What’s the Difference (Between Mainstream Media and Echo Chambers)?

Joe Rogan and Debra Soh were recently engaged in a lengthy discussion (about several topics, but also in particular) about differences between mainstream media and non-mainstream media — it was a recurring topic throughout the episode, and I recommend to consume the full podcast before reading my own take on it (see also “Are People “Exposed” (or “Siphoned Off”) to Echo Chambers?” [ https://podcasts.video.blog/2024/01/10/are-people-exposed-or-siphoned-off-to-echo-chambers ]

Note that the term “echo chamber” was only used once by Debra Soh, but the contrast she created by using this term sort of triggered me to examine the terminology more closely. Both Debra and Joe seemed to be in agreement regarding how one ought to be considered significant and the other ought to be considered insignificant … and yet Joe’s description of “mainstream” seemed to indicate not what Debra considered to be mainstream, but rather what she considered to be “echo chamber”. Therefore, since there seems to be somewhat of a mishmash of “apples and oranges”, I decided I should use this as an opportunity to clarify my own thoughts on this “media” issue.

In my opinion, the significant difference that exists between significant versus insignificant media is whether the media are “rational media” or “irrational media”. As I have recently archived the blog where I first delineated these two terms, I have gone back to the archives and will now publish a “new and improved” version of some of these ideas from the vaults.

I have already mentioned PHLAT (“Pretty Hyper Local and Topical”) News on this blog. I now wish to introduce more of the basic ideas at the foundation of PHLAT design [ https://phlat.design.blog/2024/01/14/introduction ] — the technology that we use to navigate the PHLAT world of the WWW. I have decided that this is important because I continue to notice how much people still seem to be lost on the Internet.