as600718@ohio.edu
As a person who has been using the internet since the early days of dial-up modems, I have come to the realization that not every single thing that I read online is real, or the truth.
I know that when I look at the comments section of a post made by some blogger that my friend shared and see mean responses sprinkled into the nice ones, that those people are probably just "trolls" and have nothing better to do than to go around writing hateful things about others.
What I was not aware of, until recently, was the extent to which the "trolls" are taking over. Apparently, some of the trolls are getting paid.
I should say, a lot of trolls are getting paid; and they are everywhere. It turns out there are actual businesses who hire the public to pretend to do all sorts of things in order to make you think that everybody else feels a certain way about something, when they may not. This is called "astroturfing."
Image from : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
A simple and not-so-startling example of this was when McDonald's hired 1,000 people to stand in line for the new quarter-pounder cheeseburger in Japan. They were trying to generate a buzz about their product by making it look like people were so excited about the release that they would stand in a line that wrapped around the building. Now, I don't think what they did was right, but overall, I think it was pretty harmless. The problem is that this is just one example from a multitude of examples that each chip away at what we think is the truth little by little.
Astroturfing and manipulation of media is all around us. It's the constant barrage of mixed messages that, I think, is going to do us in.
We, as humans, are social creatures and we want to be liked. If we feel one way about a topic, but see on the news that there is a huge rally going on protesting what we believe, we naturally start to question how it is that we really feel. But what if those people who are protesting are really just actors being paid a few bucks from those who could benefit from the other side of the issue? What if most of our peers feel the same way we do?
How do we know when to believe what we see?
Many of us would try to do some research on the topic. Unfortunately, the astroturfers are on top of that as well. Those same corporations that paid those actors, even have people inside of popular search sites like Wikipedia, who alter what information you can find about the issues you're researching. They pay to move their positively-spun content up to the top of the search list on Google and do countless other things to convince you that you should think differently.
My question is, where does it end and how will we ever know what is fact and what is fiction in this world?
I guess the answer is to follow the money.
Wonderful post Amanda! =D I really liked how you connected the idea of say, online comments, to refer to perception. If there were many posts commenting something or one way, and many websites saying something, it is, as you said, attempting to make it look like the public opinion, or even truth. Yet, to answer your last question, perhaps it is that quantity does not always equal quality =) It's important to remember that more of something does not always make it more truthful, or better. When someone speaks out about this, whether it be a journalist or online post, it is important to have that platform for 'opposing' opinions. Like the Emporer's New Clothes, it only took one person to see, and spread, the truth.
ReplyDelete