{"id":162,"date":"2020-12-06T02:16:32","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T02:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box5267.temp.domains\/~artless4\/?p=162"},"modified":"2020-12-30T20:47:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T20:47:19","slug":"good-research-in-the-fake-news-minefield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artlesscalamity.com\/?p=162","title":{"rendered":"GOOD Research in the ‘Fake News’ Minefield"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"May you live in interesting times.\"<\/em>\n- ancient Chinese curse, supposedly<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
For generations of us growing up with the constant presence of digital communication technology, “interesting” doesn’t even begin to cover it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our near-limitless access to information is a boon that our ancestors could have never dreamed possible. And while this deluge of data has revolutionized how we share ideas, it has also created a “wild west” of uncertainty when it comes to online sources. Anyone can pretty much publish anything, and discerning good sources from bad can get tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Don’t get me wrong, the democratization of the digital age is overall a great <\/em>thing, but it resists the sort of gatekeeping<\/a> that might otherwise bolster the validity of content. In other words, no one’s filtering the info – the “bad” and the “good” float along the digital current with the same visibility. It becomes the user’s job to judge what’s true, and for writers and researchers, it adds a new layer to information gathering.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Digital Information Literacy: How do you know what you know?<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
“Literacy” basically means a competency in communication, and it is a transformative power for individuals and for societies. The ability to wield contemporary media can ignite revolutions and topple empires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"Gutenberg\"
Anonymous portrait of Gutenberg<\/a> dated 1440; quote taken from (Pearson 1871)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Take Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, for example – a huge technological leap for literacy, and one that religious contemporaries like Martin Luther<\/a> were smart enough to exploit. The Protestant Revolution in 16th century Europe was made possible by the printing press. It brought the written word to the masses, generated a common literacy, and disrupted centuries of religious authority. (Haile, 1976) Like the internet, it altered the nature of public knowledge and forever changed the dynamics of the control and access of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gutenberg’s press made Martin Luther one of the first “influencers” of western history. Luther recognized the power of a new media<\/em> modality to build his following – basically the PewDiePie or Kylie Jenner of his time. If the consumption of mass media brings knowledge, the creation of it brings powerful levels of influence. And if Spiderman comics<\/a> taught us anything, it’s that with great power comes great responsibility!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Literacy = liberated knowledge, decentralized influence, and empowered individuals. Pretty good stuff. And our concept of what literacy means is something that changes alongside society, culture, and technology. To utilize language and media in the age of smartphones and globalized networks thus requires new “literacies” as we leap ahead of Gutenberg in terms of mass communication. Our informational context<\/a> has exploded, and the requirements to navigate it have become increasingly complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where does that leave us? Increasingly, scholars are concerned about the learner’s and researcher’s ability to parse data in a way that serves professional and academic interests. Let’s be real, most people know that the internet cannot be readily trusted, however this understanding doesn’t automatically <\/em>translate to good research habits. Kevin Arms in the video here discusses a few examples of students failing to recognize “fake news.” Librarians like Arms are well-familiar with the importance of information literacy<\/a>, and have been at the forefront of this issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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