'They're poisoning you' from the May 68 era Atelier Populaire. The concept has roots in Antonio Gramesci's concept of a population under siege by mass media's definition of the status quo.
Largely embraced by the contemporary left, what is considered a healthy 'media cynicism' must include an analysis of what Galloway refers to as protocol or the actual (and entire) hardware/software apparatus on which the discourse is run.
Can digital channels can be considered truly "open" in regards to freedom of speech as opposed to freedom to profit? Where on the spectrum of Facebook to Gather to Encyclopedia Dramatica and 4Chan can one presume not to be data-mined into a commodity?
Even if we go one step down the protocol chain to the service providers (net, or cell) we have evidence of user commodification based on their location(s) alone (e.g., iPhone tracker) .
However I choose not to wear a tin-foil hat. As someone who works with the very tools that are used to create One Dimensional Men, I expect the same tools can enable a diversity and a tail so long that individuals can slip in and out of influenced "publics" and define a sense of freedom from mass-culture through the sheer complexity of selections available.
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