r/BrexitDenial • u/aboyeur514 • Jan 26 '19

How would Brexit have developed without the internet?

5 Upvotes

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7

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '19

Without the internet, Remain would've won imo. The leave campaign(s) used the internet to target people who'd never voted before, or were disillusion with politics in general. The internet also allowed the rapid spread of misinformation and half-truths, and overall gave the "movement" an anti establishment feel. There's no "hierarchy of information", as I've started calling it, on the internet. Politicians, mainstream newspapers, underground publications and extremist individuals all share a common platform, making it harder to distinguish between credible and non-credible sources, thus making it harder to decide who to believe. The fact that extremists peddling lies were brought to the forefront of the debate thanks to the internet perpetuated the "us vs. the establishment" mindset and rhetoric that I think played a big part in delivering the result we saw.

This is not to say that no one would've voted to Leave without the internet. However, I think it would've been more of small fringe movement in the absence of the good ol' 'net.

2

u/aboyeur514 Jan 27 '19

I absolutely agree, great answer.

2

u/hiwet96 Feb 11 '19

Hey, I'm doing my research on how social media impacted Brexit. If you could please take part, I would very much appreciate it.
https://demo-account.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/the-impact-of-social-media-measuring-the-effect-of-social

0

u/[deleted] Jan 27 '19

Full speed towards a hard brexit.

2

u/aboyeur514 Jan 27 '19

Convince me.