The Offline Report

Manipulators are all around us. Some unintentionally manipulate. Some have an agenda. But they all use tactics from a small, finite set that need widely-known names for the civilians among us to navigate our fast-moving world. If the phrase " foregone conclusion " could be used as a verb, it would vividly describe one manipulation tactic actors use. Example: a large, even "mega-" corporation, actor A, announces plans to merge with another, actor B. Speculation abounds about the concentration in power the merged company would hold. The government's lawyers contest the deal in court on grounds the combined companies would diminish competition and stifle market activity. In a surprise ruling, a judge strikes down the government's argument that the merger would hurt competition. This clears one hurdle for the two companies to merge but a few hurdles remain: the judge's ruling could be appealed or a stay of proceedings could apply. Competing companies...

(* Denotes one bliki appendage, below .) A transcript of Senator Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska) questioning Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg April 10 shows questions and answers over how much a user is able to control their data, and whether a private user was exposed. (A New York Times story today on Facebook, found the company sharing users' data, and users' friends' data, with 60 device manufacturers .) The c-span clip is six minutes long, here . Fischer: Thank you Mr. Chairman, thank you Mr Zuckerberg for being here today, I appreciate your testimony. The full scope of Facebook users' activity can print a very personal picture I think. And additionally you have those two billion users that are out there every month and so we all know that's larger than the population of most countries. So how many data categories do you store, does Facebook store, on the categories that you collect? Zuckerberg: Senator can you clarify what you mean by data categories . F...

Not all controlling personalities are manipulative. Some are unintentionally exploitative . But some are willfully deceptive, and engaging such a personality can be exasperating for people who don't have a name for what's happening. People unfamiliar with controlling personalities who scale to success mistake their deception for brilliance. (This is stage two.) The truth is, manipulation tactics are not brilliant, they've been around for millenia, and in total the tactics comprise a list of about eight. Many are cataloged in George K. Simon's book In Sheep's Clothing . Manipulators appear different and new because old tactics from a finite set are used in different combinations and permutations by new players in different settings -- sometimes brilliant settings -- through history. When tactics are seen for what they are, the brilliance of the setting stands or falls on its own merits. ----- "Exploiting the gray area" is a manipulation *pla...

This post is long, we broke it into embeddable parts: I.    Command vs. Control II.   Dr. George Simon "In Sheep's Clothing" III. Zuckerberg Testifies to the Senate IV. Timing Markers of C-Span Zuckerberg Footage I. Command vs. Control Successful people become successful through ability and talent and gradually corralling some command over parts of their environment and life. Having command over your environment is different from controlling other people. Command without control means you still submit to legalities, and recognize the need for your partner or customers to have their own will. And command without slipping into being controlling requires you only rarely or very judiciously resort to manipulation, and exploit information imbalance. An "unsubmitted will" is a personality trait infuriating for people to engage with and witness if they have no name for it. "This person, he won't take responsibility for what he's done." ...

Toronto journalist David Sax authored in 2016 " Revenge of the Analog ." Sax, while a youthful tech investor himself when his book went to press, was not convinced by that day's conventional wisdom paper was going away or vinyl records were stodgy relics of sound. The reader travels well-researched passages from London-based Cereal magazine editors to sources in New York and other western hot spots. After energetic chapters "Revenge of Film" "Revenge of Retail", Sax visits Silicon Valley to interview programmers and designers who "gushed about the unrivaled superiority of whiteboards, Post-it notes, and paper to take ideas from the mind into a tangible place." His varied impressions after visiting offices of companies including Twitter, Adobe, Google, Dropbox and Pinterest hew to theme. The author's focus pulls slightly off subject after visiting Facebook. First Sax covers Facebook's delayed embrace of analog: In late 2010, w...