---
# System prepended metadata

title: Wiki Tutorial

---

# Wiki Tutorial

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

### What is Epistemology?

- A term that describes how we know what we know
- Epistemological fragmentation means that our souces of knowledge come from different places, which results in conflicts of understanding

### What is Agnotology?

- The strategic manufacturing of ignorance
- "A tool of oppression by the powerful"
- Can easily be done using modern technology and social media

### Examples of Agnotology at Work

1. [PragerU](https://www.youtube.com/c/prageruniversity/featured) - a conservative organization that is committed to debunking "leftist ideas"

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hiVQ8vrGA_8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br><br/>

2. This poster from *Russia Today* that intentionally plants seeds of doubt into the viewer's mind:
![image alt](https://miro.medium.com/max/825/1*n1E8IGiwiOGqOBHdIVWV3Q.jpeg)

### The Problem

- Misinformation and conspiracies are easier to access than scientific material
- The scientific information that is available is undermined
- Media manipulators are very good at messing with structure, such as optimizing search engines

### My Personal Take

I think that social media algorithms largely aid in the spread of misinformation. With the way social media platforms are structured, most people only see what they want to see. This means that each person's feed will be full of people who agree with them, even when they are wrong. This issue has been a hot topic in the news recently with Facebook being accused of being partially responsible for US Capitol insurrection.

