Wednesday, October 04, 2017
News, Information, And Knowledge
By: Donovan Baldwin
News is important. Information is important. Knowledge is important.
Most of us cannot "manufacture" knowledge, we have to arrive at it by keeping up with news and information. But, there are a lot of people on the internet who are manufacturing "news" and "information".
There are websites which specialize in publishing parodies of real news.
In other words, fake news.
There are websites where people can publish almost any story they like...even here.
Many of these websites are very professional looking, and some even mimic "real" news and information sites.
That's bad enough, but, compounding the problem are those people who don't check the validity of the story they are reading or sharing, or the reliability of the site...many of which state on their home page that they publish parodies of the news.
Believing what you see on these so-called "news" sites is the same as believing a Saturday Night Live comedy routine is news.
Another problem is, that once it's on the internet, true or false, the story assumes its own life, grows its own followers, and, is promoted and passed to friends on social media and through email, by others who either do not know it's false, or don't care.
Do the legwork, folks. Do your "due diligence".
Before you post or re-post, check to see it that "information" and "news" that you like or hate so much, is actually the truth.
Most of us cannot "manufacture" knowledge, we have to arrive at it by keeping up with news and information. But, there are a lot of people on the internet who are manufacturing "news" and "information".
There are websites which specialize in publishing parodies of real news.
In other words, fake news.
There are websites where people can publish almost any story they like...even here.
Many of these websites are very professional looking, and some even mimic "real" news and information sites.
That's bad enough, but, compounding the problem are those people who don't check the validity of the story they are reading or sharing, or the reliability of the site...many of which state on their home page that they publish parodies of the news.
Believing what you see on these so-called "news" sites is the same as believing a Saturday Night Live comedy routine is news.
Another problem is, that once it's on the internet, true or false, the story assumes its own life, grows its own followers, and, is promoted and passed to friends on social media and through email, by others who either do not know it's false, or don't care.
Do the legwork, folks. Do your "due diligence".
Before you post or re-post, check to see it that "information" and "news" that you like or hate so much, is actually the truth.
Labels: donovan baldwin, due diligence, fake news, information, knowledge, life lesson, news, social media sites
Monday, August 21, 2017
Some Messages never Get Old
By Donovan Baldwin
Some messages never get old, and, it doesn't matter when or how often they are repeated.
However, some "news" does get old. Sometimes we get caught up in the immediacy of the moment, and, feeling we've just received an important piece of news, post it, email it, tell friends at work about it.
Not always bad, as even old news can be instructive. But, old news, presented as new news can be confusing or just plain inflammatory.
It's even worse when it's fake news in the first place.
Odds are, if it's fake news it was put out originally intending to make somebody mad...either the "enemy" or the "followers". Sometimes it's published, or re-published, to substantiate, or add validity to, a point of view.
I often come across "news" that is two or three years old.
Fortunately, social media is getting better at monitoring and editing these things, and, many of the stories come from people who have just learned that somebody famous died...they just didn't notice it happened three years ago!
I know most of us do NOT want to propagate misinformation. We get these pieces of news on the Internet...often from someone we would normally trust...but, they got the "news" off the internet.
Paradoxically, the Internet is where the real information probably is...sometimes hidden, but usually there. Just takes a moment or two to verify before passing on.
Like most things in life today, we cannot solve all the problems, but, we can contribute a bit less to them.
Just some thoughts.
However, some "news" does get old. Sometimes we get caught up in the immediacy of the moment, and, feeling we've just received an important piece of news, post it, email it, tell friends at work about it.
Not always bad, as even old news can be instructive. But, old news, presented as new news can be confusing or just plain inflammatory.
It's even worse when it's fake news in the first place.
Odds are, if it's fake news it was put out originally intending to make somebody mad...either the "enemy" or the "followers". Sometimes it's published, or re-published, to substantiate, or add validity to, a point of view.
I often come across "news" that is two or three years old.
Fortunately, social media is getting better at monitoring and editing these things, and, many of the stories come from people who have just learned that somebody famous died...they just didn't notice it happened three years ago!
I know most of us do NOT want to propagate misinformation. We get these pieces of news on the Internet...often from someone we would normally trust...but, they got the "news" off the internet.
Paradoxically, the Internet is where the real information probably is...sometimes hidden, but usually there. Just takes a moment or two to verify before passing on.
Like most things in life today, we cannot solve all the problems, but, we can contribute a bit less to them.
Just some thoughts.
Labels: article by Donovan Baldwin, donovan baldwin, fake news, internet, old news
