Why Your Newsfeed SUCKS - Smarter Every Day 212

Great video. BUT, could it be that a significant part of the problem MIGHT be that since MediaWise is part of Google, and since Google is a part of the Google/Facebook/Amazon behemoth, and since THEY are now considered by many to be highly biased themselves -- well, you see where I'm going. At Facebook, for example, you have instances of people of the "non-politically correct" bent being ostracized, fired, etc. True, or not true. I DON'T KNOW but I do hesitate to make these "techno-gods", and their offspring (like MediaWise???????) my guides. It's tough.....

Grant Jonsson

Bless you for looking into this and posting your thoughts and conversation. This is incredibly important and too few people think critically about what they see across media.

Eric Kennedy

I learned the hard way that pretty much anything I read online is at least part BS. The only thing I have forwarded or repeated in the last year has been from Smarter Every Day...especially this one specifically. I have all but quit reading and most definitely quit reposting anything on FarceBook an, don't Tweet at all. Kudos to you for posting this gem.

KC

Great video by the way. I have noticed since the video that using the reverse google image search is very limited. I've tried using known photos that are posted on public sites a few times and they come back with "no files of this size image" and just analyze the content of the photo and suggest searches for that topic. The reverse image search just tends to be very limited until the tech gets better.

Hi Destin, I just saw this on Youtube and thought I reach out to you about a great book that talks about this exact problem. Its call "Trust Me I am Lying" very interesting read and talks about the creation side of this issue and how it has quite negative impacts on both sides, for the reader and the creator. And as far as the creator goes he is legit, but I am sure you will check that out yourself. ;) <a href="https://www.audible.com.au/pd/Trust-Me-Im-Lying-Audiobook/B00FOW7ABQ" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.audible.com.au/pd/Trust-Me-Im-Lying-Audiobook/B00FOW7ABQ</a>

Good video as always. A related thing that I've noticed with increasing frequency over the last several years is spelling errors. Obvious grammar errors are another one (e.g. missing words, extra words, its vs it's etc...). I've come to use this as a bit of a litmus test for credibility. CNN, Foxnews, MSNBC, and CNBC, basically all the 24hr news networks, consistently have these sorts of really obvious errors in their online stories. The fact that someone fat fingered something isn't what's troubling though. What it implies is what’s troubling. It implies a lack of proofreading, editing, and likely fact checking of the information they are putting out into the world. Said differently, it appears as though someone is writing stuff and hitting the publish button with little to no oversight. My observation is that the major newspaper’s websites are typically better (NY Times, Washington Post and so on). I assume it’s because they still have the vestiges of these disciplines and can afford to take a bit more time to be careful. Of course a spelling error doesn’t necessarily invalidate a news story, and for that matter it doesn’t mean a well written one is true. It does however give some insight into what is going on behind the scenes and how deliberate they are in the way they deliver the news. I would estimate that 50% of the stuff I read from these networks has these sort of obvious errors in them. (I will now be bombarded with all the spelling and grammar errors I made above :-) )

Rich Murphy

I know you collaborated with MediaWise on this video, but I can't help but wonder why you didn't plug the CrashCourse series on Navigating Digital Media (which they're also involved in). Still, great video!

James A. Thornton

The lateral reading is a REALLY good point - Smartphones exacerbate the issue as well - because in our lives today, things are displayed to block-out or hide other things (whether related or not, supporting, or contradictory). In the case of smart phones, you Literally cannot display other things on the screen, so we are less likely to continue on to research the first story because "Oh! There's another one, and another..."

Cousin Vinnie

Thanks for that very informative video!

Sina Farhat

PS: the scripture is important and appreciated.

Thank you. The work you’re doing is Valuable.

Yea. When I was teaching I constantly had to use reverse image search. I caught multiple students taking other people’s work. Removing signatures. Manipulating color balance and calling it their own. It’s an amazing tool!

Mark Tea

Destin, I love that you care and are invested in quality information. Thank you for this and the loads of content you carefully research and self check in the moment as you present whether live or taped. I appreciate your measured filter.

Good video!

I think people also tend to have confirmation bias and they want to believe content that confirms their belief structure. I guess slowly down and confirming sources allows you to get more into the moment and get into reality. I think that's part of the reason why American politics especially has become so polarised lately.

Destin, I’m a high school US History teacher and was actually planning to do a lesson on sources of information very soon (and we are almost to Watergate). Do you have any other maybe true/maybe false images/links/stories that you found in your research that you would suggest? I was hoping to give my students a list of a handful of items and have them research if they’re true or false. (Also, great video!!)

I think it's important to remember that everyone makes mistakes from time to time. Even good journalists can have some bad posts hiding in their blog. A while ago when I was aggressively cleaning up my news feed I made the mistake of blocking someone with plenty good posts over a single incorrect one, rather than asking what was going on. After a while, my news feed came close to being empty.

Wow. The comments on YouTube have really gone off the rails...

Jeff Dzado

Crash Course by Complexly has a whole series on navigating digital information -- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4aNmdL3Hr0&amp;list=PL8dPuuaLjXtN07XYqqWSKpPrtNDiCHTzU" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4aNmdL3Hr0&amp;list=PL8dPuuaLjXtN07XYqqWSKpPrtNDiCHTzU</a>

SciJoy