Privacy Issues: Social Media

In the day of ever-growing modern technology, privacy is an issue most humans are confronted with regularly. In Cas 272, an important topic most of this semester was how technology such as smart phones and other mobile devices creates an environment in which users can consume information in the matter of seconds. This accessibility and quick access to information directly ties into the privacy issues that we face today.

New technology has paved the way the last 10-20 years. Such technology has been a blessing for our society as it provides enormous benefits for our economy, education, business, and everyday lives. However, nothing is perfect and our rapidly developing mobile devices have some serious flaws. Privacy has always been a concern for humans for as long as we can remember. With the emergence of mobile devices and the social media apps that they provide, that concern has grown quite exponentially.  Social media always anyone to see what YOU are all about. Someone half-way across the world can see where you are, where you live, how old you are, and what you like to do in your free time. Obviously, they can only see such personal information if you provide it. That is where the other half of the problem lies; the conscience decision we make to post sensitive information (which by the way a lot of people do not care what they post online). By posting your home address or updating the status of where you are, you are allowing hackers and someone who might consider you a target to easily acquire information they need to make you said target. I know what you may be thinking, “wow this guy is really paranoid”. Although that may seem to be the case, Robert Siciliano said it best, “I’m not paranoid, I’m a grounded, down-to-earth, conscious being with an awareness of what’s going on out there”. Essentially, the world is very unforgiving, especially with the information and advantages you may give it by posting sensitive information online.

Now, let’s take a look at what privacy issues we might be facing online. Many people are very reckless in what they post on social media. For example, kids who are underage often post pictures of them partaking in the consumption of alcohol. While this may not provide a physical risk to your well-being, it certainly has negative impacts on your future. Such photos may prevent a young adult from getting accepted to a college or even the opportunity to receive a scholarship. Some employers even check your social media pages before hiring you and if you post sensitive material, it may cost you a job in the future. Humans are very judgmental, and when it comes to the real world (i.e. college and jobs) character and good judgement are highly valued qualities. It’s not hard to restrain yourself from posting pictures detrimental to your future. Hell, I even ask friends not to post pictures of me if I know it may be harmful to my appearance or safety. Another privacy issue we face has to deal with our personal safety. As I mentioned before simply posting our home address or commenting where we are at a specific moment can put you in harm’s way. You may not realize you are a target of someone until it’s too late. A question most of you may be asking is who may be targeting you? The answer is that it could be anyone with any motive for any reason. One common example could be someone that wants to take you to court for legal action. They may look to your social media acImage result for social media privacycounts to gain leverage over you in court. Another could just simply be someone looking to harm you. My last example, which is a bit more extreme, deals with how the government uses modern technology to their advantage. In the last several years we have had leaks from Edward Snowden and most recently WikiLeaks, that described how government agencies have the ability to hack our mobile devices and TV’s to spy on us. Obviously, this topic is highly debated as some think it is morally acceptable as long as it is keeping us safe from attacks, while others think the opposite. Because of this I’m not going to touch on this issue any further, just be aware of what you do on your mobile devices so that you don’t contradict yourself.

Anyways the moral here is that you must make a conscience effort to not post things that might contradict you in anyway. If leaving a post, video, or picture off the internet means keeping your career and self safe then it is all worth it. I know this may be hard for many people out there as humans have grown somewhat narcissistic when it comes to posting on social media (i.e. posting for likes, favorites, retweets, comments). Also, here is an article that lays out actions you can take to running a clean social media site.

How Social Media Emboldens Terrorist Recruitment

Throughout this entire semester, we have discussed social media’s widespread impact on modern society. Particularly, through the use of social media on mobile devices, people can instantly consume any information being produced by just about anyone. This spit-second inheritance of information is especially important when it comes to national or global news. The interesting thing is that users can read news on social media sites such as twitter, through random third-party sources. So, instead of receiving breaking news from a mainstream media source, people can see what is happening by reading a friends tweet or Instagram/Facebook post. The evolution in the way we consume news has had such a large impact on our society, but it has also quietly impacted another group of people in a major way.

Modern terroristic groups have used propaganda as the main source of recruitment of new members. With the development of mobile devices and social networking sites, terroristic groups have effectively increased the impact and visibility of such propaganda. Instead of terror groups such as ISIS and Al Qaeda strictly recruiting members within their own region, they can now reach a world audience through forums on Facebook as well as the use of hashtags on Twitter. In a broad sense, instead of recruiting from thousands of people, they are now able to recruit from millions of people increasing the numbers and likelihood of people joining their so called “causes”. Accordingly, the people who manage the social networking sites for these terror groups are able to communicate in many different languages, making recruitment in foreign countries much easier.

