There’s this concept in military strategy called the OODA loop. It comes from Colonel John Boyd, the guy who basically rewrote the rules of manoeuvre warfare. His take is that speed is everything because it strikes at the psychology of anyone in a fight.
Here’s the loop:
1. Observe – grab every scrap of information about what’s happening.
2. Orient – frame that info in light of your training, culture, and the exact situation.
3. Decide – pick a course of action.
4. Act – carry it out, then jump straight back to observe.
Boyd’s argument is simple: whoever cycles through those four steps fastest almost always wins. If you spin your loop quicker than the other side, you get inside theirs. While they’re still processing an old snapshot of reality, you’ve already changed it. They have to restart their loop, you sprint ahead again, and the gap widens.
The same dynamic on the internet. Twitter rockets through OODA cycles in minutes. Legacy media lumbers along on a 24-hour news rhythm, so by the time a newspaper prints a story, the meme it’s covering has already morphed. Social media wags the dog; old-school outlets just get dragged around.
Those who control the meme, control the narrative. 3 replies
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