Feeling tired just from looking at social media—it's not your fault
In my first new book in nine years, 'Shin-SNS Theory: How to Stand Up to the Rule of Tech-Fascism?', I spent a year conducting thorough research and writing about the future digital management society centered on social media. All of your information is being stolen too‼️ This is essential reading for everyone involved in the future of tech business.
This might be sudden, but may I share something with you?
Can I tell you a story that will send a chill down your spine?
I touched on this briefly in a video, but this is a story that can only be conveyed through writing. One day, while I was researching and lining up these facts, I stopped in my tracks.
The day a CIA venture 'finished its role'
A certain company was registered on that very day
In the United States, there is a venture investment organization that the CIA was officially involved in.
The name is In-Q-Tel. The purpose is simple:
'To acquire technology from the private sector early on that could be "useful" for national security in the future.'
Surveillance, data analysis, networking, behavioral prediction. In the early days of the internet, funds were gathered in those fields. And—the timing of a turning point in those activities and the corporate registration of a certain company overlap strangely. That company is,
The flow of the internet starting from military and intelligence technology, where 'human connections,' 'behavior,' and 'emotions' became the most valuable data, is consistent throughout history.
Of course, I don't want to talk about conspiracy theories
I don't want to be misunderstood here, so I will say this clearly.
It is not as simple as saying "the CIA created Face⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️."
But I can say this:
The internet started from military and intelligence technology.
'Human connections,' 'behavior,' and 'emotions' were the most valuable data.
Social media was the mechanism for 'voluntarily handing that over.'
This trend is consistent as a matter of history.
"Connection" was never neutral to begin with.
The first thing they did was not to monitor people, nor was it to control them.
"Connecting people"
But connection also means relationships that can be turned into data.
With whom
how much
at what frequency
with what emotions
This can be used for advertising, for politics, and for the state. What is important is not whether it was used, but that a "usable structure" has been completed.
Therefore, today's social media did not "just happen to turn out this way."
Anger is easily spread. Division is emphasized. The more extreme the words, the more they stand out. That is not because "humans have become stupid."
It is because it was more rational as a system to shape human behavior into a "predictable form."
When the state, corporations, and algorithms overlap here, discourse can be controlled while "remaining free." This is the true nature of the tech-fascism I wrote about in this book.
Why am I talking about this now!?
The story of how I stopped getting replies to my New Year's greetings
This is an episode I also talked about in a video. New Year's 2025. As I do every year, I sent out New Year's greetings on Facebook Messenger. However, that year, I received almost no replies. Thinking, "Huh?", I asked a few people individually, and the answers I got back were surprisingly the same.
"I don't use social media anymore."
It wasn't just one or two people. Almost everyone said that. When I opened my X timeline for the first time in a while, it had become a completely different place from the social media of the past. Conspiracy theories, scandals, abuse, shady investment businesses, and so on.
Using social media without knowing this background versus using it while knowing it, your stance changes completely. As I said in the video,
“Those who use it without knowing will eventually find themselves on the side of being used.”
That is why I wrote this book.
I am going to take this a step further.
——How does Big Tech handle “information”⁉️
From here on out, this is a story that “only those who notice will find unsettling.” As a general rule, Big Tech does not delete user posts. So, what are they doing instead?
They control “how it is shown.”
This is a fact that is officially acknowledged. Current major social media platforms handle posts in the following way:
If there is no problem, they do not delete it
-
However
they do not spread it
they do not include it in recommendations
they make it harder to appear in search results
In other words,
it exists, but they make it socially “non-existent.”
This is not censorship. But, as a form of speech control, it is extremely sophisticated.
A further insight for you
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at a press conference, “The most important battlefield now is social media. TikTok is a particularly effective weapon.”
So, returning to the topic, why did such a mechanism become necessary?
The reason is simple.
Social media is no longer just a “tool for individual expression.”
It influences elections
It moves markets
It amplifies social anxiety
It has also become a subject of management for the state.Here, the interests of the state and the platform align.
"I don't want it to get toxic"
"But I don't want to do blatant censorship"
The result of that is—control through visibility.
The model for managing the populace is already complete
When I talk about this, many people think like this.
"That's about China, right?"
It is true that in China, management has taken a "visible" form, like a social credit score. But the Western approach is different.
They poured all their efforts into making the management "unfelt."
Behavioral logs
Relationships
Emotional tendencies
Reaction speed
These are analyzed by AI, and
what to show
what not to show
how people will act
are adjusted in near real-time.
The important thing is that you are "not being ordered"
This is the scariest part. It's not that someone told you "think this way." But,
the information you see
Invisible information
Words that elicit a response
Within this environment,
people choose 'safe thoughts' for themselves.
This is modern-day population management.
Therefore, speech can be controlled while 'remaining free'.
No one is bound.
No one is prohibited.
And yet,
only extreme opinions are made visible,
moderate discussions sink,
and people remain fixed in their divisions.
This is not a coincidence.
It is the result of optimization for the lowest management cost.
I call this 'tech-fascism'.
Classical fascism ruled through violence and censorship.
But now, it is different.
Convenience,
safety,
comfort,
in the name of these things.
People take actions that are easy for them to manage.
That is why it is hard to notice. Protests are also unlikely to occur.
Honestly, I cannot write everything about what follows here on note.
Today, I will only touch on the surface.
Big Tech is doing something much smarter than "censorship"
Many people think like this:
"Speech control means having your posts deleted, right?"
That is wrong. What is becoming mainstream now is control without deletion.
Posts are not deleted
Accounts are not suspended
-
But
they don't grow
they don't spread
they don't appear in recommendations
What is the result?
