You probably heard the term "fake news" in your Instagram feed or "false advertising" in a YouTube video. Just one click in a what seemed to be harmless website could infect your computer with viruses or pop up ads. The person whom you might be friends in a recent chatroom may either a bot who wants to get your information or an actual person who masks their identity to hide their malicious intentions. How did we get here, how come a majority of the world-wide-web is entirely made of fake interactions?
The answer is more complex but to put it in simpler terms... money, Or should I say for the greed of money .
The root of all evil, the previvor of progress. The stimulus check that the person is waiting on buying Game Stop Stock, or to pay your bills. The dollar bill sign emoji that you see when one of your friends wants to make a profit. It is because of the greed of this green currency we see sponsored content in a YouTube video, a virus downloaded from a phishing website, and a child susceptible to online predators every day.
Another reason why we see deception and manipulation in the inter-webs is due to a high consumption of media content.
Here are some facts for you
80 percent of middle schoolers couldn’t tell the difference between sponsored content and actual news stories.-Stanford History Education Group 2016
This means that when these youngsters enter university and very soon the work force, They would consume misleading information that can impact both our local and global community .
U.S. adults are spending over 11 hours a day connected to linear and digital media. -The Nielsen Company 2018
So whether your working in your job, catching a break from a class project, or even relaxing; you are spending nearly half of your day consuming media.
Does this mean we should go up into the mountains (or Ocean) living under rock where there's no WIFI and become digital hermits fir the rest of our lives?
Unfortunately no, that time has passed, because with our media consumption being in a all time high, media interconnected to our daily lives. Media affects the globalized world all around us, but that doesn't we have to take this digital bullshit* (or BS*).
WORD of the DAY
Bullshit [ˈbo͝olˌSHit]
NOUN: stupid or untrue talk or writing; nonsense.
VERB: talk nonsense to (someone), typically to be misleading or deceptive. Powered by Oxford DictionariesThere is a philosophy and a way of thinking that has helped academics, media moguls, and content creators combat BS and understand how Mass media affects our society.
and that is Media Literacy... (Click to Read more)