WHEN THE KNOW-NOTHINGS TRY TO REACH PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW ANYTHING:

In a late 2019 paper, David Karpf, a George Washington University professor of media and public affairs, cut against the grain by downplaying the effects of Russian disinformation on the 2016 election. Disinformation deserves our attention, Karpf concluded, but not our obsession, and that the 2016 Russian efforts had been something of a flop. "Generating social media interactions is easy; mobilizing activists and persuading voters is hard," he wrote.

In one entertaining passage, Karpf illustrates the absurdity of "hacking" the minds of the electorate with digital propaganda. If the psychometric targeting techniques of social media are so effective, surely those sorts of techniques would be used to successfully induce consumers to, for example, purchase gym memberships. But they aren't. So why believe that such targeting could tip federal elections -- which come every two years and therefore are hard to refine -- but not with gym memberships which can be constantly polished?

Continuing in his paper, Karpf points out that disinformation and propaganda have been traditionally blunted by the fact that America has never had a well-informed public. If the public doesn't pay adequate attention to the "truth," do we need to worry that much about their exposure to disinformation?

Talking about disinformation in today's context, Karpf finds good news. "Voters, en masse, didn't buy what Charlie Kirk and company were selling. If Republicans decide that mass disinformation is an electoral disadvantage, that's a step towards the country becoming governable again," he said in an interview. "It's still a little too early to know what shared narratives will emerge from this election, particularly within the Republican Party network."

Other explanations for the 2022 disinfo flop include the muzzling of serial liar Trump. Previously, he could stump from the White House and Twitter. In this election, his message was muted by his ban from the top social media networks and by the neglect of the press, which accords to presidents, not civilians, saturation coverage of their every thought.

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