Online, it's never been harder to differentiate experts from uninformed influencers. Keep this in mind before you take online information at face value
Of course, this credibility crisis on social media isn’t just influencers spouting uninformed opinions. "Recent studies have shown that a significant portion of social media content consumed by young people in Western democracies originates from accounts influenced or controlled by foreign adversaries such as Iran, Russia, and China. These entities use social media to stoke division and spread misinformation among their rivals, often while posing as genuine, informed sources.
Let this fact be a stark reminder that much of what you see online today, however credible it appears, may be curated to manipulate public sentiment. And remember that young people spend more time online than anyone and can quickly have their entire worldview shaped by these bad actors."
Indeed. Yet you forgot to mention Israel in reshaping the narrative of what has transpired over the past year. And you also forgot to mention that some of the worst actors are home-grown like the Mercers, the Koch brothers and AIPAC. It's reductionist and trite to *only* point fingers overseas. We have plenty of manipulation right in the US itself.
Fortunately there are other sources of information that we have access to so as not to just accept "legitimate" sources that tow the line of special interests. So demonizing TikTok and others can also be a form of censorship...
Great information! But when I posted this article to my Facebook profile and it was removed. The reason: “it looks like you tried to get likes, follows, shares or video views in a misleading way.”
I have shared Friday Forward articles on my profile for years and have never had an issue until now. It’s under a second review now. It seems to me maybe that FB does not “like” the overall content of the article.
All these so called bad actors seem to reside on sites like X, Instagram, TikTok, and dating sites. When I retired I closed all my accounts except one personal account on Facebook, to keep in touch with friends mainly, NOT to get my news. People are being paid by the number of followers they keep--you bring up a good point that younger folk spend more time online, and their immature brains can't easily distinguish truth from lies.
For sure they reside on all social media platforms. It always baffles me why people get their news from Facebook…or X where basically the algorithms are there to stoke discord and where misinformation and outright disinformation is rife. Also in the case of TikTok.
But one thing that is interesting in the case of TikTok (and YouTube as well from a journalistic perspective) particularly as it relates to the atrocities Israel has committed in Gaza, the West Bank and now in Lebanon.
While they are summarily censored on mainstream US media both in terms of language and content (CNN for example runs its Israel coverage by the IDF for “accuracy” 🙄 and Facebook summarily deletes any criticism of Israel or pro-Palestinian references… it actually has a “policy chief for Israel and Israeli diaspora affairs” Jordana Cutler, a former IDF soldier and spokesperson for Netanyahu no less…). It’s nothing short of disgraceful and a brazen attempt to sanitize the news of IDF and Israeli government actions. If’a sisfd x
There TikTok has been of immense value. Over 2,500 videos have been uploaded by IDF soldiers documenting and celebrating their atrocities- with no filter whatsoever. This is not commentary- it’s documentation. None of that ever makes it onto our sanitized media in the US for the simple reason that it runs counter to Israel’s well-oiled PR machine.
So social media sometimes plays a critical role where media has blatantly been corrupted. I’m certain some won’t appreciate this comment but it is both factual and well-documented.
Of course, this credibility crisis on social media isn’t just influencers spouting uninformed opinions. "Recent studies have shown that a significant portion of social media content consumed by young people in Western democracies originates from accounts influenced or controlled by foreign adversaries such as Iran, Russia, and China. These entities use social media to stoke division and spread misinformation among their rivals, often while posing as genuine, informed sources.
Let this fact be a stark reminder that much of what you see online today, however credible it appears, may be curated to manipulate public sentiment. And remember that young people spend more time online than anyone and can quickly have their entire worldview shaped by these bad actors."
Indeed. Yet you forgot to mention Israel in reshaping the narrative of what has transpired over the past year. And you also forgot to mention that some of the worst actors are home-grown like the Mercers, the Koch brothers and AIPAC. It's reductionist and trite to *only* point fingers overseas. We have plenty of manipulation right in the US itself.
Fortunately there are other sources of information that we have access to so as not to just accept "legitimate" sources that tow the line of special interests. So demonizing TikTok and others can also be a form of censorship...
Great information! But when I posted this article to my Facebook profile and it was removed. The reason: “it looks like you tried to get likes, follows, shares or video views in a misleading way.”
I have shared Friday Forward articles on my profile for years and have never had an issue until now. It’s under a second review now. It seems to me maybe that FB does not “like” the overall content of the article.
That’s very strange, let me know what happens
The automated message said there would be a decision made after 2-3 days, but no response yet.
Excellent counsel that all need to take heed .
All these so called bad actors seem to reside on sites like X, Instagram, TikTok, and dating sites. When I retired I closed all my accounts except one personal account on Facebook, to keep in touch with friends mainly, NOT to get my news. People are being paid by the number of followers they keep--you bring up a good point that younger folk spend more time online, and their immature brains can't easily distinguish truth from lies.
For sure they reside on all social media platforms. It always baffles me why people get their news from Facebook…or X where basically the algorithms are there to stoke discord and where misinformation and outright disinformation is rife. Also in the case of TikTok.
But one thing that is interesting in the case of TikTok (and YouTube as well from a journalistic perspective) particularly as it relates to the atrocities Israel has committed in Gaza, the West Bank and now in Lebanon.
While they are summarily censored on mainstream US media both in terms of language and content (CNN for example runs its Israel coverage by the IDF for “accuracy” 🙄 and Facebook summarily deletes any criticism of Israel or pro-Palestinian references… it actually has a “policy chief for Israel and Israeli diaspora affairs” Jordana Cutler, a former IDF soldier and spokesperson for Netanyahu no less…). It’s nothing short of disgraceful and a brazen attempt to sanitize the news of IDF and Israeli government actions. If’a sisfd x
There TikTok has been of immense value. Over 2,500 videos have been uploaded by IDF soldiers documenting and celebrating their atrocities- with no filter whatsoever. This is not commentary- it’s documentation. None of that ever makes it onto our sanitized media in the US for the simple reason that it runs counter to Israel’s well-oiled PR machine.
So social media sometimes plays a critical role where media has blatantly been corrupted. I’m certain some won’t appreciate this comment but it is both factual and well-documented.