Casey George
cg918217@ohio.edu
Fake news is very prominent in digital society. With so many people across the globe contributing content, information, and opinions online, it's not hard to see why false information is abundant.
Credit: eSafety Commissioner (Australia)
I remember when "the cheese touch" was present in my middle school. It originated from the book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. If someone in school was thought to have "the cheese touch," the other kids believed it would spread to them. It was a myth that spread like wildfire. Eventually, everyone thought they were plagued by the touch.
Fake news spreads in the digital society as quickly as "the cheese touch" spread on the playground, but on a much larger scale. With endless ideas and content shared online, we have all been plagued by fake news.
It is difficult for many people to decipher between true and false information. In this week's lecture, we discussed statistics from a study the Pew Research Center conducted.
Adults in the survey were asked to determine which five statements were factual and which were opinions. From the survey, we learned that only 1/4 of the adults could determine the factual statements and only 1/3 could determine the opinion statements. The survey also said political awareness, digital savviness, and trust in the media play a large role in a person's ability to distinguish between facts and opinions.
Distrust in the news and media has increased over the past two decades. In this week's lecture, we discussed the evolution from T.V. and radio news to editorial pieces commonly seen today. It was easier to tell information on the T.V. and radio was accurate because editorial and opinion stories didn't exist.
Today, the editorial pieces, news stories, and opinion columns aren't separated in newspapers, which is contributing to many people's confusion.
The endless amount of information online also contributes to confusion and distrust. We can't be quick to trust sources before examining their credibility. As active internet users, we must arm ourselves with tools to determine accurate information.
An article from Harvard Summer School's Division of Continuing Education discusses tips to spot a fake news story. When reading a story or article we should check for quality, timeliness, sources, citations, and visit fact-checking sites.
Fact-checking is defined by the dictionary as the act of confirming the truth of an assertion made in speech and writing. Fact-checking tools can assist us in ensuring we share credible information.
How the 24-Hour Content Cycle and Social Media Threaten Democracy is a fascinating TedTalk by Ray Marcano. Ray discusses how social media is a 24-hour content cycle, where people are mindlessly posting and sharing information. He gives four great fact-checking resources including Snopes.com, Politifact.com, Factcheck.org, and the American Press Institute. It's not only journalists who need to use these tools, it's anyone contributing to the digital society.
Identifying, speaking out, and stopping the spread of false information is how we ethically contribute online. We can also do our part by being alert and vigilant when scrolling and sharing information on social media. We should only share information we have fact-checked and determined to be credible. This process will give us the ability to determine the truth and stop the stop the spread of fake news.
Hi Casey, I enjoyed reading your blog, it was very informative. I liked your use of the cheese touch metaphor; that movie was also pretty popular at my school, and kids used to remake that scene at recess all the time. It is unfortunate how widespread fake news has come. I think it is great that anyone can utilize social media to share their voice, but sometimes those opinions are dangerous and can cause unnecessary panic. Thank you for including the tips about how to spot fake news, they are very helpful, and I hope more people start using them to pick out credible news from the fake news.
ReplyDelete