Framed, by Mikael Klintman, is a book about persuasion, about how issues are framed to evoke a particular response.
It isn’t about social media influencing, but rather the wider art of influencing in its broadest sense and in a social context.
Klintman is a sociology professor at the University of Lund. In Framing, he considers how we are led to believe certain narratives and opinions, and how information is framed in the modern world.
Using a variety of real-world examples, Framing explains how communicators can catch us out or influence how we think about issues from climate change to products on our shelves.
It is a very readable text despite its academic slant, and the four sections of texture (making bad seem good), temperature (making hot what’s not), position (moving meaning) and size (bending boundaries) provide a toolkit for exploring fake narratives and publicity.
Klintman shows that being misled is not necessarily malicious, but a proven tactic used to provide influence in areas from politics to entertainment.
What Framing seeks to provide is a way to sift through the noise of fake news in the media and false narratives that can be damaging as well as chaotic.
In focusing on frame analysis (how people understand and interpret situations and activities), Klintman offers an approachable insight into the messages we encounter every day, and how they impact on how we develop our personal viewpoints and ethics.
Indeed, we can probably think of several examples of our own where we have been guided or tricked into a particular point of view. Politics, news, supermarkets are all examples of this.
Framing takes a cold, hard, look at the process and how we might be able to see beyond it.
Framing is published by Manchester University Press in February 2025 – details here.