# Wiki Tutorial

## Reflection on *Agnotology and Epistemological Fragmentation* by Danah Boyd

#### Written by Julia Cabezas
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The text [*Agnotology and Epistemological Fragmentation*](https://medium.com/datasociety-points/agnotology-and-epistemological-fragmentation-56aa3c509c6b) explores the complex topic of the spread of knowledge and the lack thereof in digital media and platforms. This transcribed speech focuses on the term **agnotology**, known as the “undoing of knowledge” or “spread of ignorance.”

Throughout history, there has been a continuous pattern of agnotology present. From dictators censoring all media but their own to political parties using news channels as their exclusive ideology outlets, the spread of ignorance is present. History always repeats itself, and today, the problem of agnotology is more present than ever, thanks to digital media.

Platforms like Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and news channels make it easy for uneducated, ordinary people to spread conspiracies, inaccurate data, and false ideas to the masses. The endless amounts of content available to one person in just a few hours have created a problem of oversaturation in the media. People receive so much information and hear from so many different points of view they don’t know what to believe. In addition, algorithms don’t help the cause, as they tend to show us only one of the sides in arguments (and it is usually not the one that contradicts our views.)


Agnotology thrives in this situation, as it lives on through people who use the digital web to “seed doubt to fragment society.” (Boyd) When doubtful media becomes **mainstream** and is easier to access than trustworthy academic research and journals, people start to believe the first thing they see and base their arguments on pieces of fictive information.

I found that Boyd’s explanation of how terrorists manipulate and take advantage of digital media serves as a warning and call to action to cease the “information war.” Organizations like the Digital Public Library of America must contribute to a solution and get their trustworthy data, documents, and content into the same platforms as those who spread ignorance. Acquiring higher visibility than doubtful media and going “mainstream” can help stop the problems of misinformation, conspiracies, confusion, and agnotology.