How Digital Marketers Opened the Floodgates for Russian and Chinese Influence Operations

I was in tech, social media management, and digital marketing before it was cool -- before it became an industry. As I watched ambitious "coaches and consultants" peddle their egos and New Age spirituality on the internet, I observed how whole industries and fields of study form. Most interesting was watching how normal people engaging in algorithm hacking to promote their content and build their business opened the door for election interference in 2016 in the U.S. and election interference around the world. The government, national security community, and even the tech industry don't understand how we got here. It all started with ambitious New Agers evangelizing the world to become yoga teachers, mindfulness practitioners, fake shamans, and pseudo-marketing, business, and life coaching experts. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, indeed. Caption: Stoned by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/