It is clear that moods and emotions are contagious. Cheerful people around us lift our own spirits, while depressed ones seem to pull us into their emotional swamp. Mental states can also be transmitted through novels, films, texts, poems, messages, paintings, photographs, colors, sounds, movements, and probably other things I am omitting at the moment.

An experiment conducted by Facebook with its users showed that presenting positive or negative information leads to changes in users’ emotional states. In this experiment, filtering out part of the negative posts in the news feed of one group of users led to an improvement in their mood. Conversely, filtering out part of the positive posts for another group led to a decline in the mood of users in that group. Here we will not dwell on the psychological mechanisms behind such influences—this is the subject of numerous and extensive scientific studies. The aim of this book is simply to show that all this is possible, that such influences are constantly taking place, and that their effect should by no means be underestimated. They affect us even when we have no idea that this is happening.

The online environment, as well as television and the media in general, constantly “bombard” us with images, clips, words, expressions, and animations. Part of this content is personalized—it is delivered to us based on our personal data, past actions, current situation, psychological profile, and so on.

Here too we are dealing with suggestion and suggestibility. The assumption is that the individual will “catch” the suggested states that are addressed to them through remarks, demonstrated as behavior, or induced through images. And what about the personalized presentation of videos and images, such as on YouTube, for example? I personally am horrified by the sight of suffering and distressed animals, and I also have a cat at home. How should I explain the fact that YouTube constantly recommends videos of distressed cats to me, even though I almost never open such videos? Of course, I would be very grateful to YouTube if they stopped recommending them to me.

If someone presents you with footage of this kind—or anything else that affects you in a very specific way—it can quite reasonably be said that this someone is exercising power over you. Yes, you can probably choose not to visit such sites, but sometimes the influences are not as obvious as in the examples above, and you may not even be able to identify exactly what makes you feel uncomfortable. Unlike you, however, some algorithm may “know” this—both about you and about many others. It may also be known which combinations of stimuli act addictively on a particular individual, so that a certain negative influence is achieved while at the same time producing an addictive effect—so that the individual is conditioned to choose the “poison” themselves. And then, of course, no one else is to blame. Right?

If the last pages have been heavy, let us return to the realm of theory and also mention more “low-tech” methods of emotional influence, because emotions and states can be suggested even in the most ordinary dialogue. For greater effectiveness, a specific psychological context and situation must be selected—one that naturally lends itself to the feeling being suggested.

For example, after a hard day at work, a manipulator might say to the target of manipulation:

“Ugh, I’m so tired, I can barely stand on my feet.”

In a situation that is stressful for the individual, the manipulator might add:

“I don’t know why, but I’m terribly nervous. I feel like I’m about to explode.”
“Everything just irritates me so much!”
“I feel like punching someone!”
“I can’t take it anymore!”
“I’m fed up, I’m going to throw everything away!”
“I’m so tense, I can’t even fit in my own skin.”
“Someone as sensitive as you surely doesn’t take things lightly.”
“For a few days now I’ve had a constant headache—I don’t know why.”
“I feel like getting drunk—why should we live to be 200 years old anyway?”
“Lately I can’t concentrate at all.”
“I feel uneasy, like something is about to happen.”
“For some time now I haven’t been able to sleep at all.”
“I know how tense you are—here’s what might help you…”
“You look tired.”
“Why are you angry—is there a reason?”
“Lately I don’t feel like exercising at all; I’d rather sit on the couch and watch my series.”

If the manipulator has chosen the right moment, the likelihood of inducing behavior in the individual that corresponds to these remarks is high—of course, the outcome also depends on the target’s individual capacity for self-control.

There are also more refined ways of suggesting states and qualities. For example, there are many videos on YouTube that offer some kind of easy test—supposedly of intelligence—often visual, such as distinguishing colors. Although almost anyone can solve such a test, the video claims that, for instance, only 5 percent succeed. After the viewer solves the test, they feel proud, and even if they did not initially believe the claim that only geniuses can pass it, it is very likely that they will now feel differently—at least for the moment.

Subconsciously experiencing themselves as belonging to some ego-flattering category of people, the viewer becomes more receptive to the suggestion that follows—often something that would not be accepted in another situation, when the filters of critical thinking have not been lowered. Such a suggestion might be, for example, that intelligent people are introverts. Once this suggestion has been planted, further suggestions are built upon it. In this example, that could include explanations of how introverts live—say, that they have few friends, that they like to be alone, that work is the most important thing for them, and so on. Thus, little by little, the suggestions accumulate and, for some people, have a cumulative effect.

Today, methods of emotional influence are endless, which is especially true of the virtual space, where “irradiation” with various stimuli is omnipresent. So far, there is no real regulation of the activity of such services in the virtual space—they enjoy the freedom to “irradiate” anyone as they wish, according to that person’s individual characteristics. This is precisely the problem with social networks: they have turned into platforms for suggestion and for all kinds of psychological and social experiments—as well as enormous systems for extracting personal data, of course.

These are not problems that should be ignored, because solutions can begin to crystallize only gradually, once the problems enter the public discourse.