It’s easier than ever to hijack the vibe

Epistemic hygiene in the age of AI

This is how easy it is to hijack the vibe: Getting this picture took less than five seconds. (Image generated by Grok)

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was telling me that The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift’s newest album, was full of misogynistic and white supremacist content.

I was pretty incredulous. For all of Swift’s faults, I have serious doubts that she would intentionally sell Nazi paraphernalia. But when I looked online, I saw many people entertaining the idea. It was wild to watch how quickly the vibe had shifted against the pop star since her 632-day-stint on top of the world.

But then, earlier this week, Rolling Stone reported that this anti-Swift narrative was the result of a “coordinated attack.” The Guardian also reported that a “coordinated online attack sought to suggest Taylor Swift promoted Nazi ideas.” Similar articles popped up in People and Forbes.

I was a bit smug when this all came out and commiserated with my friend about how fake the internet is. But when I looked at the original report these news outlets cited, my self-satisfaction was quickly replaced by suspicion.

The report was, generously, a glorified ad. And yet, it had somehow spawned several articles and helped re-shape the narrative. As a result, many people in my own life were under the impression that it had been conclusively proven that anti-Swift mania was the result of a coordinated social media attack. The entire episode was a perfect example of how easy it has become to hijack the vibe.

It’s not just that the anti-Swift vibe may or may not be fake. It’s that our background assumptions about what conventional wisdom is can be so easily manipulated. Sussing out the vibe was always a tricky business, but now AI has made it much easier to fake mass discontent and it has also made it much easier for purported evidence to be laundered through popular, well-read brands like Rolling Stone.