“The digital universe has brought into being an overactive public whose numbers are unprecedented in human experience.” – The Revolt of the Public
Following Trump’s unprecedented election win in November 2024, Elon Musk returned to his X social media platform to declare his users the new media. With the narrative no longer controlled by the elites and mainstream media, every person with a social media account can access millions of eyes and ears, through digital media connections worldwide. With X and a surplus of platforms online, individuals unite to collectively put the pieces together, ending the elite's attempt to sell a coordinated message. It’s already happened, the debacle of COVID blew open the gates. Too many lies and misrepresentations have ended the monopoly held by ABC, CBS, NBC, the New York Times, etc. Replaced by digital amateurs working from home, everyone is an informant now, actively fact-checking the fact-checkers for bias.
In Martin Gurri’s 2018 book, “The Revolt of the Public”, Gurri analyzes the relationship between the elites and the public. Following the invention of writing, the development of the alphabet, the arrival of the printing press, and the era of mass media, Gurri identifies the fifth wave: the cataclysmic expansion of information technology, and the end of top-down hierarchy. Or as he likes to call it, the revolt of the public, a watershed moment when the information balance reversed and gave voice to the public.
Tracing the roots of this information bonanza to Tunisia in 2010, Gurri chronologically reveals the multitude of digitally coordinated protests using social media as an organizing tool. Not one attempt was prevented or thwarted as the new information sphere is ineradicable from disruption. Like a whack-a-mole, try to stop one, and more spring up. With laptops and internet connectivity, the masses are invincible.
Until the beginning of the new millennia, elites held enormous sway over the public, and what it believed. They determined the narrative based on their standards of truth. Only those accredited with the proper credentials were allowed dominion. When the floodgates of digital detecting began, they used censorship and repression, to stop its advancement. Its effects would be short-lived.
For the first time, the new resistance, the hoi polloi, with power in numbers, had options. Mobilized by social media and digital platforms, a potent public opposition, with threats of perpetual turbulence was created. Ready to tear down the institutions, this bottom-up approach of tech-savvy, and affluent youngsters, would bring about the Arab Spring, the European Movement, Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, Brexit, and even, Trump. Using the likes of Facebook, X, and bloggers, the new opposition created a hedge against a standing power structure.
As Gurri notes, this assault on authority expanded to every domain: not only social media over the newspaper, or YouTube over TV, but every noted monopoly, from the recording industry to brick-and-mortar stores, Universities, and more. For the protesters, Musk’s purchase of Twitter/X guaranteed that at least one space for free speech would be available. And one was enough. Using the dangers of misinformation to try to limit its reach, elites have been unable to stem the surge. Outraged to be fact-checked by amateurs, throwing them out has only put the elites in retreat.
With their opposition firmly in control, governments and institutions must find a new way forward. Adding transparency to regain the trust of the public who are long onto their game would be a good start. New leaders must now be selected based on their integrity, and not their credentials.
For now, the destruction of the status quo is progress enough. If Trump’s win in 2016 was a repudiation of the establishment's arrogance, his mandated win in 2024 was nothing less than voter’s outrage. Now with the proper tools in place, many more are joining in. The future is bright, and it’s just beginning.
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