Thursday, July 5, 2018

We Repeat - Do Not Believe




First you thought America was the only place where social media really f***ed things up, but then you realize the same things happened to Britain. And then, one day, sometime between hearing that Oprah will run for president and that people in your neighborhood are making thousands of dollars a day by doing this one simple thing from their own home, you realize that the same technology that has wreaked absolute havoc on your world, has done things you can't even imagine to others.

So we are comparing here America and India. Two very different countries, two very different cultures, one super duper hysteria machine.

India WhatsApp 'child kidnap' rumours claim two more victims
Jun 2018, BBC

Rumours of child kidnappings are spreading across India over WhatsApp, and have already led to the deaths of seven other people in the past month.

Officials elsewhere in India have urged people not to believe messages linked to child abductions.

Post Script

A little reminder of where we are in this battle for your mind:

Cambridge scientists consider fake news 'vaccine'
Jan 2017, BBC

Researchers suggest "pre-emptively exposing" readers to a small "dose" of the misinformation can help organisations cancel out bogus claims. ...like a virus...contagion...

Not to mention, Jaron Larnier reminding us that social media is addictive on purpose, and that the Big Data Brothers are a mass-population behavior-modification machine:

Jaron Lanier: How Can We Repair The Mistakes Of The Digital Era?
May 2018, NPR's TED Radio Hour

Post Post Script

Clickbait: The changing face of online journalism
Sep 2015, BBC News

Opponents [of a 'pay writers for clicks' business model] argue it means journalists will dumb down stories in order to get more clicks in order to earn a living. 
There are fears it could curtail a cornerstone of journalism - holding those in office and power to account - in favour of appealing to the lowest common denominator.


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