If truth be told, this post truth trash is one big inconvenient lie

Post truthism has been gestating in the underbelly of the internet for more than a decade, writes Suzanne Harrington

So we live in a post truth world. Post truthism, which sounds like Orwellian doublespeak, only more stupid, is now our official way of being. It’s the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year – well, two words, but let’s not get distracted. It shouldn’t come as that much of a shock that “circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief” – how the OED defines ‘post truth’ – is now how we make mass political decisions. Brexit and Donald Trump are 2016’s most significant post truth achievements. See what I did there? I called Brexit and Trump’s election “achievements.” That’s what post truth journalism looks like. You’re welcome.

In truth – no, really - post truthism has been gestating in the underbelly of the internet for more than a decade. We are all avatars now, selfie-made creations of our own shallowest projections, #fabulous, #amazing, #brilliant. It used to just be online dating sites where people were – and remain – hilariously post truth, where short men are tall and fat women slim, and everyone is 10 years younger, where speaking several languages means you can order a beer in Spanish, and ‘enjoys relaxing’ translates as telly-addled horizontalist. Words like dynamic, outgoing, and bubbly are as meaningless as a can of Warhol soup.