Reflective Essay
In the early days of the internet, there was not nearly as much as you can do nowadays. Basic research, messaging, and games were the main things that anyone could do on the web. However, as the internet continued to develop and expand, the possibilities of what you could do with it became massive.
The emergence of Web 2.0, which is the second stage of internet development involving more user based content and social media platforms, changed everything.
There is a countless list of benefits of the development of Web 2.0. People from all around the world can connect with each other in a split second. News is seen and read by millions of people at a time. Writers and reporters are able to make their voice heard to a whole new group that was not possible before. Younger generations also have more access to information than any person before them. They are able to research anything they want at any time and receive information within seconds.
However, some very dangerous aspects from the new wave of the internet come hand in hand with these benefits. The rise in clickbait, fake news, hate groups, mass misinformation, and conspiracies have taken a toll on the credibility of people putting out news on the internet. The rise of AI technology has also made it increasingly more difficult to decipher what is real and what is not. Now, newer generations that are being raised on the internet and technology are paying the price.
Web 2.0 has changed everything about our society today. One of the main culprits that should be investigated, though, is social media. Before social media it was much harder for people and companies to access a large group of people within seconds. Now, that is an afterthought. Large corporations, news outlets, and any person on the internet can spread a message to thousands. While initially it does seem great, there are many downsides. Social media platforms, such as Facebook and X(formerly Twitter), have historically not done a great job at combating misinformation. This, paired with the fact that anyone can post whatever they want, can have very dangerous repercussions. For example, the January 6th riots at the United States Capitol building were fueled for the most part by online groups spreading misinformation about the election. If social media platforms had taken time to self-police these groups, the riots may not even have occurred.
This misinformation on social media sometimes is not harmful, though, but rather just a nuisance. It could simply be someone sharing an article they thought was true, but ended up not being from a reliable source. The claim from that article could then be spread to enough people that either support the idea or just want to believe it, causing an echo chamber. Eventually that false claim reaches the point where many people take it as fact. This has happened many times with claims about climate change, celebrity drama, political rumors, and much more. The effect of this is that day by day it becomes increasingly difficult for people, especially those in younger generations, to research true facts and receive reliable, credible news.
Aside from social media, the emergence of AI technology is greatly shifting how we are able to use the internet. Although AI is technically more on the side of Web 3.0, it is worth mentioning since that is where our society is headed towards. Originally, this technology was developed with good intentions. New forms of art, groundbreaking research, and a more in depth understanding of the future of our relationship with technology are just a few of these benefits. However, just like social media, these positive effects come with dangerous ones as well. AI, paired with social media, makes is easier than ever for someone to quickly spread false claims and misinformation. People can edit photos, videos, soundbites, interviews, and more to skew the public opinion of someone. Although that doesn’t seem too much worse than social media it could become much worse in the future.
So how do we combat this?
It starts at the fundamental level of teaching younger generations how to decipher if a claim on the internet is credible as well as specifically where to look when searching for information. Although this overload of facts and misinformation can seem nearly impossible to navigate, there are certainly still reliable ways to find credible soruces.
As said by Jones and Haufner, “..information overload is not so much one of ‘too much information’ but rather one of defining what we mean by information in the first place, and of understanding how we create it by forming strategic relationships between different pieces of data”.
The best method that I have learned for dealing with misinformation across the internet is the SIFT method. The acronym stands for stop, investigate the source, find better coverage, and trace back to the original context. To begin, before you even read a social media post or an article you should ask yourself whether or not you even trust the source to begin with. If you still are not sure, continue by investigating where the claim came from. For example, if you see a post on Instagram and you are unsure if the claim made in the post is true, check where it came from. Look to see if there are any links to other articles backing up the claim and investigate the credibility of the author or publication. Next, if these sources seem to not be the most credible, look to a source that you think is credible and see if they are also backing up the claim. Finally, make sure to trace the claim all the way back to the original source. Many photos and segments of interviews are taken wildly out of context nowadays. This is seen constantly on social media where a small quote from a much larger statement by a celebrity, athlete, or government official is stripped from an interview and posted online to skew the public’s opinion about them.
If you are still stuck and looking for ways to figure out if a publication or source is credible, a great tool is the Interactive Media Bias Chart, by Ad Fontes Media. This tool allows you to search for nearly any news outlet to determine how biased their claims tend to be. It is a great tool for younger generations who are just getting used to exploring the news world, especially if they are using the internet.
These skills of determining what information to trust and where to go to find it are very important for public writers. First of all, if a writer takes any claim they see as fact, then they are bound to eventually publish something that is incorrect. This can quickly damage their reputation and credibility and cause them to not be taken seriously. Worse than that though, if they have already built up credibility in the news world and then publish a claim that is incorrect, many people may believe it. This could then spiral back into the misinformation cycle and potentially be harmful to some people.
New age digital writers must have the diligence to use skills like SIFT when publishing their work. Doing this will create a much safer and reliable internet that can’t be simply torn down by a few people spreading misinformation.
Overall, there have been a slew of benefits and damages cause by the development of Web 2.0. On the positive side, younger generations have access to more information than ever. They can make their voices heard to a mass audience and connect with people all over the world. However, it has made it nearly impossible to decipher what is factual and what is misinformation. False claims can spread like wildfires and cause lasting harm to the world. Younger generations must be equipped with the necessary skills to decipher if a source is credible and investigate their claims. These skills must be put at the highest importance with a generation raised on Web 2.0 entering the world of digital writing and reporting.
