Social media platforms like TikTok have shown us the power of algorithms in shaping public discourse. Their creators developed a system designed to keep users engaged, maximizing time spent on the platform. While TikTok presented a significant challenge to traditional capitalist structures, we saw how quickly those at the top moved to coerce its owners into submission. The sale was a clear warning: platforms that challenge the status quo are not welcome.
This isn’t the case with alternatives like Lemmy or Mastodon. While they have noble intentions, they lack the clout to sway public opinion significantly. If we want to effectively combat capitalism, we must create a social media platform that competes directly with the giants. A platform that maintains user engagement like the existing ones but intentionally shifts the narrative towards leftist ideologies.
Imagine an algorithm that not only maximizes time spent online but skillfully guides users toward progressive ideas. Traditional platforms often funnel users into echo chambers, amplifying conservative viewpoints by leading them down a rabbit hole without them even realizing it. This kind of manipulation is reshaping perspectives every day, and we can’t ignore its impact.
To truly fight capitalism, we need to leverage similar tactics. We should harness the potential of algorithms to promote leftist values, empowering users to question the existing capitalist framework. By constructing a platform that encourages critical thinking, solidarity, and progressive change, we can redefine the narrative and foster a movement that resonates with a broader audience.
We must not shy away from the methods that currently dominate social media. Instead, let’s use them to our advantage. The future of resistance lies not just in alternative platforms, but in harnessing the power of algorithms to cultivate a new generation of leftists ready to challenge the system.
The idea of harnessing the power of monopoly social media algorithms is not much different from the idea of harnessing the power of the bourgeois state itself. We are talking about a set of rules which can be changed arbitrarily whenever they start losing. Whenever the corporation starts catching flak from advertisers or lobby groups. Whenever Congress threatens to impose regulations or issue subpoenas to humiliate their executives to force them to cooperate. We have witnessed several rounds of this now.
The purpose of a system is what it does. There is a reason the monopoly platforms pipeline people towards fascism. It isn’t because the Left is negligent when it comes to propaganda. It is because these platforms were designed from the very first brick for the purpose of advertising and surveillance. The right does not have to worry about surveillance the way the left does. They also have all the profits they reap from exploitation to invest in culturally reinforcing their ideological project. They have the funds to boost any mediocre streamer, video essayist, and debate lord. They have the funds to point a couple hundred thousands fake subs at Ben Shapiro so he shows up on the Apple Podcasts landing page every day. They will land their books on the NYT best-seller list simply by ghost-writing them for a politician and buying crates of them as a legally justified form of bribery.
It is important to agitate wherever there are people we can reach, but any structure we build on these platforms will never have a solid foundation. The important thing is to establish collectives capable of producing high quality media in appropriate formats for platforms like this and try to plug them in wherever we can. Something which can outlive the arbitrary censorship they are going to face.
We should take advantage of short-form content for agitprop, and to bring people to better platforms like here. Focusing just on short-form leaves us with very little in the way of discussion and makes it difficult to explain concepts that require greater depth.
We can spread our ideas on any platform. The key is to know your audience and speak their language. Avoid the intimidating ‘red’ terminology. I understand the frustration of tempering your language, but you can’t convert someone in a single interaction. Focus on planting seeds. Remember the lurkers: an idea is more readily absorbed when it’s a thoughtful point, not a full manifesto.
Seek out catalytic moments, where a reactionary crowd targets someone for a progressive statement. In these situations, treat the opponent’s rhetoric as a specimen to be dissected. Your discipline is key: do not react emotionally or be baited into their frame. Your goal is a systematic dismantling. Break their argument down into its core claims. Do not let them distract you with personal attacks, whataboutism, or shifting goalposts. Anchor the debate on their original, foundational points. Then, methodically invalidate each one with concrete evidence. You are performing a public demonstration: this is how an ideology collapses under the weight of its own failures.
Know your battlefield. If you’re thinking of going into a place like Stormfront to debate their core members, forget it. You’re not there to convert the propagandists; you’re there to win the audience. Your goal is to make the lurkers see the truth, not to make the liar admit they’re lying.
And when you pique someone’s interest, when you see that spark of genuine curiosity, guide them. Point them toward resources where they can educate themselves further. Maybe that’s a book, a video essay, or even an instance like lemmy.ml. It’s a gradual process; you don’t hand a new recruit the full agitprop arsenal on day one. You’ve just shown them the crack in the wall; now give them the tools to see it’s part of a crumbling foundation.
These is a good strategu, but still subject to the hostile whims of the platform owner. Let’s say you want to convince an audience of Israeli warcrimes and your opponent has thrown your argument into doubt. A platform can easily censor a video reply for violence, or “hate speech,” or some hidden reason they don’t feel inclined to volunteer.
On tiktok, it was relatively easy to get a leftist message to trend, whereas on facebook it’s close to impossible. Certainly do these things you’re suggesting ⸻they’re powerful and effective ⸻ but if a means can be developed to go around the constraints of capitalist-controlled social media, it’s worth pursuing
That’s a fair point, and it actually reinforces the core principle I was getting at. The key in any space is to know your audience and speak their language, avoiding the ‘red’ terminology that triggers defenses. This isn’t just true for people; it’s true for the platforms themselves.
whataboutism 
The question we’re faced with is this: How do we direct workers from fandom consumption spaces to community building spaces?
You know we’ve figured this one out once the censorships start rolling out steadily.
NGL, I’ve been spitballing this idea but it would take a LOT of organization and genuine sincerity. Clans in multiplayer games.
Save some of the in-depth nerding out over lore for later, but on the surface level, git gud at game, and infuse leftism in the clan culture as like a reverse of 4chan’s culture. If you or that clan gains any notoriety in the game community, all the better. OSRS is kind of weird as being pretty CHUD adjacent, but they have showed potential by bullying devs for being cowards and not doing a pride event in 2025.
Online, I think the name of the game isn’t to turn people into revolutionaries, but to ruin the “cool factor” of fascism. Fascism’s greatest weapon is its soft power.
I think that’s worth a shot and I am kind of tired of “the left” constantly retreating from any kind of cultural clash. Then the fascists end up festering in every corner of the gaming/online spaces and nothing is done about it, because “we got to be civil about it or we’ll become them :(((”
This is more treat consumption and lifestylism, not substantive organizing
Imagine an algorithm that not only maximizes time spent online but skillfully guides users toward progressive ideas.
Imagine an algorithm that guides users toward progressive ideas, but then keeps them online all the time instead of doing anything consequential.
That is your proposal.
Oh, ho! Suddenly the guy building a virtual CCP Brainwashing Milker App is at the forefront of leftist propaganda technology.
one might think creating openstreet maps skin to make non-owned uber would be easier and yet
in other words, means of production not entertainment ffs
Lenin would have loved Tiktok et al. His whole thing was going to where the workers are and speaking with them on their terms.
No he would not have. Lenin would actually physically go to where the workers are and speak to them. This is the equivalent of writing letters that other people read aloud.
You have to actually put your skin in the game for people to trust you.
Unfortunately with the recent purchase of tik tok they’re gonna make sure it has even more of a rightward slant than it has taken. Other platforms like facebook encouraged ethnic cleansing but leftist ideals are censored. Tiktok is going the same way.
