Donald Trump, the Unstoppable Meme
Algorithms, hyperstitional narratives, and semiotic warfare are redefining 21st-century elections and the relationship between politics and social networks.
Trump has been elected, and from January 20, 2025, he will be the 47th President of the United States.
An election that, perhaps more than in the recent past, has driven Democratic voters insane. Through videos and posts, they have covered all the shades of the most negative and wild human emotions, clogging the cyber conduits of social networks (and their tear ducts).
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The more composed commentators have engaged in dignified coping, often targeting not Trump directly but Elon Musk as the owner of X. An example:
As an immigrant, Elon Musk can't run for president himself, so he spent $130M+ of his own money to buy the presidency for Trump. Trump will be the one sworn in, but pay attention to who's really pulling the strings.
One commentator, in particular, Carole Cadwalladr, a journalist who became famous for exposing the Cambridge Analytica case in 2016, has unleashed an apocalyptic article describing the end of the world, specifically brought about by Elon Musk as the owner of X:
Can you “weaponise” social media when social media is the weapon? Remember the philosopher Marshall McLuhan – “the medium is the message”? Well the medium now is Musk. The world’s richest man bought a global communication platform and is now the shadow head of state of what was the world’s greatest superpower. That’s the message. Have you got it yet?
Trump is cholera. His hate, his lies, it’s an infection that’s in the drinking water now
Does the technology mudslide hypothesis now make sense? Of how a small innovation can eventually disrupt a legacy brand? That brand is truth. It’s evidence. It’s journalism. It’s science. It’s the Enlightenment. A niche concept you’ll find behind a paywall at the New York Times.
Internet: not just culture, but The Culture
Social media is mainstream media now. It’s where the majority of the world gets its news. Though who even cares about news? It’s where the world gets its memes and jokes and consumes its endlessly mutating trends. Forget “internet culture.” The internet is culture. And this is where this election was fought and won … long before a single person cast a ballot.
This got me thinking. Is it really as they say? Carole writes things I disagree with and some I find accurate. However, I believe she herself doesn't fully grasp the implications of what she writes.
In any case, I can’t stay silent on this topic, especially since the context lends itself well to a "cybernetic" analysis of the communication, control, and feedback mechanisms that define the direct and indirect influence between political elections and social networks.
The technological aspect of the political process is undeniably significant: echo chambers, profiling and recommendation algorithms, deepfakes, and memes are now the tools through which political messages are propagated. On this, Carole Cadwalladr is right: The internet is culture; and it’s a culture built on memes and viral narratives — regardless of their truth or falsehood.
This is especially true for U.S. elections, much more so than for any European election. The European spirit is so comatose that what we do or say doesn’t even interest the algorithms. Americans, on the other hand, somehow manage to maintain a high level of passion, driving themselves to frenzy and igniting the engines of virality.
It’s not a Megaphone
The mistake many commentators make — because, evidently, they don’t read Cyber Hermetica — is failing to fully understand the cybernetic nature of the relationship between humanity and digital technology.
Too many focus on the idea that social networks can amplify a political message: from this position come claims that Elon Musk 'bought' Trump’s election victory through his 'control' of X. It’s no surprise, then, that The Guardian writes: “This is what we're up against. A media ecosystem dominated by a handful of billionaire owners.” Curious, considering that mainstream journalism, of which outlets like The Guardian are a clear part, has long been the domain of an elite international class.
In any case, this is clearly a monumental oversimplification: social networks and their algorithmic mechanisms are not mere megaphones aimed at an audience to shout out a message. That’s the role of mainstream news outlets, which have been spewing anti-Trump statements for years.
Social networks are different. They are a cybernetic ecosystem; a hybrid Generative Adversarial Network where humans and algorithms interact and influence each other through memes and hallucinogenic narratives. In the realm of political discourse, this means messages are not communicated unilaterally like on news sites but become part of a conversation between humans and algorithms. Messages are thus modified, amplified, or softened based on feedback mechanisms.
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This content is free for all. If you enjoy it, consider subscribing to Cyber Hermetica. With a small commitment, you can support my work and contribute to the creation of a new schizo-memetic culture. Subscribe to Cyber Hermetica, click here.Who Controls the Algorithms?
Now, someone might argue that those who control social networks also control the algorithms and, therefore, have the power to manipulate and direct the messages reaching people.
