HCRHS Media Lit

"For the past couple years, I've been complaining rather emphatically about the way digital technology has been used to desocialize us - how platforms like Facebook and YouTube turn us against one another by emphasizing our differences and encouraging us to behave like threatened reptiles. This is indeed lamentable, but in many ways, it's nothing new. Our media and technologies have been undermining our social bonds for centuries. So, what's different now? Is this digital alienation the same thing amplified, or is something else going on? Only when we understand how tech has been working all along can we begin to reckon with what's different about the digital landscape in which we're living."

"Alternative facts. Post-truth. Fake news. When the president of the United States declares media the "enemy of the American people," you know we're in for a moment of reckoning. In adapted excerpts from their forthcoming book, "Reimagining Journalism in a Post-Truth World: How Late-Night Comedians, Internet Trolls, and Savvy Reporters Are Transforming News," Ed Madison and Ben DeJarnette examine how journalism went wrong, and what it means for democracy."

"No trend has reshaped the media landscape more dramatically than the open web "

"Or how we sacrifice our privacy and receive nothing in return"

"These fast, fun and engaging activities provide teens and adults with the opportunity to test their skills and learn new authentication techniques. On the internet, it can be hard to tell what's true and what's false-but we have to make a lot of decisions based on how reliable we think things are. In Reality Check, you'll learn how to find clues like finding where a story originally came from and comparing it to other sources, as well as how to use tools like fact-checking sites and reverse image searches. In each mission, you'll be presented with a story on your social network feed that might be entirely true, entirely false, or somewhere in between. To find out, click on the different parts of the page where you see a magnifying glass. Once you've seen all the clues, you can decide how reliable you think it is and how to respond to it. Because fact-checking shouldn't be a chore, each scenario is designed to be played in 15 minutes or less. The game can be played in any internet browser on computers or mobile devices."

"Is the collective horror of the world's tragedies diminishing the weight of each individual crisis?"

"ast September, Apple proudly rolled out a Screen Time feature that was designed to help people manage how much they use their devices, and even get away from them altogether with a related Downtime setting. This was a canny marketing move from the maker of the most attractive and addictive screen ever invented. And it came against the backdrop of Apple's unusually public campaign against Facebook in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Screen Time's promotional materials prominently featured both Facebook and Instagram, as if suggesting these two apps in particular might be a waste of your time. Never mind that Facebook's very real privacy liabilities aren't connected to how often you use the product. Apple had an opportunity to position itself on the higher ground of the branding battlefield, and it took it."

"Social media is awash with glossy images of our friends having fun - but how does that impact our wallets?"

"Bails and Godwin are riding that wave of popularity to build their followings and cash in on an accessible kind of fame they dreamed about as children, influenced not by movies or television but by YouTube stars. Fame on TikTok is a full-time job. The money Bails makes from his TikTok videos pays for the apartment he'd just moved into a few days before in the artsy, up-and-coming neighborhood of North Hollywood. Bails and Godwin said a combination of sponsorships, YouTube revenue and donations from fans watching livestreams on TikTok have given them the financial independence to afford their Instagram-worthy lifestyle."

"Hospitals are leaning on the distracting power of immersive technology "

"How a group of teenagers pivoted from Vine to venture capital"

"Viewers of 'Scandal,' 'Madam Secretary' and 'The Good Wife' reported increased political interest and participation in rallies, circulation of petitions and/or calling of public officials, according to a new paper co-authored by a Purdue University political communications assistant professor."

"The floss is everywhere. Ted Danson did it. Mark Ingram did it. A 96-year old World War II veteran did it. And it's in Fortnite, where a wide range of emotes, or character actions, are sold by developer Epic Games. Fortnite characters can also dance using the "fresh" emote, which directly cribs from the "Carlton dance" Alfonso Ribeiro made famous on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, or "swipe it," a copy of 2 Milly's Milly Rock dance. None of the creators of these dances see a cent from the game's in-app purchases, which, in aggregate, reportedly led Epic to $1 billion in revenue midway through last year. So, naturally, the creators sued. And quickly hit a brick wall."

"A generation that rarely reads books or emails, breathes through social media, feels isolated and stressed but is crazy driven and wants to solve the world's problems (not just volunteer) is now on campus. Born from 1995 to 2012, its members are the most ethnically diverse generation in history, said Jean Twenge, psychology professor at San Diego State University. They began arriving at colleges a few years ago, and they are exerting their presence. They are driving shifts, subtle and not, in how colleges serve, guide and educate them, sending presidents and deans to Instagram and Twitter. They are forcing course makeovers, spurring increased investments in mental health - from more counselors and wellness messages to campaigns drawing students to nature (hug a tree, take a break to look at insects) - and pushing academics to be more hands-on and job-relevant."

"Tech platform trust and safety employees are charged with policing the impossible. They open up to Medium's head of trust and safety."

"John Lanchester on how Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four capture the age of Facebook and Trump"

"n the terrifying dystopia of 1984, Orwell writes of a world where everything from the past to the future can be rewritten in every form. "If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable - what then?" If your newspapers, television programs, websites, and books can be written and rewritten, who can ascertain the truth? Some of these questions are philosophical, not fully answerable by the greatest thinkers in history. However, they are not entirely without merit. Over the past few years we have seen the evolution of the "post-truth era" wherein people are not only content with being lied to, they expect it. Social media and the democratization of the Internet has played an integral role in the heralding of this new age. According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 68% of Americans check social media for news updates, with one-fifth of them stating they use platforms for this purpose regularly."

"One audience reviewer deemed the movie "a complete disaster." Another was "tired of all this SJW nonsense," using the abbreviation for "social justice warrior," a pejorative term for progressives. Yet another groused that Brie Larson, the movie's star, "says I shouldn't see the movie anyway." "Captain Marvel" had not even been released yet - its opening day was a month away - but that did not stop negative remarks from piling up against the film and Ms. Larson. Much as Facebook and Twitter have had to grapple with false stories aimed at inciting violence or disrupting elections, movie review aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb are often besieged by users trying to manipulate a film's box office success. Despite the trolls' concerted efforts, "Captain Marvel" slayed during its opening weekend, but not before Rotten Tomatoes, an influential site where a bad audience score can damage a film's prospects, made major changes to its rules. Most critically, it eliminated prerelease audience reviews. It also stopped displaying the percentage of moviegoers who say they "want to see" a film in favor of using the raw number of people. And it removed the "not interested" button. "

"Those who targeted the new superhero film were, in part, incited by comments made by its star, Brie Larson, who called it a "big feminist movie.""

"From turning pigs into organ donors to changing the color of flowers, the future of gene-editing tech is wacky and wonderful"