**Assignments**

**Assignment 1**: Wiki Tutorial

"[Agnotology and Epistemological Fragmentation"](https://points.datasociety.net/agnotology-and-epistemological-fragmentation-56aa3c509c6b)

**Introduction
****
In the article, Danah Boyd introduces many terms I wasn't familiar with before, including agnotology and Epistemological. I was never aware of these words, but my initial thought was how the internet provides people with information that is false and inaccurate. Because of this the internet can be a dangerous place for users who are very trusting of sources that are not trustworthy at all.


I included this image because I thought it was a perfect representation of what the term agnotology is. The image is split into two colors blue and red with the penguins turned in opposite directions. To me it's showing uncertainty and misleading information that one may not know.

Overall, I liked the way she showed us how these terms work and how various people are using data voids. A good point made in the article was that the internet is a place that many people fall in deep because it knows how to target its audience. To connect this with the article she discusses how credibility is never enough but to "understand the networked nature of the information war we’re in." For these specific reason we must be careful with what we let in.

**Assignment 2**: Crap Detection

Distinguishing real from fake can sometimes be hard. Everywhere we look we see "fake" and "false" claims on the internet. Most sites target its users by falsely advertising inaccurate information for the gains of views and clicks. All of which makes it difficult for readers to have some "sort of truthiness" when they're browsing the internet (Valenza)

According to Valenza fake news comes in all forms including, "hoax sites with the intention to trick readers/viewers, satirical sites that present news with a comical, often exaggerated spin and born digital images and edited images alter and often misrepresent visual reality." All this means is that readers and viewers are more prone to falling in the trap of these sites because everything seems to be legit and factual. Ultimately this conquers the mind of readers, which leads to viewers not being careful with what they're indulging. Also, I would like to conclude that many people fall for fake news because of a human feature called "cognitive biases" which simply means "detours or shortcuts in reasoning, remembering, or evaluating something that can lead to mistaken conclusions." Everyone has this and it makes falling for fake information easy.([https://www.cits.ucsb.edu/fake-news/why-we-fall])

Although it seems impossible to discern real from fake, there are steps you can take to evaluate resources, so you won't get tricked. For instance it is important to analyze a author's name to acknowledge their credentials, know the purpose of source (why was it created?), where it was published...etc. (Berkley Library). Following these steps is crucial in saving you time from fake online resources.

**Google Search**
What would you query to see how many pages on the English Wikipedia site contain the exact phrase “Northeastern University”? How many results did you get?

[Site:wikipedia.org "Northeastern university"](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Site%3Awikipedia.org+%22Northeastern+university%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8)
About 389,000 results

What would you query to see web pages about the skate fish without mention of the phrase “ice rink”?

[skate fish -"ice rink"](https://www.google.com/search?q=skate+fish+-%22ice+rink%22&client=safari&rls=en&ei=z3DNY8qlEsTYptQP49CxyA0&ved=0ahUKEwiKydy02Nv8AhVErIkEHWNoDNkQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=skate+fish+-%22ice+rink%22&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzoNCAAQRxDWBBDJAxCwAzoKCAAQRxDWBBCwAzoICAAQkgMQsANKBAhBGABKBAhGGABQ0A1Y0A1gwxRoAnABeACAATqIATqSAQExmAEAoAEByAEHwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp)

What would you query to see web pages about the Northeastern Huskies from the first day of 2001 through the last day of 2002?

[Northeastern Huskies](https://www.google.com/search?q=northeastern+huskies&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnt&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1%2F1%2F2001%2Ccd_max%3A12%2F31%2F2002&tbm=)

**Find me the top image of the exact phrase “penguin pair” with a “Creative Commons” usage right.**

**Web Credibility**
[Vice President Kamala Harris to visit Tallahassee for Roe v. Wade anniversary](https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/vice-president-kamala-harris-to-speak-at-pro-abortion-rally-in-tallahassee)

Authority: The author is a digital staff from WTXL news, which leaves us wondering who is the exact person that wrote this article, and if we don't know the author, we won't be able to see if they have written anything else. We have no clue what specific gender or political orientations they have.

Documentation: The WTXL digital staff stated that "The owner of The Moon, Scott Carswell confirmed that VP Harris will speak at their venue." However, they did not include any citations from where they got their information. We also don't know if this author is affiliated with Scott Carswell so without citation we can't rely on that claim.

**Wikpedia evaluation**
According to the policy of Wikipedia verifiability, these claims about Joseph Reagle are are not 100% verifiable. Claim (a) is true because there is a supportable link saying he worked at World Wide Web Consortium. However, Claim (b) is not true because there is no documented link that says his book was bestselling. For this reason, I would suggest removing the word best selling because there is no valid evidence stating his book "Good Faith Collaboration" became a best selling.
According to its history, the first page was created on November 2, 2015

**Assignment 3**: Filtering and Fake News

Do you ever wonder so many people receiving fake news? The three papers talk about media literacy as a concept and some of its potential downsides. The article "Did media literacy backfire?," Danah Boyd makes the case that promoting media literacy may have worsen polarization and strengthened "filter bubbles." An in-depth discussion of the idea of filter bubbles is provided in the Farnam Street article "How filter bubbles distort reality: Everything you need to know," which also explains how they are produced and how they affect people's perceptions of reality. Lastly, Claire Wardle's article "Understanding information disorder" examines the phenomena of "information disorder" and how it helps propagate false information.Each article highlights the need for media literacy and the capacity to critically evaluate information we encounter in the social media. Additionally, they also issue warnings about possible drawbacks, such as reinforcing preexisting attitudes and disseminating false information. They also emphasize the importance of addressing the fundamental social and technological causes that lead to spreading of false information rather than limiting media literacy training to merely educating people on how to identify fake news.

Media Knowledge education may have promoted polarization because people use its tools to support their preexisting opinions rather than critically assessing information. Farnam Street article makes the case that social media platform algorithms, which favor information that supports ones preexisting opinions, which lead to filter bubbles. According to Claire Wardle's "Understanding information disorder," information disorder includes "disinformation" and "misinformation" in addition to misinformation (real information shared with the intent to cause harm). It emphasizes how crucial it is to comprehend the wide variety of misinformation to resist it successfully.The necessity of making media literacy instruction more inclusive and available is another important topic raised in these publications. In “Did Social media literacy backfire," Boyd points out that marginalized communities have not had access to media literacy instruction, which has historically been geared toward the middle class. Similar to this, "Understanding Information Disorder" emphasizes how media literacy education needs to be more inclusive, considering how false information affects vulnerable people. The stories also cover how digital firms have exacerbated the dissemination of false information. Did media literacy backfire? As discussed, Boyd points out that while media literacy instruction can assist people in developing more critical thinking skills as information consumers, it is not a solution for the issue of disinformation. Instead, the author contends that we must address the underlying social and technological elements, such as the algorithms employed by internet corporations to favor particular kinds of content that contribute to the spread of disinformation.