promotions.
2. Decline of Public Institutions’ Credibility: Globally, the credibility of public institutions is declining, mainly due to corruption scandals, misinformation, and inability to effectively address key social issues. The 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer report shows a significant decline in trust in public institutions worldwide, exacerbating inconsistent responses to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. In Pseudotrustpunk, this distrust becomes universal, with citizens relying only on personal networks for reliable information. Public institutions increasingly depend on advanced AI and surveillance technology to maintain control, further alienating the public.
3. Proliferation of AI-Generated Content and Deepfakes: The proliferation of AI-generated content and deepfakes blurs the lines between reality and fiction, creating a new era of information. Academic articles indicate that AI can generate highly realistic but entirely false images, videos, and texts, profoundly impacting truth and authenticity in the digital age. Pseudotrustpunk envisions a future where deepfakes and AI-generated content are ubiquitous, used by corporations and governments to shape perceptions and manipulate public opinion. The resulting information environment makes it impossible to take anything at face value, forcing individuals to constantly question the authenticity of the information they encounter.
4. Media Industry’s Dopamine Control: In contemporary society, media, especially short videos and social media, has developed into an industry that propagates by controlling human dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with reward and pleasure, and the media triggers its release by continually providing stimulating content, making people addicted to the endless stream of information and short videos. This method not only effectively captures the audience’s attention but also forms a dependency on instant gratification.

Reports from sources like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal indicate that social media and short video platforms use sophisticated algorithm designs to continuously push content that triggers strong emotional responses, maximizing user engagement and retention. This control method further supports the setting in Pseudotrustpunk, where the media industry manipulates dopamine levels and pushes false information to control public behavior and thought, leading to a severely distorted and chaotic information environment.

Academic Foundations

“Manufacturing Consent”: The Five-Filter Mechanism

• The scale, ownership, and profit orientation of mass media determine its inherent bias in the first layer of propaganda. For instance, the establishment of mass media requires substantial economic strength and significant investment before profitability, creating the first filter where not all social voices can be transmitted through mass media. Mass media operates purely as capital entities, often serving the interests of their stakeholders. This means that media, embedded in the capital network, will filter out most voices and represent the interests of capital holders.
• Advertisers are crucial for media profitability, promoting their products and eliminating threats of negative reporting. With the rise of the internet, capital’s “whitewashing” power has grown stronger.
• The news sources for mass media are primarily controlled by elites, with studies indicating that the public has only about 10% visibility in news reporting, while elites occupy nearly 90%. This is because elites can provide newsworthy information, and the concept of news value itself is highly subjective, making news inherently biased and selective.
• Elites often guide news reporting through criticism, regulating news themes and reporting methods.
• The propaganda model of public institutions strongly reflects specific ideologies, such as anti-communism, influencing news selection and reporting direction.

“The Phantom Public” by Walter Lippmann (1925)

• Lippmann critiques modern democracy and public opinion, arguing that the general public lacks the capacity to understand and engage in complex political matters, with their opinions often being guided and manipulated.
• Media manipulation and information distortion play critical roles in shaping public opinion, supporting the Pseudotrustpunk setting where media controls dopamine levels and pushes false information to manipulate public behavior and thought.
• The helplessness of ordinary people in the face of complex political and social affairs is amplified in Pseudotrustpunk, with information manipulation leading to a loss of trust in the internet and media.
• The reliance on experts in modern society, who may also become tools of capital control, exacerbates information distortion and public helplessness.
• The complexity of the information environment, where distinguishing truth from falsehood becomes increasingly difficult, is a central theme in Pseudotrustpunk.

“The Power Elite” by C. Wright Mills (1956)

• Mills describes a small but powerful elite group that controls political, economic, and military power, paralleling the control of information and media by a few capital giants in Pseudotrustpunk.
• The interconnections and mutual support among elites create a self-sustaining power network, extending to media and information control.
• Public decision-making is heavily influenced by power elites, leaving ordinary people marginalized and manipulated by false information.
• Social stratification and inequality are exacerbated in Pseudotrustpunk, with information becoming a new power resource monopolized by a few, further dividing society.
• Media serves as a tool for power elites to manipulate public opinion, supported by the Pseudotrustpunk depiction of media controlling dopamine levels and pushing false information.

“Dissemination Over Creation”:

• Around 2020, TikTok proposed this concept, highlighting that dissemination requires lower costs and can be enhanced by algorithms. With limited public attention, providing sufficient tailored information can turn seemingly infinite traffic into limited choices. The internet is no longer an infinite space but a square confined by individual attention, where occupying this square with sufficient content secures the high ground of media.
• With enough information produced globally, the dissemination volume of low-creation content far exceeds that of carefully crafted content. Algorithms and AI exacerbate this, generating vast amounts of content faster than traditional creation methods.

Summary

Pseudotrustpunk is a science fiction genre that profoundly reflects modern issues of information manipulation, capital control, and declining media credibility. It portrays a world of information distortion and societal trust collapse, provoking deep reflection on the challenges future societies may face. As information technology and capital power continue to develop, the definition and specific content of Pseudotrustpunk will evolve to reflect new dynamics and challenges in the real world.