This can be partially true, in the sense that developers can set parameters, weights, and instructions to try to control how the algorithm operates.
However, social network algorithms follow optimization logics aimed solely at maximizing engagement. This can lead to unexpected content radicalization or viral phenomena without intentional direction. Only content that humans like (or dislike) the most at a given moment can ride the high algorithmic wave.
The Meme as an Autonomous Entity
The algorithm cannot predict or influence the narrative. The algorithm merely enhances and accelerates what is already bound to happen.
Thus, since no one can control the human hive mind (or collective unconscious), no one can truly govern the narrative and content virality.
If Trump won, it’s because his memetic potential is immense. I know it sounds silly, but that’s how the cybernetic universe operates.
In occult terms, we could say that Trump is an egregore, an entity brought to life through collective meditation or obsessive collective thoughts. As such, Trump currently enjoys a sort of plot armor: as long as the collective unconscious supports him — even in antagonizing him — he will remain invincible, both politically and physically.
Manipulation? Nah, Memetic Hyperstition
Acknowledging this, it becomes clear that Carole Cadwalladr makes the mistake of assuming we are dealing with the same consequences unleashed by the Cambridge Analytica case.
Cambridge Analytica used profiling and recommendation algorithms to deliver targeted messages to sensitive users, aiming to manipulate their political opinions and get them to abstain or vote for certain candidates. We shouldn’t confuse this sort of human-controlled activity with the cybernetic mechanisms of memetic viral narratives on social networks.
There’s no Cambridge Analytica convincing the American populace to vote for Trump; nor can we blame Elon Musk’s public efforts — he merely rode the memetic wave (Elon certainly understands and acknowledges these mechanisms) to the shore.
Today, we face new global cybernetic circuits capable of creating hyperstitional processes beyond anyone’s control. Neither Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, nor Mark Zuckerberg can control or predict what will go viral or — to put it another way — which meme will capture the human spirit and become reality.
The Era of Semiotical Warfare
The social network context outlined here — correctly identified by Carole Cadwalladr as the real battleground of ideas — transforms political struggle into semiotic warfare: a clash of media messages where objective reality succumbs to fragmented perceptions shaped by algorithmic bubbles. Political programs, debates, and interviews mean nothing: only the narrative matters.
The ability to steer the narrative becomes a powerful weapon — but that doesn’t mean controlling the current. The politician, or rather, the politician’s social media manager, is the captain of a sailboat on the vast cyber ocean. They can steer the rudder and choose a direction, but they’ll never control the wind, the ocean current, or the evolution of the algorithmic waves.
Filter Bubbles and Perpetual Civil War
The last point concerns the social impact of all this. Profiling algorithms play a primary role in segmenting users into groups called “filter bubbles” or “echo chambers.” Again, there isn’t true algorithmic control by tech oligarchs, although the functioning of these algorithms can be managed more pervasively.
Regardless of how it happens, we know each of us is immersed in a more or less large virtual “bubble” that shows us content we or our peers enjoy. Occasionally, a meme breaks through the semipermeable membrane of these bubbles, spreading like a virus in all the ones it touches.
The problem with bubbles is that, barring hyperstitional virality, they always and only present content that creates the most user engagement. In the case of elections, this means every voter sees only what they want to see. The "truth" is always the one that creates the most synaptic engagement. Reality becomes extremely fragmented and subjective, complicating the perception of the "whole."
An Infinite Fractal
The phenomenon is fascinating because it represents a kind of infinite fractal through which political messages are propagated only relative to the micro and macro bubbles each of us inhabits.
In this context, it’s easy to imagine a “perpetual civil war,” both external and internal (cognitive dissonance), where every electoral cycle will always be fraudulent; the "bad guys" will always win, and millions will tear their hair out — on one side or the other.
The phenomenon is all the more evident the more precarious the intellectual state of the users. It’s no coincidence that the Dem electorate, already statistically afflicted by numerous mental pathologies and spiritual emptiness, is generally the most affected.
A Planetary Generative Adversarial Network
In any case, conflict is inevitable.
As I’ve discussed on other occasions, humanity has been unknowingly catapulted into a sort of planetary Generative Adversarial Network, which, through the clash of consciences and ideas, is gradually forming new cultural, religious, and spiritual archetypes.
Get ready, because there will be plenty more hair to pull out.
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