There have been efforts to stop these terrorist groups by social media sites simply by shutting down their accounts. However, in mere moments these terrorist groups have a nImage result for terrorist recruitment social mediaew account and continue their recruitment without skipping much of a beat. An example of elusiveness by terrorist groups is the use of popular, well-circulated hashtags. According to SiteProNews, ISIS used the hashtag #WorldCup2014 during the world cup to almost discretely continue their recruitment, without being noticed by any social media sites or government agencies. This is a danger concept given that hundreds of new hashtags start trending each and every day. Terroristic groups such as ISIS use many different recruiting tactics online. However, some of the most common forms of their recruitment include discrediting governments like the United States to gain sympathy from people.

Whether it be through Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, terror groups tend to show videos that cause great emotion in people. Often, they post videos that show suffering of people who have been injured through gunfire or some other sort of explosive or weaponry. Terror organizations like to portray anyone that is against them as the enemies through videos and photos of awful things certain governments have apparently done to them. They even use social media sites to post videos and photos of beheadings and the killing of people theyImage result for isis twitter threats deem to be dangerous to their “cause”. Again, ISIS used another hashtag, this one by the moniker #StevensHeadInObamasHead. This particular hashtag refereed to the beheading of an American journalist Steven Sotloff who had been captured by ISIS. This use of social media is called fear-mongering, where they strike fear into the eyes of their enemies and targets by posting horrific media portraying violence. Believe it or not, this is also a form of recruitment for them, as it shows their actions, power and demeanor. This is especially useful towards those who are naturally inclined to violence. Perhaps the most frightening thought of all of this is that these terrorist organizations can then teach those that they have recruited, all through a laptop or mobile device. They can teach the how to pledge allegiance to their group, how to make bombs and other various weapons, how to make bullets for said weapons, as well as how to carry out attacks on the public. All of this can be taught from one person sitting all the way on the other side of the globe, to hundreds of thousands of people all over the globe. So, the point is that although everything seems ok, it won’t be for long. Now I am not trying to scare people, but it is important to realize the magnitude of this global issue our world faces.

As I wrap up this quick blog, I want people to understand that there are evil people in this world. However, good always outweighs evil and there is far more good in this world than there is evil, all it takes is the right people and the right mindset to rid our world of such evil people.

 

Sources

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-isis-uses-social-media-to-their-advantage

http://www.sitepronews.com/2014/09/22/social-media-used-terrorism/

 

 

 

 

Libyan Civil War: Social Media’s Impact

Social networking outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have played a crucial role in recent protests across the world. These sites have been used to promote protests and exploit “corrupted” governmental regimes all while sparking revolutions within a given country. Probably the most recent and memorable of these revolutions was the Tunisian revolution, which spread into other parts of the middle east and north Africa, eventually carrying the name “Arab spring”. The Arab spring was the revolutions, coups, and protests that took place in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. However, it’s important to understand that social media played a huge role in rallying the people to generate successful protests. Since we discussed in detail during class about the Tunisian revolution, I thought it would be important to discuss another memorable revolution, the Libyan civil war.

Although it was about five or six years ago I remember it like it was just yesterday. My parents called me into the living room to witness all the major news outlets reporting the death of Image result for libyan civil warMuammar Gadhafi. At the time, I was not entirely sure of who he was and why he had died, but I realized the importance of what had happened. Now, what exactly allowed something of this magnitude to happen? A powerful dictator and his faithful army had been overthrown by common civilians. One would think in today’s modern
times it would take a large amount of people to carry out such a feat and it did, but how were these revolters able to gather such a large amount of people? The answer, social networking. By 2011 social media sites such as twitter and Facebook had already been around for at least five years, but were growing in popularity by the minute. Media played a crucial role in the Libyan civil war on the account of both sides of the issue. In the beginning of the war anti Gadhafi propaganda was being portrayed across local news stations. Gadhafi was playing round-the-clock patriotic music on a Libyan owned television station. The rebel’s response to this was the display of angry citizens protesting one of Gadhafi’s live speeches. With the connection that the internet and social media provides, it was only a matter of time before it got in on the antics. According to multiple websites, social media played a vital part in organizing protests as well as using anti-Gadhafi propaganda to increase the tension between the rebels and Gadhafi’s regime. Justin Bomberowitz lays out a timeline of the Libyan civil war through the use of social media, to gather protestors, micro-blog, live blog, and post powerful YouTube videos.

