flamehunter wrote:Yacht Rock wrote: ↑July 23rd, 2019, 1:57 pm
Yeah...that's not really how it works. Even if the CEO of Google chose to do nothing, would you trust everything that came up in a Google search result? Do you believe the results were untainted? (hint, those results were gamed even if Google does nothing). They could be gamed by people, businesses, foreign actors, etc.
It's like the news. If you get it from one outlet, you're getting curated news that tries to tell you what to think. The best combatant against that is to understand there is bias in the sharing of information, seek out multiple outlets from a multitude of perspectives, and recognize that just because something is "published" doesn't make it a fact.
Your are rightly putting the burden of responsibility on the individual. Unfortunately an overwhelming number of people (across all ages, political and or religious persuasions) today refuse to bear that responsibility and believe what ever comes across their screen that the person they like the most says. How do we change that? I'm not sure we can.
Well, the studies I've seen, (and my personal experience) indicate that there are some differences among age groups. One study I read, for instance, indicated that Facebook users over the age of 65 are more likely to share fake news stories. I've seen this personally with friends and family. When I typically ask them about it, they don't understand why someone would ever put false information on the internet, so they just believe it. LOL. Its why you might get an email from your grandmother that says if she doesn't forward it to 10 people, she's in league with satan.
Aside from the studies done, I do know that there is curriculum for high school students that handle this issue. I've been working in the technology industry for many years and will be moving to the classroom in the fall. This subject was addressed during my student teaching and will be addressed by me in the classroom. It's important for future generations to understand that most information they see will come from a point of view. This doesn't mean that you dismiss what you read. I.E. You can't say, "If it's on Fox News, it's a lie," "If it's on MSNBC, it's a lie," or "If it's in the NY Times, it's a lie." Students need to understand how to look for the facts within biased reporting. If facts are selectively shared, they need to be sure to seek out other sources of information to gather more facts.
Now, like I said, this isn't a new problem. It's been a problem since as long as media has existed in one form or another. Heck, there was a reason that some people were against translations of the Bible into common language. Control over information dissemination is a big deal. The main thing that has changed has just been in the ways we see it around us.
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