# Global war starts tomorrow! Alt-media and alarmism Get on any bus or subway, and look at the number of people glued to their phones and tablets. At least one of them is interested in international affairs, and is watching or reading expert commentary on YouTube or Substack. Some of those folk will sooner or later be drawn into a social media algorithm, setting them on a path that progressively reinforces and intensifies the sentiments, experiences, and prejudices they carried with them when they started out. It ain’t always healthy. Charlie, we’ll call him, is someone I know who lives by his social media algorithm. He watches and reads everything from [Judge Napolitano](https://judgenap.substack.com/), [Daniel Davis](https://danieldavisdeepdive.substack.com/), [Glenn Diesen](https://substack.com/@glenndiesen), [Richard Wolff](https://www.youtube.com/@RichardDWolff), and [Alexander Mercouris](https://www.youtube.com/@AlexMercouris), and anything and everything that features [Colonel Douglas MacGregor](https://macgregorwarrior.substack.com/). He quotes them on a daily basis. Every now and again, Charlie changes. He becomes convinced that war is about to break out and frantically stocks up on bottled water and canned goods, and then spends the next two months scarfing a mountain of tinned spaghetti when the promised apocalypse doesn’t happen. This ain’t healthy and the alt-media is to blame—mostly.  We all know what alt-media is—the news, commentary, or information produced by individuals, the podcasts, Youtube channels, and Substack blogs. Unlike mainstream media, which _generally_ operates through professional editorial structures, established journalistic standards, and institutional accountability, alt-media is decentralized, personality-driven, and much less constrained by conventional editorial oversight. This ain’t a bad thing. The appeal of social media lies in its willingness to challenge dominant narratives, question established authorities, and present perspectives neglected or excluded by the mainstream. Generally speaking, it’s just better—more informed, more insightful, and more detailed. However, the absence of editorial oversight also makes it a tad risky. The absence of editorial oversight means there’s no constraints. Without editorial standards, fact-checking, or institutional accountability, alt-media creators are free to say almost anything, however speculative, sensational, or even outright untrue. This has an impact because of the competitive space in which alt-media operates.  Alt-media operates in a fiercely competitive marketplace, where countless voices compete for clicks, subscribers, and financial support. With no barriers to entry and an endless supply of content, success depends on standing out from the crowd. The brighter the headline, the redder the warning sign, the more provocative the claim, the more attention it attracts. In turn, the more attention it attracts, both positive and negative, the more the algorithms promote it. What begins as independent commentary descends into an escalating competition for outrage, where credibility matters less than clicks. Social media algorithms are designed to maximize engagement rather than inform or enlighten. They reward content that provokes strong emotional reactions, particularly anger, fear, and outrage. The result is a system that effectively encourages anger and alarm: the more the content infuriates or scares, the more likely viewers engage with it, and the more widely it spreads. Over time, algorithms feed users increasingly provocative material, reinforcing existing prejudices and creating a self-perpetuating spiral of self-induced psychosis. Of course, some of the blame has to go to the content producers themselves. Let’s face it, it’s a pretty hell boring job. Sure, you can use all the academic knowledge and professional experience you have but most of the times your assessment and advice would boil down to the very nature of international relations—a gradual and continuous mediation of estrangement between separated communities... yawn. That needs some jazzing up—it’s a final struggle between good and evil, the end of life as we know it, and we don’t know who is good and evil!  Then there’s my favorite twist. Alt-media itself is a just a big, fat, clunking influence operation. Every commentator is either part of it, compromised by it, or unwillingly contributing to it. The intelligence teams say what they want promoted, the techies alter the algorithm, the commentators react to the algorithm, and the viewers react and spread their rage. The whole psyop runs like a huge Rube Goldberg machine. I was once asked to undertake research and publish a few papers on a topic for a tidy sum, and was more recently asked to increase my coverage of a certain topic in exchange for a few extra “coffees”. [Buy Coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/junotane) We all know how research funding works and the temptations to tow the government line on research to secure it, or the very real history of junk science or advocacy science—academic papers produced to support a policy position in order to secure support and funding. So why should we be surprised if the alt-media ain’t also compromised? Think about it. If the global elite and their nefarious deep state have the capacity to control of mainstream media, why wouldn’t they also control alt-media? You know the type of people it attracts—they’re storing cans of spaghetti fercrissakes—these are the people you gotta watch out for. Censoring them or prosecuting would make no sense, they’d just start a new platform or find a way around it. To control them, you let them think they’re free, when in all reality, you control how free they really are. So what does this all mean for Charlie, my social media algorithm addicted acquaintance? Charlie, you gotta take it less seriously. Try watching Judge Napolitano with [Staying Alive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6GB04zeDeQ) in the background, Mearsheimer with [Mozart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy2zDJPIgwc), or Colonel Douglas MacGregor with [Baby Shark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVS4yjUMW98)—anything to make it all seem less sudden and imminent. Strangely, it also requires you to concentrate on what is actually being said.  Avoid the algorithm. Now, it’s definitely less convenient and your regular routine will be disrupted, but it’s worth it. Use Firefox, LibreWolf, or Mullvad browser with uBlock Origin; route your traffic through a reputable VPN, like Mullvad; disable cookies and tracking; search with DuckDuckGo; and never log into Google or social media accounts, and watch YouTube through privacy-friendly front ends like Invidious or FreeTube. In the end, even if global war starts tomorrow, there ain’t nuffin you can do about it from your browser. Best of just remembering to be nice, be kind, be thankful, and take a walk in the park—and there’s my defense mechanism. Cynicism and healthy dose of nature. Take a walk Charlie!!! *** Help a thirsty academic - [Buy Me a Coffee](https://buymeacoffee.com/junotane)! ## Related articles - [[2026-08-28 The international relations alt-media riddle|The international relations alt-media riddle]] - [[2025-05-12 Algorithmic foreign policy influence|Algorithmic foreign policy influence]] - [[2026-05-21 The shift in international relations scholarship|The shift in international relations scholarship]]