"The difference between legacy media and social media? One wears a suit and tie, the other wears a hoodie. But make no mistake—both are in the same business: selling you."

They’d have you believe they’re different. The anchors behind pristine desks, the publishers of ink-stained papers—they sneer at social media, pointing their manicured fingers at the chaos, the misinformation, the dopamine-fueled cesspool of likes and shares. They tell you they’re the guardians of truth, the last bastion of integrity.

But beneath the facade, legacy media and social media are playing the same game. And you? You’re just the currency.

The Illusion of Integrity

Legacy media wraps itself in words like “journalism,” “objectivity,” and “the public good.” But scratch the surface, and you’ll find the same hunger for profit, the same obsession with engagement metrics. They don’t care about informing you; they care about entertaining you just long enough to sell ads against your attention. They’re not delivering the truth—they’re delivering eyeballs to advertisers.

The formula is simple: outrage, fear, scandal. They dangle it in front of you like bait on a hook. And you bite. Because when the world is burning, you can’t look away. And while you’re staring into the flames, they’re counting their clicks, their views, their subscriptions. They’re cashing in on your anxiety, your anger, your confusion.

Sound familiar? It should. Social media perfected this model, but legacy media built it.

Two Different Masks, One Ugly Face

Social media sells your attention in real-time, harvesting your data and your habits with ruthless efficiency. Legacy media sells your attention with a veneer of respectability, feeding you a steady diet of sensational headlines and 24-hour outrage cycles. They both profit off the same human vulnerabilities: fear, anger, curiosity, tribalism. The only difference is the packaging.

Legacy media wants you to believe they’re the antidote to the chaos of social media. But they’ve got their hands just as deep in the muck. They amplify the same viral stories. They twist the same narratives. They chase the same trends because if they don’t, they become irrelevant. And in the world of legacy media, irrelevance is the death knell.

They claim to be above the noise, but they thrive on it. They just make sure to shout from behind polished desks and editorial boards rather than from algorithm-driven feeds.

Profits Over People

Here’s the cold, hard truth: neither legacy media nor social media is interested in your well-being. They’re interested in your attention. And they’ll bleed you dry to get it.

Mental health crisis? They’ll package it as a think piece. Political unrest? They’ll turn it into a circus. Human suffering? That’s just more content to monetize. Because to them, you’re not a citizen. You’re not a person. You’re a statistic. A line on a spreadsheet. A number to be captured, manipulated, and sold.

Legacy media may wear a more dignified mask, but the eyes behind it are just as hungry, just as ruthless.

The Only Way Out

So what do you do when the very sources you rely on to make sense of the world are profiting off your confusion? The answer is simple, but not easy: you take back control.

You stop being a passive consumer. You question everything. You demand transparency. You recognize that both legacy media and social media are tools—and tools can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Most importantly, you remember that your attention is your power. Don’t give it away freely. Don’t let them use it to build empires that leave you empty.

Because once you see the game for what it is, you can play it differently. You can choose where your attention goes, who gets your trust, and what deserves your time. They can’t profit off what they can’t capture.