# Filtering and Fake News
##### Fri 09/30/2022

### Filter your email

### Reading Response

How can I be chosen in a sea of interesting, attractive others? Such is the dilemma surrounding our **Big Data** era, where all we have is information but not enough time or patience to selectively pick through the mountains of data. Because of this, digital websites today are focused more on gaining attention from the public, rather than to inform. This shift is caused by the large reach and relevance of the internet to people around the world. The article ["Understanding Information Disorder"](https://firstdraftnews.org/long-form-article/understanding-information-disorder/) outlines the ways the intentions of new media sources today have changed. Now that people can be connected through one source, there are real world incentives that come with *being chosen*, such as money or power. Much of the issues that arise from "fake news," such as rumors, manipulated videos, and "dark ads" are the different ways people seek attention and relevance. Problematic methods are more effective in reaching the audience than genuine content because people are innately attracted to interesting, extreme content, which is uncommon in real life. Wardle's ideas on Satire and [The Onion](https://www.theonion.com) are connected to our discussions in class when we agreed that American satire without context may cause non-Americans to perceive satire as fact. Even today on The Onion, the main article is a political satire.


Specifically, Wardle's example of the impact of Satire on Emmanuel Macron, when "videos went viral, and a worker in another factory challenged Macron to shake his 'dirty, working class hands,'" is especially effective because she shows the negative impact from poor delivery of satire in a political context. While the satire was originally a lighthearted joke about Macron, the consequence was a political disconnect between Macron and working class groups. Often, an extreme association between two elements makes it difficult to forget or separate those groups, even if the information is later disproved. It puts more emphasis that rather than the satire itself, the perception of satire leads to negative consequences.

In the article, ["How Filter Bubbles Distort Reality: Everything You Need To Know,"](https://fs.blog/filter-bubbles/) the author's discussion of *Filter Bubbles* was insightful in the sense that it connected well with Wardle's idea of forming different realities from the internet. Her expression of the computer monitor as a "one way mirror" was a clear description of the idea that you are given information that was chosen from data generated from your internet activity. *Filter Bubbles* and its ability to influence an individual's perception of the world also relates directly to the American identity expressed by Dana Boyd, in ["Did Media Literacy Backfire?."](https://points.datasociety.net/did-media-literacy-backfire-7418c084d88d#.d46kox6e1) Individuals who "are their own master" and learn to "distrust media sources" are at risk of falling into confirmation bias, where they accept information that agrees with their ideas, rather than seeking to find fact. While better "crap detection skills" from everyone in the country can lead to a better informed community, I agree with the *Filter Bubble* notion that people will choose to trust information that is familiar and available to them. This is because a person's confirmation bias also acts unconsciously. Ultimately, everyone will have a filter bubble where they will all be informed with different variations of information. From this filter bubble, they will interact with others with similar filter bubbles. The expression of "your truth" or "my truth" that is used commonly today is a direct reflection of this divided reality. While everyone exists in the same world, they are also drastically influenced by a secondary world they choose to consume.