# Reading Responses (Set 1)

### September 28, 2021: Fake News

Most Generation Z students will be able to easily recall what they were taught when introduced to research via the internet. We were told to avoid Wikipedia like the plague and to fact check with multiple sources before claiming something as true. Today, social media algorithms and political groups infiltrate the web with more false information than ever before, making it even more difficult to block out fake news and media manipulation. [During the last three months of the 2016 presidential election](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook), it was discovered that the top performing fake news stories on Facebook generated more reactions than the top performing stories from major news (Silverman). Interestingly, most of the fake news sites were relatively new, but had gained attraction as the election date got closer. This may have been a strategic move to sway voters; due to recency bias, voters would remember the outrageous articles and vote in favor of whatever candidate was not being slandered.

[According to The Media Manipulation Casebook](https://mediamanipulation.org/methods), these fake news campaigns have a life cycle, one stage being a mitigation stage that works to disprove the misinformation and control the spread of the campaign. However, it is difficult to predict the amount of damage that will be done and/or the amount of believers that will even bother to learn that their belief has been debunked. When a recontextualized clip of Joe Biden was posted to networks by partisan operatives, [it was reposted by the RNC, the press secretary, and Donald Trump himself](https://mediamanipulation.org/case-studies/recontextualized-media-biden-voter-fraud-organization). Even when the clip was debunked by sites such as Reuters, USA Today and CNN, the clip continued to gain attention (Dreyfuss). It is frightening to think about how impactful social media sites such as Twitter can be when it comes to false information; just one click of a button and essentially anything is reposted to your millions of followers.

We must start rethinking how we teach media literacy to young people, and how to react when we come across fake news. In [“Did Media Literacy Backfire,”](https://points.datasociety.net/did-media-literacy-backfire-7418c084d88d#.d46kox6e1) Dana Boyd explores the issues with today’s media consumption: the amount of distrust and attention given to fake news (even from people who know it is fake). She says, “getting doubters to click on clickbait is far more profitable than getting believers because they’re far more likely to spread the content in an effort to dispel the content.” This statement made me rethink the Buzzfeed article. What percentage of the fake news Facebook shares were actually individuals trying to bright light to its inaccuracies?

Overall, social media -and our human desire to believe that we are constantly in the right- is making it increasingly difficult to filter out the BS that fills the web.

### October 1, 2021: The Science of Successful Learning
Picture this: the time on the corner of your laptop screen reads 3:45 AM. Your desk is scattered with papers with your textbook plopped wide open. You frantically run your eyes over the text, highlighting what looks important. After finishing the chapter, you flip the pages back and read it again. Most students can recall a time where they crammed for an exam the night before, and the insurmountable wave of stress it caused. And sure, perhaps it did gain you one or two more correct multiple-choice questions, but here's the real question: did you actually *learn*?

*Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning* explores the way in which we have been taught to learn, its flaws, and the steps we must take to overcome them. From pre-school to university, we have been taught that repetition is the key to learning. Despite the fact that repetition may help you remember something for a short span of time, the material will not stick; nothing will have been learned. This has been studied by a few university psychology departments such as the University of Toronto and Washington University. What repetition does give, however, is merely the "illusion of knowing."

Rather than putting emphasis on repetition, educators should be focusing on retrieval. Retrieval strengthens knowledge and therefore makes it easier to learn even more material. As the text says, "all new learning requires a foundation of prior knowledge (Brown)." For pilots like Matt Brown, it is crucial to routinely test knowledge through retrieval tests, especially since emergencies rarely happen.

In order to improve learning, there are several things one can do such as quizzing themself, using a peer review, or applying knowledge. Real learning should "change the brain."

### October 8, 2021: Cooperation
The tragedy of the commons is a concept taught in biology, environmental science, economics, psychology, and more. It works to explain what occurs when individual users are given access to an uncontrolled resource. In this scenario, the users end up using the resource to the best of their benefit and end up depleting it. *Super Cooperators* by Martin Nowak explores the ways in which we coordinate among each other through the Prisoner's Dilemma and game theory. Nowak showcases this with an example of climate change by telling the story of his hometown in a drought. Ultimately, exposing those who were using up water was the most effective way to get water usage under control. Perhaps utilizing the impact of reputation will help control people from taking advantage of a common resource. Through experiments in a two-person prison experiment, Nowak also explored the effect of punishment and rewards through the behavior of subject. As it turns out, punishers do not win. Essentially, "If players have the ability to deal directly with each other, then the problem of the public good can be solved (Nowak)."

