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Somebody once told me…

2020-08-25 · explainer · John · 3:55 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Explainer

John dissects a viral TikTok about Noah, a supposed time traveler from 2030, to show how misinformation spreads: we trust what people tell us, seek what freaks us out, and algorithms reward engagement over accuracy, so even fake claims shape our minds.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — How information feeds shape understanding: trust in people we trust, and Curious Tangents on persuasion

  • ★★★ John says humans trust information from people they trust, which is why so many sentences start with what someone told us; online this rumor- and anecdote-driven sorting runs wild. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John says one of his new favorite YouTube channels, Curious Tangents, has a great video on how people actually change their minds, very different from how he thought persuasion worked. — 00:00:00

00:00:29 — Analysis of the viral Noah time-traveler TikTok: freak-out framing, fake proof, engagement-bait predictions, the comments

  • ★★ John says he keeps being tagged in a viral TikTok about a time traveler named Noah from 2030 with over 2 million likes, an obvious example of misinformation he will analyze. — 00:00:29 · TikTok
  • ★★ John says the TikTok announces at the outset that it will freak you out, and humans pay more attention to novel, strange or outrageous information, so it starts promisingly. — 00:00:58 · sensationalism, TikTok
  • ★★ John rebuts the TikTok's proof that Noah passed a lie detector test: polygraph tests are not that reliable, and no evidence shows Noah took one or even exists. — 00:00:58 · TikTok
  • ★★★ After Noah's claim that Trump will be re-elected, John says many social media algorithms value engagement over accuracy, so engaging predictions beat well-informed ones; sports talk radio shows it offline too. — 00:01:27 · recommender system, attention economy, Donald Trump
  • ★★ Against the TikTok's claim that SpaceX sends its first ship to Mars in 2022, John says SpaceX is not sending a ship to Mars in 2022. — 00:01:56 · Mars, TikTok
  • ★★ John says a persuasive argument about the future puts in the middle a claim that it is already happening, which makes that future feel graspable. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ John says you need not be from the future to predict microchips in humans: M. T. Anderson's novel Feed did it almost 20 years ago, and he praises its first sentence. — 00:02:26
  • ★★ John says the TikTok's most popular comments are not about it being fun or silly but about chip implants as a sign of the apocalypse, or about Donald Trump. — 00:02:26 · Donald Trump, TikTok

00:02:55 — Emotion drives engagement and false legitimacy; false information produces real feelings

  • ★★★ John says the clearly false video makes us feel real fear, outrage and fascination, which makes us engage, so it is shown to ever more people until it looks vaguely legitimate. — 00:02:55
  • ★★ John says the TikTok has 12 million views and comes from a verified user. — 00:02:55 · TikTok
  • ★★★ John says false or inadequately contextualized information producing very real emotional experiences is, for him at least, quite common, and powerful. — 00:02:55

00:03:24 — Noah is real in John's mind; what he would ask a time traveler; Curious Tangents plug and sign-off

  • ★★★ John says that even knowing the video is fake, Noah's predictions will sit in his mindscape when he thinks of chip implants, Mars or Trump, so Noah is real whether he exists or not. — 00:03:24 · Donald Trump, Mars
  • ★★ John says that if a time traveler really came back from 2030, one of the first things he would want to know is how we fix the misinformation problem. — 00:03:24
  • ★ John says the second thing he would ask a time traveler is how many titles Liverpool wins in the next decade. (playful) — 00:03:24
  • ★★ John again recommends the channel Curious Tangents, which he thinks has only 8,000 subscribers, and points to a link in the doobly-doo. — 00:03:24

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In a comment John says he has drawn 12,000 circles so far, and it has been very moving to see so many viewers also take up drawing circles. — video description
  • ★★ In a comment John guesses SpaceX might send a rocket to Mars in 2026, assuming it is still solvent and growing, and notes even SpaceX has stopped saying 2022. (speculative) — creator comment · Mars

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: misinformation · Noah (claimed time traveler) · viral TikTok about time traveler Noah

Also: People: Donald Trump

Works: Feed

Organizations: Curious Tangents · Liverpool FC · SpaceX · TikTok

Concepts: anecdotal evidence · attention economy · Microchip implant (human) · polygraph · recommender system · sensationalism · time travel

Places: Mars

Only in the description or credits: M. T. Anderson

Also centred on misinformation: The Top 10 Greatest Hoaxes of All Time · Truth or Fail: HOAXES! · Is Obama a Muslim? Examine the Evidence! · My Greatest Tool Against Vaccine Misinformation · Are You Eating a Credit Card Every Week? · I Believed These Four Lies

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