"Speech that reaches no one" is mass-produced
This is not censorship. But as a form of control, it is too perfect. In this book, I call this mechanism "control through visibility."
But rest assured.
This is not a story about "people who noticed a conspiracy."
It is a story about "people who understood the structure."
And once you understand the structure, you can deal with it.
It is not your fault that social media has become exhausting.
Lately, just opening social media drains your energy for some reason. You feel tired after finishing, even though you haven't done anything. If you have that feeling—it is not a problem with your personality or mental state.
The reason why abuse and anger "stand out"
There is one more thing I touched upon in the video.
“Don't you think social media is full of angry people lately?”
This isn't just a matter of perception. Social media is currently designed so that “the stronger the emotion in a post, the more visible it becomes.”
Anger, condemnation, anxiety, fear. These things spread easily. Therefore—gentle words sink, and only extreme words rise to the surface. As a result,
“it ‘looks’ like the world is in turmoil.”
But that is not the world itself. It is a designed perspective.
The moment you think like this before posting
I also talked about this in the video. The moment you try to write something on social media and suddenly stop.
Will this cause a backlash?
Is this way of saying it okay?
Will I get harassed by weird people?
In the end, you soften what you wanted to say before posting. Have you had this experience? It’s not because you’ve become timid. The environment is making you do that.
Social media is no longer a ‘tool’
This is the core of this discussion.
Social media is no longer a tool. It has become the very “atmosphere” of society.
Moreover, that atmosphere is not born naturally. It is designed, optimized, and amplified by algorithms.
Both your words and the posts you see are all within a mechanism called ‘visibility’.
Words that are not deleted, yet do not exist
In the video, I put it this way.
“We are now in an era of ‘uncensored censorship.’”
Posts aren't deleted. But,they reach no one.They are pushed into a place where they cannot be seen. Speech is free in form. But in reality—
Even though freedom 'remains,' it cannot be used.
Even so, I am not saying you should quit social media
This book is not one that condemns social media, nor is it one that tells you to abandon it.
As I said in the video,if you cannot escape, you have no choice but to understand it.
Why did this happen?
What has changed?
Even so, how do we survive?
I wrote this not as a matter of willpower, but as a matter of structure and concrete measures.
In Europe, 'reality moves the next day'
Right now, in Europe, we have entered an era where social media posts are directly linked to 'the reality of the next day.'
The day after you post, the police visit your home.Or,you are called into the office, told only that 'they saw your social media post,' and are told you are fired.
No one gave an order. Even so, people learn. They think, 'I'll stop next time.'
But this is not a 'runaway' situation. This is important. In Europe, they do not call thistotalitarianism. The reason is clear.
Countermeasures against hate speech
Countermeasures against fake news
Prevention of social division
Everything starts for 'the right reasons.'
The problem is when that righteousness is combined withvisibility control by algorithms.
Posts are not deleted. But your life changes
The European approach is very sophisticated.
You have the freedom to write
You won't be arrested
-
It's just that
it is recorded
it is evaluated
and everyone knows 'what happens next'
As a result, what do people do?
They 'don't write' from the start. Or, they only write things that are safe.
This is people management without orders.
And is Japan 'still safe'?
At this point, many people think: 'That's a European story, right?'
But please think about it calmly.
-
Even in Japan
the spread of posts depends on algorithms
reporting is just one click away
companies extremely dislike the 'risk of backlash'
The only difference is that the system is not yet complete. The direction is already the same.
This is the realistic form of 'tech-fascism'
Classical dictatorships ordered you 'not to speak.' But now it's different.
You are free to speak. However, you must accept the consequences yourself.
Within this structure, people are managed most efficiently. That is why it is quiet, and that is why it is hard to notice.
Why I wrote about this in a 'book'
This level of discussion is
too short for social media
Writing it makes it easy to be misunderstood
Dangerous without context
That is why I had no choice but to explain it in order, in the format of a book.However, this book is not meant to incite fear.
Where does reality end, and where do choices become possible?
This is a book to help you discern that.
If you have read this far and thought, 'This is about me,' please press the 'Like' button on note.
That will elevate this issue from a personal sense of discomfort to a social discussion.
And if you have the energy, please try searching for 'Shin SNS-ron: How to Stand Up to the Rule of Tech-Fascism?' on Amazon.
This is not a book meant to provoke. It is a book for living sanely in an era from which there is no return.
The scariest thing is being able to control people while they remain 'free'
No one is tied up. No one is being ordered. And yet,
thoughts become homogenized
the atmosphere becomes fixed
dissent becomes invisible
This is far quieter and more efficient than classical fascism. I did not use the term 'tech-fascism' in this book to be provocative.
It is because I could not explain the phenomenon happening now with any other words.
Why I wrote the rest of this in a 'book'
I will be honest. The story from here on is,
too long
too heavy
Being disliked by social media algorithms
That is why, on social media, you can only see fragments.
Where does the fact end
and where does the structure begin
what can we choose
I have written about that in this book, in order, without running away.
Even so, there is no need to despair.
Knowing this structure is not the end.
By knowing it, you can return to the 'side that chooses.'
What to believe
What not to look at
Where to spend your time
I wrote this book to help you take that back.
Social media has been tough lately
I've become afraid to express my thoughts
But I can't leave it completely
That feeling is quite correct.
However, you are on the 'side that has not been completely dominated.'
This is not a book meant to incite you. It is a book for living sanely in an era we cannot return from.
📘 On sale today
"New Social Media Theory: How to Stand Up to the Rule of Tech-Fascism?"
Author: Tomohiko Yoneda
If you have purchased it, please just write "I bought it" in the comments.
I will prioritize your questions in the next live stream or note post‼️