We cooperate with each other in order to take advantage of what will benefit us the most. This often comes from what Nowak calls "repetition" and "Reputation." If the situation is a trade-off (tit for tat), we will cooperate. Additionally, if cooperation is repeated and expected, then it is more likely to happen.

Online, it is often difficult to cooperate. This is perpetuated by abundant amount of people on the web along with the fact that everyone is behind a screen. Dunbar's number of 150 gives the amount of people that one can maintain a cooperative relationship with. Joseph Reagle's *Gossip* puts this into perspective: it is roughly the size of an early farming community. Online, users are constantly speaking to strangers- individuals they will most likely speak to only once. There is no opportunity for effective communication and cooperation. Perhaps this is why communicative efforts online are often non-cooperative and efficient.

### October 15, 2021: Haters
Practically all internet users can recall a time when their social media enjoyment was interrupted by a troll. Perhaps it was a response to one of your own posts, or a comment on a post which you agreed with. Or perhaps (now this is something I often find myself in) you have become sucked into reading the argument of two strangers, while rooting for one of them and thinking "How is this guy so freaking dumb" for the other. The amount of bullying and harassment online is a massive flaw of the web, with serious consequences such as confidence issues, depression, and even suicide among teens.

Certain psychological aspects can explain why such actions occur online. It appears anonymity is what allows trolls to say things they would never dare to say in person. Phil Zimbardo's experiment in 1969 showed that hooded participants were more likely to shock participants than participants who wore nametags. Zimbardo believe that the hoods created a sense of deindividualization for the participants; they caused them to lose a sense of their self and social norms. This is comparable to how trolls will often use fake accounts- ones with fake profiles or even no profile at all: just a grey default image of a profile picture. By distancing themselves from their actions online, trolls and haters are more likely to say things that are unacceptable.

It also appears as though women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals are more likely to receive mass hate. In *Reading the Comments* by Joseph Reagle, Reagle explores different situations where women -especially in the tech industry- were harassed and threatened with misogynistic comments, to the point where they had to move for their safety.

Some social media platforms are trying to come up with ways to mitigate harms of trolling. Instagram has added features that warns users before they post harmful comments, in hope that the user will think twice before pressing send. They have also created algorithms that will suspend accounts that have been flagged for harassment. However, with a new email address, trolls can ultimately create as many accounts as they want. Moreover, if Instagram were to create strict rules that ban fake accounts (such as ID checks), the number of users would decrease. This would lead to less money for Instagram, something they obviously do not want.

It is hard to say whether the web will get to a point where trolls are silenced. Many people ultimately end up giving them attention, which further motivates them to troll. Additionally, enforcing restrictions could potentially decrease revenue for tech companies. Perhaps some social change could have some -even miniscule- effect on the number of trolls. If society continues to shift towards a gender-equal, non-racist norm, it is plausible that less individuals will find themselves needed to create fake accounts to express their hidden believes and rage. However, they will not disappear.

### October 19, 2021: Exam Review

#### Multiple Choice:

1. Which of the following are examples of effective learning methods?

a. retrieval practice
b. repetition
c. interleaved
d. a and c
e. a and b

2. An ideological frame that results from our searches online and website algorithms, and ultimately limits the viewpoints of the content we see is known as a:
a. reputation silo
b. filter bubble
c. Echo chamber
d. Hegemony

#### Short Answer
3. Online, individuals often say things they would never say in person. What could explain this behavior? What studies play a part in these theories?
4. Explain what Dunbar's number is and how it applies to the web.

#### Answers:
1. D
2. B
3. When someone is leaving comments online, they are able to have full anonymity through the use of a fake account. This anonymity allows them to detach their identity from the words they are saying, thereby making it easier to say things they would never say in person. This is also known as deindividualization. In Zimbardo's study, it was observed that participants who wore hooded outfits that covered their face were more likely to shock participants in comparison to the subjects that wore nurse outfits. Perhaps the hooded outfits provided them with the deindividualization needed for them to hurt someone.
4. Dunbar's number of 150 is the suggested limit of the amount of people that can have a stable, social relationship with. This applies to the web because it can explain why things go so awry when there is a disagreement. There are billions of people online, making it impossible to foster a relationship between individuals. This is why arguments are so common online. The more people join in, the harder it gets for any agreement or conclusion to be made.