During the Libyan civil war, Facebook had a big role in hosting protest news pages. Essentially these sites would update information about a potential next protest or post emotional thought provoking propaganda. However, Twitter users used their accounts to micro-blog. Essentially, they would inform others of the live situation of certain protests. Because protests often turn violent, this was important to many people who felt strong about the cause, but not strong enough to put their lives in danger. The great thing about the use of social media during these revolutions is their low cost, portability, and real-time connection to millions of people. If you already own some mobile device or computer than social media is generally free to participate in. This makes access and the ability to influence more people much easier. Portability is another major factor in social media. Now that our society is controlled by mobile devices, you can receive updates on the news that you want. For example, if you followed a certain Libyan protest account on Twitter, you could turn on their notifications. Turning on notifications allows the user to be notified every time that account posts a new tweet. Thus, thousands of people can be informed and influenced in just seconds. That is where portability and real-time connection play hand in hand. The seconds a post takes to reach a user can affect the size, strength and aggressiveness of a mass protest in minutes. There was even a social media site created for the transition of power after Gadhafi was overthrown and eventually killed.

The bottom line is that although social media should never replace your main source for consuming news, it is certainly helpful at informing an incredible amount of people in just mere seconds. Thus, we have seen the impact this kind of technology/propaganda strategy has on revolutions and protests that we have seen in the last 7-10 years.

 

Sources:

https://www.stratfor.com/weekly/social-media-tool-protest

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libyan_Civil_War_(2011)

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2011/08/22/the-libyan-revolution-through-social-media/

How Memes are Ruining American Democracy

Propaganda has been a part of our nation’s political system for quite some time. For those who do not know what propaganda is, it is some form of biased or misleading advertised information used to promote a political cause, issue, candidate etc. Early propaganda consisted of posters with large thought provoking or even emotional images layered with only a few thoughtful chosen words to persuade someone towards a specific cause. For the longest time, the only way to for organizations, groups, and political parties to get their propaganda noticed was to hang these posters in public. There were obvious flaws in this method, as the only way people may see their message is if they are out and in the right place. However, ever since the first broadcasted news-cast in 1940, propaganda has evolved towards being promoted on our televisions. Now all these groups/organizations have to do is pay the news companies to advertise their propaganda. People are now able to be influenced by propaganda in the comforts of their own home.

With the rapid rise of the internet over the last 20 or so years, propaganda has taken yet another step towards increasing its power and audience. Advertisements on websites, blogs, social media, etc. can now all promote propaganda in the time it takes you to blink. Then came the memes. What started out as a form of media that was used primarily towards humor, quickly developed into a new form of propaganda that may hurt American democracy. Memes are humorouImage result for 2016 election memessly captioned pictures, gifs, or even short videos. Take for example, poor Hillary depicted in the meme on the right. Yes, while this may be hilarious for anyone who understands the context and reference to the movie A Few Good Men, it is certainly not constructive of a democracy in which we make decisions on candidates, issues, and other political topics based on hilarious ‘memes”. Let’s take a look at a few more memes from this past presidential election below.

Image result for 2016 election memesImage result for 2016 election memes

Image result for marco rubio memesImage result for ted cruz memes

What’s important to note here is that political memes no longer make sense. Instead of displaying passionately well thought out messages, they have taken form of some sort of hatemongering humor that our society latches onto. Douglas Haddow, from The Guardian, notes how memes also favor an extreme perspective on political issues. He goes on to mention a study done by the University of Texas found “that individuals who are socially isolated and more likely to be characterized as “on the fringe” have a greater chance at creating a successful meme”. It is easy to understand that extremists, no matter what political party or entity you favor, are destructive to democracy. The gravitation towards extremism (by all sides not just republicans or not just democrats), is all being made possible by media such as memes. An important side kick to memes that we must not forget is social media. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are memes motor. Without these platforms, it is impossible for memes to have the same type of rapid impression that it has on its consumers. Also, because of the freedom that is offered by social media, literally anyone can create these memes with little to no information. As Douglas Haddow said in his article, memes are constructed and pulled from the basement of the internet. Essentially, anyone, at anytime and anywhere can curate whatever meme they want, with whatever information they want, about any political party, candidate, or issue they want. Despite all of this, it is important to know that memes have existed for quite some time now. It is with the rise of social media that has turned memes into uneducated hate mongering media that has negatively influenced millions of people. Perhaps it is time for some sort of control by our society to realize the devastation it could have on the future of our politics, but hey I’m just a college a student.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/04/political-memes-2016-election-hillary-clinton-donald-trump

Memes: A new form of old-school propaganda

Do Politics Belong In Entertainment?

