My history teacher (Mrs Khoo, I miss you!) talked about the propaganda war during the Malayan Emergency. Made us read a chapter about the fight to win the trust of the populace from both the British and the Malayan Communist Party.

It's been a fight ever since.

Be careful. https://twitter.com/jolantru/status/1265843249127714816

Now as a trained teacher and historian, I will always emphasis on reading your sources carefully and critically.

Narratives have power.

Bias have power.

Both will and can change your mind.

I recognise that not all of us have the training and background to think critically - but this is what I teach my students all the time:

PAMO

Purpose
Audience
Motive
Objective

You see this played out in "news", ads, anything to change our minds.

The creators of these sources are purposeful. They don't generate content whimiscally. They do so to persuade people, to convince them to do something or believe something (motive and objective). On our end, we need to be alert.

Not all info is altruistic.

Now these folk will use the narratives and bias as tools (weapons!) to achieve their objective.

Social media is a delightful place for them because they know nobody would verify the sources. And people, already shaped by their bias, will believe anything.

So, the narratives, coupled with impactful visual imagery, will work their way through people's minds.

Even photographs and visual info can be doctored or crafted to suit their bias.

Their end objective is to sway people to their cause. Their goal is to persuade and convince, ultimately to win people over to their side. News, ads, even the simplest of posters... do that. They want you to believe them and then do something for them.

Protect your minds.

All of us are born into this propaganda/information war from day 1. All of us are already shaped by what we see, read and hear from the sources (the mass media).

As I have already tweeted, protect your minds. Be discerning of what you read online (or offline).