Ways of communicating have profoundly changed since humans have been on Earth, especially in the last 1000 years. The transformations over the last decade or two have produced challenges in solving problems together, contradicting earlier predictions that things would be better and even strengthen democracy.

With the acquisition of language the predominant method of communication was face-to-face with story-telling a major mode and passing on culture and history. Cave art, and petroglyphs with symbols were other mediums. Writing originated in the Bronze Age, during the 5th millennium BCE. Then the invention of the printing press in the 15th century led to wider dissemination through books, posters and newspapers, but required literacy.

Written mail can be dated to 255 BCE and Passenger Pigeons were used by Romans 2000 years ago. Instant communication over a distance, like with a semaphore system for signaling (e.g., with flags or lights), was used by Ancient Greeks on mountaintops separated by as much as 20 miles. Smoke signals began in ancient China along the Great Wall. False signals were being sent in the 8th century BCE. Individual tribes of indigenous in North America had their own system setting fire to damp grass. The College of Cardinals still uses smoke signals to announce the election of a new Pope.

The reach of communication took a huge leap with the invention of the telegraph using Morse Code communicated along a single wire in 1838. It was still one way but the telephone appeared in 1876 allowing real-time voice intercourse. Radio waves beginning in 1920 didn’t require physical connection. There followed the first commercial television broadcast in 1947. The fax came along in 1964, and the mobile phone in 1973 with the first commercial product in 1981. The first computer, the ENIAC, appeared in 1946. The U.S. military developed the ARPANET in 1969. There followed the personal computer in 1976, and the World Wide Web in 1993. Human communications were on a roll.

As a child growing up in the 1950s I delivered newspapers, which my parents read judiciously, and I listened to the radio. We acquired a TV in 1953. The favorite content was the Saturday night hockey game broadcast from Maple Leaf Gardens. There were low-brow commercials from Esso, the Canadian equivalent of Exxon. When my parents purchased a car I got a job to make money to make sure every drop of gasoline that went into the tank was Esso! After I realized the subliminal impact of advertising on my behaviour I stopped watching TV in 1966.

During this early time most people were exposed to roughly the same news of transpiring events, through newspapers, radio and TV (which had only a few networks). We were mostly all on the same page. But not all of us. An undergraduate classmate of mine’s father was the leader of the Communist Party of Canada and received different information. While most big cities had places, such as libraries and newsstands, where one could see periodicals from far around the globe, most people were not much aware of foreign perspectives.

Living in remote parts of Nepal in the 1970s and 80s, communication was still face-to-face except for those who could afford short-wave-radios to listen to the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Nepal. When our team would go to a village to immunize children a town crier would shout out to inform of the event.

The wide use of the automobile led to highway billboards, but four US states (Alaska, Hawai’i, Maine, and Vermont) banned them. Digital billboards with ever changing ads are seen in some places today and can distract drivers.

The World Wide Web debuted in 1993 with hyperlinks to a myriad of information: blogs, discussion forums and internet billboards where users could spend enormous amounts of time entertained and then there was shopping online. What could be better?

Social media began with bulletin board systems in the 1970s evolving into the Facebook model in the early 2000s. User-generated content could be text, audio and video, together with scope for comments from others. User profiles allowed creating various groups.

Today a few big corporate producers own social media (Alphabet aka Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok). Most people are not aware of the business model of such media. Users (along with their collected personal information) are sold to advertisers by the producers; in other words you are the product in the e-commerce system.

Artificial Intelligence with machine learning, neural networks & deep learning using vast datasets are a new outgrowth with as yet unforeseen consequences.

Today newspaper readership has declined precipitously together with other print media. Traditional radio and television have been declining as audiences shift towards on-demand streaming, podcasting & digital content. Ad revenue is dropping quickly. The young avoid this material and even for older people these mediums are becoming secondary.

The rise of social media use has resulted in many societal changes including the decline of critical thinking, since no matter what you may think, you can find confirmatory evidence on social media platforms; the range of so-called truths is vast. Perhaps a third of Americans believe the sun orbits the earth and many still believe the earth is flat. Social media is also considered by some to be a waste of time, and at best, a big distraction from tasks at hand.

Globally 70% of humans now possess a smartphone, with these devices constituting about 95% of internet access. People on average spend close to half of waking hours looking at screens, and among young people in rich countries it is even higher. New technologies bring new ways of exploitation. One, extracting money, could be considered a human form of fracking–like extracting fossil fuels from the ground in novel ways that damage the planet — only worse since it is exploiting our eyes, ears, and minds. It’s considered as a land-grab into human consciousness. Shoshana Zuboff calls the system surveillance capitalism as a few behemoth corporations control the political process to enable them to get rich beyond their wildest dreams. Once we searched Google, now it searches us.

Email has replaced traditional mail and texting is overtaking email. Messages are brief, emojis replace words and face-to-face communication is declining. Parsimony is the rule. When presented with text on a webpage, reading time is estimated. It doesn’t exceed three minutes very often. We are left with sound bites, all CAPITALS that scream at us, along with distressing and sarcastic visuals.

What remains today is a kaleidoscope of sources of material, much of which is fiction. Misinformation and disinformation along with false facts, deep fakes, and too many imaginaries flood our screens daily.

Propaganda, a term that arose a hundred years ago, is a useful concept. Edward Bernays, perhaps the father of public relations, began his 1928 book Propaganda with “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.” A few pages later he wrote: “Clearly it is the intelligent minorities which need to make use of propaganda continuously and systematically. In the active proselytizing minorities in whom selfish interests and public interests coincide lie the progress and development of American democracy.”

How does this influence world politics? It varies around the world but simply we are sold to those who have too much to create conditions in which the wealthy will get even more lucre. And we all know it, they buy and sell us to ultimately manipulate us to their ends.

A few examples: the current world’s richest person, Elon Musk, has received from one of his companies a pay package for the next ten years of a trillion dollars. This will soon make him the world’s first trillionaire! The current U.S. President, Donald Trump has enacted further tax cuts for such rich individuals and corporations so they can keep getting more, while his executive orders are taking from us to accomplish this. Austerity policies in Western Europe enhance billionaire wealth there.

Politically it is a ruthless world out there. What is to be done? The power of the people is greater than the power of the people in power. We must realize this collective power and use it to everyone’s benefit. There are many ways to do this. But creating awareness of today’s situation is paramount. Today’s media can also serve this purpose. It is therefore important to understand it and use it wisely.

Begin by verifying whether what has been presented here is true to you. Then communicate to others using whatever channels you have. Then get together to launch or support a social movement. Many efforts are being done In the United States today to take on President Trump and his wrecking ball. They include No Kings protests, Free America Walkout, Indivisible, and others sometimes termed Resistance 2.0. It is a tough order but doing nothing is much worse. We’ve come a long way since rock art and smoke signals. Let’s make the best of our media conveyances, rather than have them make the best of us.