Global Connections with Technology
Since I was born in 2001, I was raised during the rise of the Internet and Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is the technological advancement beyond the basics of the web that was Web 1.0 to include social media, instant communication, and international connectivity and access. I have been able to see how these advancements in technology and media affected my daily life, what it means to be a global citizen, and the information people consume.
The introduction of Web 2.0 has brought about an increase in connectivity and understanding around the world. I can instantly communicate with someone around the world or search the Internet in seconds for any question. I appreciate that digital technology provides the connectivity for relationships near and far to grow. I can text, call, or video call my family that lives states away rather than resorting to writing letters. As someone who grew up hours away from extended family, the ability to call our family members helped us to remain present in the lives of our family despite being separated. Digital technology has also challenged me to adapt and express myself in new ways. How I do schoolwork is one of the most present ways I have seen a change in my daily life. As a student, I have always learned better by using pen and paper. Yet I feel this expectation to use technology to take notes, keep track of assignments, look things up, and more. There is no doubt in my mind that technology is more efficient and has a larger variety of work that can be done with it, so I have grown to use technology more in my schoolwork. For most classes, I use my laptop to take notes and stay organized. It is an odd dichotomy to know what is best for you and the way you learn yet choosing to do what is easier and more efficient.
Digital technology and media have revolutionized the things we can learn and the work we can do. With the click of a button, we can access information from around the world. This gives us the opportunity to learn and appreciate cultures and the events that take place. Through social media like TikTok, I have been exposed to aspects of cultures around the world. I have learned about recipes, cultural traditions, and so much more. Social media and digital technology make it possible for people to be connected throughout the world. We can share our thoughts and experiences more easily on social and writing platforms. This makes it easier to network and get to know people like with LinkedIn. Our ability to connect and bypass barriers like language or culture differences is one beautiful aspect of Web 2.0. We can meet people around the world and learn about their experiences through this connectivity. As global citizens, exposure to others’ identities allows us to learn from others and challenge ourselves. If someone I know can’t answer a question, odds are someone in the world would have an answer. Web 2.0 has created a shift that changes how we think about information entirely. Now, everything has an answer that is always one search away on Google. The way we gather information now is mostly online, whether through social media platforms, search engines, or news sites.
Social platforms and writing platforms are places for people to share their experiences and connect with others. Twitter combines the social and writing aspects of digital technology into one platform. It provides a space for people worldwide to instantly have access to other people’s comments, replies, and tweets. In her 2016 TedTalk, Siyanda Mohutsiwa shared how her tweeting created a pan-African community.
Under the hashtag #ifafricawasabar, Mohutsiwa shared how her experience of African countries she was familiar with would be represented as personalities in a bar. Soon after posting her tweets, #ifafricawereabar became trending when young Africans participated in the unintentional Twitter campaign by sharing their own experiences throughout the continent. This was one of the first times that Africans could safely come together and acquire a voice without aggression. In her TedTalk, Mohutsiwa shares how social Pan-Africanism is like a forum for people to share experiences and ideas throughout the continent of Africa. With such geographical, political, cultural, and linguistic diversity; Pan-Africanism or the connectivity of the African continent is made possible by Web 2.0 and social media. It also connected Africans to the rest of the world by exposing the experiences of Africans to Twitter users around the world.
Like most 21-year-olds, I tend to receive my information from social media and online sources. Since anyone can share content online, this is not always the most reliable information, and I used to struggle with determining whether a source or its content is trustworthy. I have recently realized that investigating and verifying information is best done through the SIFT process, which Notion’s Check Please! course explains. SIFTing provides a streamlined process of fact-checking and finding trustworthy sources, encouraging us to take the reins on what information we consume. In a world of constant communication and exposure to information, we can use this method to have better agency over the information we consume and better recognize misinformation from the beginning.
SIFT is an acronym referring to a method of finding trustworthy sources and information. First, you stop and ask yourself if you know and trust the source. This is the stage where click restraint is especially important. Then, you investigate the source to learn more about it. I found that using Wikipedia was the most streamlined way of learning about the type of content it produces and the biases it may have. Next, you attempt to find better coverage by looking into other reputable or trusted reporting on the same topic. Lastly, you’ll want to trace any claims, quotes, or media to the original context to better understand the topic and its supporting information. Taking the time and reminding myself to stop is the hardest part of the process for me. With moving through life at what feels to be 2x speed, stopping my scrolling or my random Google searches are not always on the forefront of my mind. Stopping means taking an initial step back and asking ourselves if we know and trust the source. It can also mean being patient through the remainder of the SIFT process. While attempting to find better coverage or discussion of the topic, it is important to recognize that the best result may not be the first one.
The SIFT process promotes stronger information literacy among online users. Information literacy uses critical thinking, research, and reflection to identify and fact-check sources we draw information from. This can be done with any article, video, paper, or other media we watch. On one hand, responsibly consuming information is beneficial for the user to be accurately informed. On the other hand, it is helpful for the entire online community since strong general information literacy promotes the sharing and discourse of trustworthy information. In an age where misinformation seems to run rampant, it is important to inform yourself on how to recognize reliable sources and content. Misinformation is a distortion of original information that is often false, misleading, or. This may happen in articles, research, statistics, social media posts, memes, and more. The best types of misinformation are the ones we are most tempted to believe.
The TED Ed video “Why people fall for misinformation” by Joesph Isaac stood out to me in this regard. At the end of the video, it said that “70% of statistics are made up,” and then went on to say that that statistic too had been made up. While this line got a chuckle out of my college class, it is a serious comment to consider. Without hearing the second part, I honestly may have believed it. The SIFT process has given me a method to better stop and honestly doubt and investigate the information around me. In an age of many things being called “fake news,” I am often misguided by the bias and misinformation around me. If that quote and video are any kind of indication, I clearly have some room to grow in my SIFTing through information.
I believe each of us has a responsibility to SIFT through the information we are exposed to and share reliable content. Sharing information may look like reposting something on your Instagram story, sending a tweet, or writing an article on Medium. Each of these makes us public writers since information shared on the Internet becomes available to the public. As public writers, it is our responsibility to share content that is accurate to who we are but also accurate in general. Spreading misinformation and bias can be hurtful and misleading, especially if the person consuming the information didn’t SIFT through it. This public writing will be available to the public for years to come, so I hope that the words we share are accurate and trustworthy. What we share online has the power to affect billions of people around the world, just ask Siyanda Mohutsiwa.
