“Friends, family, country men, lend me your screen
I come to warn of misinformation, not to allow it to spread
The evil that trolls do outlives them
And must be approached with integrity if we wish our feeds to be pure.”
Hopefully that caught your attention. Brutus was warning his Republic of the growing danger a Tyrannical Caesar, who would subjugate the Roman populus and urged his conspirators to take action. I ask you the same today, but not with a knife to the back, but by bearing responsibility for your actions on what you share online.
Our online communities have increasingly become a space for misinformation of the worse kinds; political influence from foreign nationals, and is riddled with misogyny and racism. Our social networks promote cyberbullying, aids in human trafficking and causes individuals to loose their livelihood overnight. The power of our social networks is unparalleled in human history. Its capacity for good is matched with its destructive capability.
One of the main contributors for the bad if the Grandmother problem. This phenomenon describes our willingness to share misinformation. This information permeates through close connections, transferring from node (an online user) to node, either normalizing inaccurate information (anti-vaccination movement) or causing chaos for certain groups (non-factual #MeToo movement allegations).
So from the Chaos, can Order be reestablished? The short answer is no. Social networking sights striking down trolls and groups that are not explicitly breaking laws cannot be governmentally or internally handled by these companies. Those policies strike directly against the First Amendment. So what can be done?
What I propose is much more difficult than supporting legizlation, protesting companies and/or arguing with trolls. I ask you to bear responsibilty for your own platforms, to see misinformation and be wise and courageous enough to hold from sharing until you are certain of its truthfulness.
I ask you to be thorough. Only put out into the world which you understand. This is essential to limit the spread of inaccurate information.
I ask you to be independent. You’re capability of a radical thinker is the greatest asset you have against misinformation. Go against the flow of social media when social media is wrong. This will help limit the spread of misinformation to your loved ones.
I ask you to be aware. Be aware of malicious movements and why these people act in the way they do. Know who you can have a civil discourse with and those whose agenda is detrimental to our social platforms.
I ask you to bear your own responsibility. If not to protect yourself, then to protect those close to you. Misinformation is a very tangible problem our society faces. These malicious forces will not subside, and our institutions are not the proper venue to address this problem. The individual must solve this for themselves, and the more individuals who build their platform strong, the stronger the network will become.
For more advice on how to act with integrity online, visit Mediactive, by Dan Gillmor.
