Online Communication and the effects of quick information

Today I was listening to the podcast, “Navigating Online Misinformation and Improving Science Communication", by David R. Grimes.” This podcast is a part of, “The Brain Health Revolution Podcast.” This was a very fascinating podcast that discusses misinformation, fake news, gatekeepers, and mass media. Dr Dean and Dr Ayesha Sherzai talk about how everything produced within online communication needs to truly be examined. In the podcast at the time stamp of 8:45 Dr Dean Ayesha states, “TikTok and social media is the greatest discovery of our time it's got 99.9999% garbage but 0000.1% gold coming from corners that people would never even guess. That means that somebody created a clear logical sequence that actually lifted consciousness. It’s that 0000.1% that’s critical. He then goes on to say that in the past in order for one of our forefathers or countrymen to come up with great philosophies or ideas they would need to be deeply educated on the topic and it would usually take them years to figure out certain ideas or come up with their own philosophies or thought processes. But today it is completely different. We post online useless information that truly has no depth or meaning to it. Now this isn’t always the case but a lot of the time it is. And we are building on each other's ideas and information leading to the spread and epidemic of false information. The speed of information that is processed to all humans is like lightning, it hits quickly and rapidly burns everywhere. He also talks about how humans have a really difficult time when it comes to figuring out what information is reliable and usable and what is not. Especially when it comes to online communication. In class, we read about this in chapter 30, “Agenda Setting Theory” by Julia Green.  She states, “Social networks—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.—are the main mechanisms by which people receive and share facts, ideas and opinions. But what if they encourage misinformation, rumors, and lies? In a comprehensive new study of Facebook that analyzed posts made between 2010 and 2014, a group of scholars found that people mainly shared information that confirmed their prejudices, paying little attention to facts and veracity.” Overall as you can see online communication can be very harmful and has left its trace on all of us. We pick up information because we agree with it or because it is on a social media platform that it must be true. But then again it does have its many benefits. The information that we consume daily usually is just easy to digest. This is because it is easy, potentially false, quick information, and not as in-depth as we should be looking. Quick, easy American way. Now let's look below to the video by TED talk. Blake Simpson takes us deeper into what misinformation and online communication impacts us all.

References:

Vitalsource Bookshelf Online. (n.d.). https://bookshelf-activate.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9781307876413/pageid/171

The link below is the podcast I am referencing! Give it a listen!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/67qBizGDtEFplkM3HW5zws?si=31630b300e41487e