It is almost impossible to win an argument, especially on a social media platform. Students of communication theory will recognize that it is Leon Festingers 1957 Theory of Cognitive Dissonance at work - people will selectively perceive and retain information that is congruent with their beliefs, while actively rejecting information and arguments which are not consonant with their deeply held beliefs. In the days of mass communication, mainstream media communicators could deceive themselves that they were convincing and changing the attitudes of their listeners, readers and viewers using superior arguments and presenting incontrovertible data. In actual fact, selective perception was always at work and media effects were minimal in terms of persuasive change. In todays era of social media, communicators get instant feedback in the form of comments, likes and dislikes. It is easy to see that it is extremely difficult to change peoples attitudes, especially political beliefs in todays Nigeria. Interested in Festingers great work? Read more here: simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 04:13:24 +0000