Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend class this week so in my journal for this week I’d like to talk about how I feel technology and social media are affecting our society. I cannot say that I know a lot about politics or economics or foreign affairs so I apologize if I come across as misinformed, it’s because I am. I only know what I read in the news or on the Internet and that alone is what I base my judgments and opinions on, this itself is a problem all on it’s own. I understand that the media can be biased, the news can be biased, and anything on the Internet damn sure is biased but alas, that is how most people of my generation get their information now a days, which as we’ve seen can lead to many problems. Anybody can lie and say as they please on the internet, and exaggerate as they please and to me that’s fine you just have to have some skepticism with anything you read online and before jumping to conclusions, make sure the information is true first.
I feel as if because of current technology, and how our social lives are lived via the Internet now, the media can really have a huge impact. For example, look at Fox News reporting that in the case of the Mosque targeting in Quebec City the assailant was of “Moroccan decent” when in reality this was 100% just a rumor and they knew that the assailant was a white man who happened to be a Trump supporter and an internet troll, they even refused to take the tweet down and change their reporting until the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, called them and made them take it down. The fact that media companies can act like this is appalling to me. They will purposely lie and manipulate information with no regard to whom it impacts and that’s an issue. In these times of division uncertainty for many in the United States I think it’s important that people are getting their facts straight and not being misled, I think as a whole the people deserve that. In my opinion that has to start with the media who portrays the information in the first place, people may not see eye to eye on issues, especially in our current times, but that makes it all the more important that news outlets and those who provide information to the rest of the people are truthful and transparent with what they present.
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