In the last year and a half, we have seen a multitude of high profile celebrities speak their minds about the polarizing election of 2016. A majority of these celebrities also spoke on huge platforms, often while being hosted on national TV in front of millions. From Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem to Meryl Streep at the golden globes, athletes and entertainers all had a voice in our nation’s current political and racial state. The issue most Americans had was that TV entertainment is meant for exactly that, where there should be absolutely no room for politics. However, no matter what side of the political scale you are on it is not hard to realize why they spoke about such a polarizing topic. But why is it that these story-lines blew up in the face of Americans. Two words: social media.

The main stream media reporting on TV and even the internet has been around for quite some time now. However, there is a relatively new beast in the media industry that is social media. While our televisions and newspapers were always a good source of information, they never provided a platform for discussion between the people. Sure, if you saw something interesting on the news back in the 90’s you would most likely discuss it with someone. The internet also allows for discussion with other individuals, whether it be online or in person. Although, the difference is that social media has created a new mindset for people. Many people have heard the term “internet tough guy” or some other variation of it. This term essentially means that people are acting big and tough because they know they are shielded by the screen that lies in front of them. What this means is that the internet allows people to have the confidence to say things they would not say I person. So, what does this mean in relation to entertainment and politics. With the rise of social media over the last decade (give or take a few years), audiences of all kinds have merged into one atmosphere.

Take for example the Golden Globes, that took place on January 8, 2017. Meryl Streep took the opportunity during her acceptance speech to voice her opinion on Donald Trump and the past election. Yes, while millions were watching on TV, the real heat happens on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Between all social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook are the breeding grounds for the most hostile, backImage result for meryl streep golden globes speech and forth typing wars known to man. These platforms allow you to connect to those talking about the same subject as you in seconds. If someone takes to twitter to comment about a situation such as Meryl Streep’s speech, within minutes they can be fighting with someone halfway across the world. The aftermath was not very pretty either, as celebrities and thousands of other Americans got into heated arguments over her comments.

The problem here, is that with all the media we consume through our mobile devices, anything posted on the internet can go viral in minutes. Because of the personal customization that we are given, we can receive notifications from any social media account, news outlet, or text messages from friends without doing any research. Notifications are sent right to our phones, for which all we must do is tap on the notification to consume its content. Also, most Americans who own a mobile device, have it on them at practically all times. So, when 20+ million people tuned into the Golden Globes, you can bet something as polarizing as Meryl Streep’s speech will go viral within minutes.

Now, is it totally appropriate for celebrities to speak on political issues when the consumers of their entertainment watch them to escape all that drama? The answer is quite ambiguous, as it really depends who you are. Some say that in political times that we are witnessing right now it is necessary, while others say it is disrespectful and inappropriate. Personally, I think the mainstream media, as well as other news blogs, to a fine job of relaying issues to the public as needed. So, my answer to the question would be to leave it off the national stage. If celebrities want to go on their own time to talk about political issues, great. However, if they are speaking on an entertainment platform those comments should be kept to themselves.

 

Bibliography: 

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/08/entertainment/meryl-streep-golden-globes-speech/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4100928/In-one-speech-Meryl-Streep-showed-bravery-Donald-Trump-entire-sad-privileged-life-Twitter-explodes-actress-anti-Trump-Golden-Globes-speech.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/266669/golden-globes–number-of-viewers/

 

Blog Post 3: How Social Media is Undermining Politics

With new modern trends and an ever technologically developing world, the entire political landscape has and still is changing. The important question to think about in this situation is this for a largely positive or negative impact. I am almost certainly sure that this is a primarily negative impact however, let us first like at some of the positives. With the growing world of social media, politicians are able to advertise themselves in many different ways. Not only is it easier for them to promote their agendas, but they can now introduce themselves on a more personal level with the people. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and other social media sites allow politicians the chance to show everyone what kind of person they are (or at least what they want us to perceive them as). Also, social media allows for an instant connection to the audience that presides on each social networking site. All of this is good for the politicians, however, none of this benefits the rest of us all that much. So, how exactly is social media negatively impacting our modern-day politics?

