CSUSB WK 5 Increasing Level of Health Misinformation Discussion

During Week 5, you read the short essay on health misinformation and watched a documentary about the importance of media literacy and the prevalence of misinformation. Now it’s time to engage with your peers and take a moment to reflect on the information you learned. Write an original response or record a video where you address the following: 

1. Explain which aspect of the documentary and the essay resonated with you the most and why? 
2. Discuss the dangers of misinformation in our society and more specifically to a working public sphere. Be sure to anchor some of your discussion to either the essay or the documentary. 
3. Propose specific steps that can be taken (as an individual, a class, a public sphere or society) to begin fixing the issue of misinformation.  

Respond to two peers by extending the conversation, providing additional support in the way of new examples or by drawing attention to class material that can help us think about the topic from the public sphere perspective, or engaging in a dialogue if there are disagreements. 

here is the link to watch the documentary about the importance of media literacy and the prevalence of misinformation; https://csusb.kanopy.com/video/trust-me

Reply:

I felt very uncomfortable watching the documentary because I felt the content is so relevant to current events and like the saying goes “the truth hurts”. From the fake articles disbursed to the masses to the parents who almost lost their child due to not vaccinating, everything covered is relevant and very much now. One of the stories or topics covered was the death of the young man who was accused of being a kidnapper and as a result, lost his life. This is a prime example of “word of mouth” and how incorrect information in the hands of a small community can have a huge impact on lives. In this particular case, information was exchanged accusing the young men of being kidnappers and by the time the angry mob got to them, all sorts of made up details were pare of the story. One example is when they mob is convinced theres children in the vehicle. Eventhough no one had proof that these mens were kidnappers or that they had any children in the vehicle, this was the story the people believed. After watching the documentary I was left convinced that the darker and more sinister the story is, the more likely it is that people will believe it and take the little information and run with it.

In current events, as many of us have pointed out, the covid 19 pandemic has show prime examples of misinformation permeating the public sphere and causing chaos and havoc. The lack of “want to know” that exists in our society, coupled with the fact that literally anyone can disburse erroneous information has been a recipe for disaster. The fact is we don’t live in a time where people ask questions or research the “articles” they read or take a moment to consider what makes sense and what doesn’t. The lack of initiative and lack of want to know culture has singlehandedly played a key role in the way we received information.

Making asking questions, checking sources, and questioning everything something popular would help in minimizing misinformation having such leverage. The bottom line, at least to me, is that our culture needs a major shift and the only way to make this happen is using education and the popular platforms to help with this shift.

Reply:

Misinformation has been the scariest thing to happen in the information age. The internet has absolutely changed how we gather information and what we choose to believe. With the introduction of social media platforms like twitter, facebook, Instagram, and tiktok where people and entities can share information in a matter of seconds, people have relied on these platforms for their up-to-date reporting.

The aspect of both the documentary and the essay that resonated with me the most is the fact that companies knowingly designed platforms that would hook their consumers. In a capitalistic society, this shouldn’t be surprising, but the technology and manipulation used by the ever-changing technology is a human rights violation. People are actively bombarded with misinformation. Many of the creators of such platforms and technology, limit their own use and that of their families because they know the negative effects that these platforms cause. They call this highly manipulative technology as brain hacking and it is highly addicting. Even search engines use this technology to give their consumers something more tailored to them rather than search results that are unbiased and truthful.

In our society, currently battling a pandemic, there has been mass misinformation on political issues, health, infrastructure. This unrelenting spread of misinformation leads to catastrophic problems. The documentary explains that misinformation plays on people’s fears in order to polarize people and to have them support a cause. Political conspiracy theories have led to the support of bigot politicians that support Alt-right hate. Misinformation has also led the resistance against Covid-19 vaccinations, masking, and social distancing. Misinformation also allowed for the insurrection of the Capital. Ultimately people die at that the hands of people that were misinformed and doubled down on their beliefs. The media people consume confirm their beliefs and they act and relate to others that have those beliefs or don’t. Social media can be a platform where the public sphere deliberate and discuss important information. People can then come to a consensus that allows for positive change in society, but steps need to be taken to combat the misinformation.

Ultimately, I think that more social platforms and search engines need to be unbiased and not have political interests or ties. But there are steps people can take like adjusting their privacy settings and location sharing on their social media platforms. A helpful tool on many phones now it to lock your apps after a certain time to only allow for an allotted time of usage. People can also cross reference the posts they read by using reputable sources. Most importantly, people can also avoid clickbait!