The World Wide Web of Confusion- A Reflection

World Wide Web of Confusion- Created on Piktochart by Heighway, 2018

I put a lot of energy into improving my blog this week. I tried to step out of my comfort zone by using a variety of infographics and created a Youtube video- something I have never done before!

Whilst researching this topic and reading my peer’s blogs, I believe that I have enhanced my knowledge of the reliability and authenticity of the information which is available on the internet.

Here are a three important points I learned when researching this topic:

 

 

What I Have Learned- Created on Piktochart by Heighway 2018

Here are some of the student’s blogs I interacted and commented this week:

Sam’s blog

Stefan’s blog

Will’s blog

Here are interesting points I learned when reading these blogs:

 

Learning From Others- Created on Infogram by Heighway 2018

As you can see, I learned a lot from interacting with my peer’s this week. In particular, Sam’s blog  highlighted that 30% of internet users interact with fake news more than once a day (Statista.com).  This is particularly thought provoking and has made me question the news I have read online since.

Shreya is another student I interacted with. After reading her comment on my blog I questioned whether joining new social platforms will enable us to escape echo chambers. I realised that we cannot always be sure but, as I mentioned, if I joined Pinterest, whose largest group of users are 25-34,  it would be likely that I would interact with people of this age, and therefore may be exposed to new perspectives.

In reflection, the most important thing I have discovered throughout this topic is that it is, although it is difficult, it is extremely important to realise that information on the internet is not always reliable. Although I may have had a brief understanding of this before this topic, I have now learned how unreliable information is constructed. I also believe that my blog writing skills have improved this week. I have learned how to create Youtube videos and gained more confidence in making useful infographics!

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Wainberg, J., Headlines, emotions and utopia. Available at:

 http://www.scielo.br/pdf/interc/v38n1/en_1809-5844-interc-38-01-0191.pdf

Statista, To the best of your knowledge, how often do you see fake news while using the internet or visiting sites such as Facebook or Twitter? Available at:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/649234/fake-news-exposure-usa/

The World Wide Web of Confusion?

The internet is a prominent way in which we understand the world around us- more than 3 billion people are using the internet worldwide. However, we need to be able to assess the reliability and authenticity of online information as it is largely affected by; media literacy, information literacy and data literacy.  These terms are explained below:

Figure 1- Ability to Use The Internet (Heighway, Canva, 2018)

There are a number of things which can obstruct these internet literacies which subsequently affect how we understand information online.

For example:

• Echo Chambers
• Filter Bubbles
• Fake News

Echo chambers

• Click on the video I have created to find out more:

Opinions I form online may be persuaded because…

Figure 2- Are My Social Platforms Biased? (Heighway, Piktochart, 2018)

Therefore it be may beneficial to join new social platforms to provoke our thoughts. (Borgesius et al, 2016)

Filter bubbles

Figure 3- Explaining Filter Bubbles (Heighway, Piktochart, 2018)

“It’s easy for people to live in a ‘filter bubble’ of media” (Delaney, 2017). Eli Parsier (2011) ‘s Ted Talk highlights the danger of this:

Here is my example…

Figure 4- Example of Personalised Searches (Heighway, piktochart, 2018)

Fake news

Figure 5- Fake News (Heighway, Piktochart, 2018)

Click on the link below which shows Donald Trump confronting ‘Fake News’ journalists:

Trump’s use of the word ‘fake news’ has led it to become Collins Dictionary’s word of the year (Hunt, 2017).  The BBC now encourage people to “check the source” and “go beyond the headline” instead of automatically believing it (BBC, 2017).

Why should we assess information?

Assessing the reliability and authenticity of online information is complicated as much of it is affected by things like echo chambers, filter bubbles and fake news- these are just a few examples of the way are ability to gather correct information can be obstructed.

It is therefore important that we critically assess what we read on line carefully. Figure 4 outlines things we should consider when assessing information.

How can we assess information?

Figure 6- How to assess information (Heighway, Piktochart, 2018)

As mentioned above, assessing the reliability and authenticity of online information is difficult. Therefore it is important that we are aware of things like echo chambers, filter bubbles and fake news in order to realise that the information we read may not always be accurate. I would suggest that it is beneficial to take note of ‘Figure 6’ and maybe expand social platforms, or use multiple search engines in order to make us autonomous web users (Borgesius et al, 2016)

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Borgesius, F. (2015). Should we worry about filter bubbles? Available at: https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/should-we-worry-about-filter-bubbles

Burnes, J. (2017) Fake News: Universities offer tips on how to spot it. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41902914

Delaney, K. (2018). Filter bubbles are a serious problem with news, says Bill Gates. [online] Quartz. Available at: https://qz.com/913114/bill-gates-says-filter-bubbles-are-a-serious-problem-with-news/

Grimes, D. (2016) Echo chambers are dangerous- we must try to break free from our online bubbles. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/dec/04/echo-chambers-are-dangerous-we-must-try-to-break-free-of-our-online-bubbles

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/learning-network-age/4/steps/303353

Hunt, J. (2017) ‘Fake News’ named Collins Dictionary’s official Word of the Year for 2017. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/fake-news-word-of-the-year-2017-collins-dictionary-donald-trump-kellyanne-conway-antifa-corbynmania-a8032751.html

Trump, D. (2017) ‘Fake News’ Tweet. Available at: https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/860087334519414784