Is 'Social Media an asset or an
intrusive addiction? Is the ability to instantly access this stream
of unfiltered information an asset or simply spreading
misinformation? As someone who could be said to be addicted to the
internet but is not 'on' any 'social media' I have mixed feelings
about whether having the world in your hand is a good thing or a path
to misinformation.
With well over 90% of adult Canadians
using the internet regularly in one form or another and about 80% of
those 'on' Facebook or some similar platform it can be seen how
quickly 'news' (good, bad, or simply wrong) can be spread.
Twitter trolls linked to suspected foreign influence campaigns stoked controversy over pipelines and immigration in Canada, according to a CBC/Radio-Canada analysis of 9.6 million tweets from accounts since deleted. Roughly 21,600 tweets from those troll accounts directly targeted Canadians — many of them with messages critical of Canadian pipeline projects and tweets that highlighted divisions over Canada's policies on immigration and refugees......
"While
social media and digital platforms create forums that allow Canadians
to engage in a dialogue about important issues, they also have a
record of being manipulated to spread disinformation, create
confusion and exploit existing societal tensions," said Amy
Butcher, a spokesperson for Minister of Democratic Institutions
Karina Gould. "We expect [social media] companies to take
concrete actions to combat manipulation."
And yet so many folks think everything
they read there is gospel but as we have now found out there are
those out there both foreign and domestic that would try to subvert
our very democracy by spreading false information via these
platforms. Even our own government is jumping on the bandwagon but
how much of that content is unbiased 'information' and how much is
self promoting spin is debatable.
Social
media websites like Facebook and Twitter now
take in the lion's share of federal advertising dollars, thanks to an
ongoing increase in the use of digital advertising by government
departments and agencies, new figures show. Of the $39.2 million
spent on government advertisements last year, federal departments
spent almost $18.2 million on digital ads — roughly 46 per cent of
the total budget, which doesn't include production costs.
And, for the first time ever, social media ads made
up the biggest slice of digital spending — 43 per cent, or roughly
$7.8 million.
Make no mistake even this 'over 70 old
fart' who is one of the very few NOT on social media but who is very
much aware of its power is not advocating for ditching your cell
phone but think that perhaps some of those platforms should come with
the same sort of warning that comes with some other equipment “Danger
extended use of Social media can set unrealistic expectations and
create feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem”! . Finally there
is little doubt that the outcome of our upcoming Federal election
will be greatly influenced by 'millennials' who in turn will be
greatly influenced by what they read on their smart phones, let us
hope they are smart enough to not believe everything they read.
Millennials
are also digital natives.
We (they) grew up with technology and have made it a central part of
our lives. To the 94% of millennials who own a smart phone, that
device is our most trusted assistant. It’s our bank, our travel
agent, our newspaper, our telephone, our music player, and our
weather person. That device lets us watch the video content we crave,
order food, and get us from one place to the next (by using the Uber
app in many cities).
And to the 85% of Canadian Millennials who check Facebook at least once a day, social media is how we stay connected, find out what’s happening in the world, and increasingly the way we learn about and connect with brands.
And to the 85% of Canadian Millennials who check Facebook at least once a day, social media is how we stay connected, find out what’s happening in the world, and increasingly the way we learn about and connect with brands.
The question is whether
its the information age or the disinformation age?
Update
A
British MP committee has just released a report that mirrors my
concerns regarding Social media and Facebook in particular..
"Democracy
is at risk from the malicious and relentless targeting of citizens
with disinformation and personalised 'dark adverts' from
unidentifiable sources, delivered through the major social media
platforms we use every day," concluded the report.
"The
big tech companies are failing in the duty of care they owe to their
users to act against harmful content, and to respect their data
privacy rights."
