Social Media: Incompetent and Incorrect News
We are told that Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms are packed with lies, misinformation, and fake news. It becomes challenging to make sense of content based on facts and the truth compared to one’s opinion or personal agenda.
After reading the article: The People Stealing Arizona for Trump Just Made a Seriously Dangerous Mess by senior reporter David Gilbert at Vice news, my fear of the power of publishing grew.
This title and label immediately change how we consume news and media. We are living through a time of great concern as our nation has become divided instead of the unified country we have always tried to embody. Simply put, it is instead you are republican or democrat.
Gilbert’s clickbait article sets the tone with his political view before a reader even reads the first sentence by using imagery of a protest after the Trump v Biden election. “No stealing the election...we see you.”
Images hold a powerful effect on our society. Our generation spends hours scrolling and consuming content on our smartphones. The use of multimedia in Gilbert’s article emerges as a central theme: you cannot believe everything you see on the internet.
Gilbert claims that republicans have distorted views of how Trump lost the election by providing evidence of hyperlinks and multiple sources like Tweets, Youtube videos, and quotes to make his article logical. However, his proof is exceptionally biased, especially as several of his works cited are his articles…
Gilbert’s witty comments entwined with the misinformation from the Canvass reports. I found this ironic as something as serious as fake news has become normal and comical on social media platforms. I have always struggled to grasp why people, groups, and organizations chose to publish misinformation. For Vice, I believe their motivation is increasing views and revenue. Like many other sites and publications, Vice hires writers and journalists to write what their consumers want to read. Leftists want to read pieces that favor their political agenda to avoid feeling “wrong” or politically incorrect. The feeling of satisfaction is at the cost of living incompetent and oblivious to the cold hard facts.
Arizona audits claim that 173,000 votes were missing or lost, while almost 100,000 others came from “ghosts” or residents who didn’t appear to exist. Being able to deface this fact gives great satisfaction to the democratic party as Trump’s failure to be re-elected is not a fluke, and Biden’s term is as legitimate as the occupied houses in Arizona.
David claims to write about the “internet, disinformation, conspiracy theories, and how all of those things are increasingly influencing our everyday lives.” Yet, he is unwilling to find reliable sources other than his own to support his article. He can’t be independent and write about topics he feels are best or go against Vice’s grain. If the company has a political stance, all its content will be biased to fit the mold of this political stance. Gilbert is most definitely biased, but I believe he met his goal of debunking conspiracy theories and disinformation in the media.
Republicans continue to fight the truth of Biden being the president over Trump’s reelection in 2020. As a society, we are more comfortable accepting lies and narratives that fit our agenda than learning the truth behind these stories.