'Fake news'... is it a problem?
Hello again everyone, i just wanted to post a little something in regards to the essay i am writing for one of my classes at university in regards to fake news because, wow, i found a lot of information. Some of which are humorous examples of misinformation and others that have proven to be harmful.
Im sure a lot of you have heard the term fake news at least a thousand times because of the uprise of Donald Trump and his election. But did you know this term (fake news) is problematic to the delicate content of what is in fact, information disorder?
Im going to be short since this is a dragging topic, yet it is one we should be aware of. I know a lot of us scroll through tumblr, facebook, instagram and other platforms seeing first hand the viral nature to fake news. Here i will give a short list of examples to misinformation, disinformation and malinformation and just how these categories of what is widely 'information disorder'— fit into the picture.
Misinformation — this term is used within information disorder; that has been generated with no intent to harm but all in all; is still false. Such as Justin Bieber eating a burrito sideways. Did anyone else see that? In fact that photo was a fake, the man was a 'doppelgänger'-look-alike of Justin himself and was sent to America to shoot those controversial photos because seriously, who eats a burrito sideways? Thats madness!
Disinformation — disinformation is actually intwined a lot with misinformation, just with a bit more seriousness involved. The content of disinformation is deliberated shared and created to decieve the readers. Its the soul purpose in the creator/s mind. The group of visual artists and photographers that had the decieving idea to share a fake Justin Beiber eating a burrito works with this category.
Malinformation — this is where it gets serious guys. Malinformation is the creation of harmful conent with the underlining intent to in fact, harm. This stuff is what is put out there to strike some fear into the readers mind, scare them, hurt them and worry them. We see this a lot these days with islamic content and the mislead of muslims, to the mass shootings and the killers purpose all the way to the defamation of celebrities and rumours, sex scandals and illegal doings. Such as the Pizza shop incident, a store innocently known to sell some great pizzas. Rumours spread that this shop was in fact the show down of a sex ring scandal involving Hillary Clinton and other famed members. The malinformation spread like wildfire, as a rumour that complex would, and resulted in a shooter to come in one day with a rifle. Luckily, no one was injured. But it is a prime example of malinformation.
In saying all of this, my research in information disorder and such else has shown me a few things. Ill list them here.
Information disorder can be commonly involved in political events such as elections (as we saw with Donald Trump) and allegations. Which makes sense, politics is politics, if things werent to be misconstrued there then where else? Exactly, 'where else', everywhere.
Information disorder and its spread actually causes more harm than good once we disregard the 'entertainment hit' we get from gossip and content. Such as false body imaging, which stronger leads to the rise in eating disorder. Research shows body image and false imaging of standards can impact eating disorders, causing women and men to avenue their lives through unhealthy paths.
Unbelieveable content is in fact, believeable. I saw so many stories that were a big 'wtf!' Moment in my mind. I questioned how on earth could something like this be believeable to not just a few people but hundreds upon millions.
Habits. I learnt this not in my research but in a book i am reading. The spread of information falseness can in fact be linked to our daily habits, the ones like brushing our teeth and how we get out of bed, how we spend our day. A lot of us find a habit much like flossing, in the process of 'fake news'. Habits are a cue, response, reward type deal. And if we are going to put this into media terms we would say this:
Cue — a controversial 'fake news' topic blindly hidden within allegations and media. Such as what i said about Justin Beiber side ways burrito or a news article on mass shootings etc.
Response — share it! The brain almost unknowingly most times, tells you to share it with the intent it will get that reward. Without thinking to much into 'is this real?' You are most likely just going to like and share, right? Everyone has done it.
Reward — likes, comments, shares. Attention. When others see the topic you shared and like it, its almost as great as someone liking your new profile picture. Your opinion, your freedom of speech? It was heard by that person. It was liked and shared therefore you as a person feel good. This is the reward process.
I was amazed just how much i have learnt so far on this topic. And how it has led to the paychological impacts to individuals and surrounding society. I think the fact i can write this essay and link it to a psychological aspect is great since that is something i want to study in the future and i was amazed to find out just how much psychology is involved in things like this.
That is all for now everyone, i hope you found this just as interesting as i did. Who knows, maybe you even share the same view as me. Heres just a little section id like to take for you to get to know me a little, send some asks, it could be on anything i dont mind. Is there a topic youd like to see my opinion on? Ask away. Or do you just want to ask something weird like 'do you put milk in before cereal?' Im fine with that too.
P.s. cereal before milk, always!
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