Politics now rely on the internet as well as social media to be able to get information out to the entire world. This can be very convenient now that mobile devices have become the norm. however, with such concepts such as the public sphere and the filter bubble, this comes at a long-term cost. Many of the topics that we have covered in class revolve around a similar pattern in that people are being concentrated into areas of thought that only they agree with i.e. filter bubble, public sphere, and echo chambers. Since algorithms such as the filter bubble are able to categorize us into groups based on political beliefs, other dominos then fall into place, creating a dysfunctional outlook on politics. As we have witnessed in this previous presidential election, politicians have used their social media platforms to invoke their followers with emotion rather than focusing on the true facts. We saw Bernie Sanders speak passionately about legalizing marijuana and making college education practically free by saying how much we deserve this and that. However, he never said the tremendous costs we would be giving up to achieve such gaudy feats. We also saw Trump use a wide variety of adjectives to negatively describe his counter parts. He even coined the phrase “lock her up”, hinting of Hillary Clinton’s ongoing investigation with the FBI. Even Hillary herself, joined in with the antics. Despite all of this nonsense, many people still sided with a particular candidate purely based on emotion and excitement rather than each candidate’s actual policies.

I have spoken to many colleagues who say they are voting for a certain candidate purely because they are “funny” or got “the best” of the other candidate in a twitter battle. This is crazy, right? After more than 200 years as a free democratic country, where our government has been driven by the educated collective thought of many, we are now being governed by those who are more “entertaining” than others. To be fair, I am not solely referring to Donald Trump but a large majority of politicians. In hind sight, social media is turning politics into a top-hit reality show. The drama that surfaces on social media flows over into TV media outlets, which then over-exploits each story on an entirely different level. At the end of the day, most politicians may hate the way they campaign and conduct business has evolved. However, they know that they must do it this way or else they may be out of a job.

The most concerning part about this is that more people are consuming news though social media than ever before. Fake news was a hot topic that entered the presidential election towards the election and the amount of people consuming (and believing) fake news through social media is appalling. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have been slowly involving themselves more and more with politics each year. However, this past election, has bursted into the political scene in as dramatic fashion as you could ask for. So, with the rise of the next generation into the business, economic, and governmental world, it is up to us to make a change in the way social media influences our government.

 

Sources:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/2016-election-social-media-ruining-politics-213104

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/09/30/more-and-more-people-get-their-news-via-social-media-is-that-good-or-bad/?utm_term=.bc48d6c94a42

Blog Post 2: Filter Bubbles and Free speech zones on college campuses

In the last several years our society has become sensitive and offended by other opinions. For the larger majority of our population there are practically two schools of thought. One thought is fairly conservative in thinking, while the other is more progressive. While there are those who fall in between, there is no doubt our societal thinking has become quite polarized. It seems as If we are being pushed to associate ourselves with people and information that only supports our interests. Although it is important to be firm with your beliefs, it is also important that we familiarize ourselves with the thought process of other individuals. Our country was built by our fore fathers to be a collaborative environment in which we absorb the opinions and views of others to further our learning and understanding of our peers. This is where anomalies likImage result for filter bubblee filter bubbles and echo chambers come into play. For those who do not know what these two concepts are, let me briefly explain. The filter bubble is essentially a personalized browsing experience, tailored specifically for the user based on their information. In short, the internet feeds you news that it thinks you want to see. Echo chambers is practically the same concept in that it is an enclosed space on the internet feeding you information/news you want to see.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, we can get straight to the point. The issue at hand here is free speech zones on publicly owned universities and colleges, that is, those owned by the state. One in six public colleges in America are subject to these so called free speech zones. To put this in the words of Turning Point USA, “that means 1 in 6 universities have taken free speech and moved it to a confined space on campus”. Recently, these free speech zones have generated much controversy. It is widely debated that these zones are unconstitutional. Essentially, the argument is that since it is owned by the state there can legally be no zones according to the first amendment. Private colleges, however are not owned by the state, so what they do on their campuses is their business. So, unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about this issue on private campuses. Anyways, in order to understand the importance of abolishing these zones we need to understand what has caused them and why free speech is so important, especially at such a young age.

With as sensitive as our world has become today, many people probably wonder why it is so important to promote free speech. The truth is, we are now told that if you are offended by someone’s opinions you should ignore them and their thoughts and move on. While it is your right to do so, it is not constructive for our growth as a nation and as an intellectual being. To put it bluntly, it greatly inhibits our learning. Universities have enacted these “zones” and “safe spaces” to further our learning, but it inexplicably does almost the exact opposite. Let me throw out a quick example. Take a country that is under a dictatorship type rule where one person makes every decision about the future of the country. Historically, those nations have miserably suffered economically and in many cases ethically. The point here is that our species thrive on taking the best thoughts and ideas of everyone to make conscious and fundamental decisions. A great example of such effort is the Constitution. Anyone who has taken an American government course knows that the U.S. constitution weImage result for martin luther king jrnt through many drafts. Ideas were being thrown left and right by a large group of people. This collaborative environment resulted in one of the best pieces of government in history. Speaking of our government, free speech was also granted to us to help us fight against any unjust actions the government might impose on us. Imagine if Martin Luther King Jr. famous “I have a dream” speech was censored from major news outlets and media. Our country may be an entirely different today.

Now that you have a basic understanding as to why free speech is so important on college campuses, we need to understand why these zones are even here. Filter bubbles are a relatively new concept to our society, with the development of the internet in the last twenty years. However, echo chambers seems to be a concept that has been slowly building up for some time. The intention for the filter bubble was not necessarily supposed to be negative, but the results are telling a different story. The original idea was to create a tailored experience for the consumer that made it easy to consume the information they wanted. However, it has done quite more than that. The filter bubble has helped to develop a society that has become primarily biased towards their own thinking and beliefs. Now more than ever we are seeing more and more extremely far left and right wing attitudes. The accepting of this type of consumption of our media has made it a norm to think that we should be entitled to our own safe spaces of thought. Since universities are now more accepting than ever (which is terrific I might add), they believe this line of thought falls under the same category of protection. With as hard as it might seem, our thoughts are practically being controlled by people who have millions of dollars and are able to create algorithms that allow for such filtering. Who knows, maybe we end up like Korea one day, where what we look at and see on the internet and news is all controlled by the government. Yes, that is a very bold and extreme statement, and I’m not saying that will even happen, but it only shows the importance of protecting and promoting our freedom of speech.

Sources:

Virginia Bans Unconstitutional Campus ‘Free Speech Zones’

Click to access 5ReasonsCensorshipShouldOffendYou.pdf

Click to access 5bed6be4733c1eb18e3adec122073a22.pdf

 

Blog Post 1: Fake News

The 2016 presidential election was like no other, as it took the country and the entire world by storm. Alleged scandals were practically the center of debate throughout the entire process. However, many of the accusations directed towards candidates were largely inaccurate, many being completely untrue. Such information has been deemed as fake news, a topic President Trump has widely criticized in the last several months. According to The Atlantic conservatives are much more susceptible to believing fake news, compared to their counterparts. Recently this has sparked a debate of whether liberals are actually smarter than conservatives. Obviously this is a statement that is not backed by any information. So, why are some people more susceptible to believing fake news than others? In an article written by Daniel M.T. Fessler. the article states that conservatives are more cautious of dangers in the world. Essentially, if a hazard is noted, they would rather believe it than ignore it. On the surface, this seems like a good principle to follow because we live in such a dangerous world. However, the important lesson here is that fact checking is now an important aspect of consuming media content.

We no longer live in a world where our only source of media comes from a few pieces of paper. The internet is one of the primary sources for consuming news and information. With websites such as Reddit, people can post whatever content they feel like, with little to no regulation. Media and political bias are another problem that makes fake news more relevant. Anyone who follows the news even the slightest, knows that there are right leaning outlets such as Fox News, and left leaning outlets such as CNN. Such biased networks have tendencies to report fake news. For example, Snopes.com debunked an article which states that an FBI agent linked to the Hillary email scandal was found dead, apparently committing suicide. The Denver Guardian, the source that leaked this fake news, was even reported to have been a fake news source. Most recently, it was reported by the Associated Press, that in President Trumps phone call to the President of Mexico, Nieto, Trump threatened to send the U.S. military into Mexico to “take care of the bad hombres”. However, Mexico debunked this accusation, saying the “tone was constructive” and “it was agreed by the presidents to continue working and that the teams will continue to meet frequently to construct an agreement that is positive for Mexico and for the United States”. With all of the controversy surrounding President Trump, fake news such as this does not bode well for his administration. Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on comedy central, even chimed in on the matter before it was proven fake news. With the divide that has been slowly brewing throughout this past Presidential election, it is prudent that the American people are vigilant when consuming news.