this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2025
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This entire comment and @[email protected]'s comments are so powerful.
I think people have two modes of getting information: digging into a newspaper article and trying to figure out what's going on and seeing a lurid headline in the tabloid rack. Most people do both ends of the spectrum and a lot of in-between. Modern technology lends itself to giving tabloid-like content while we're waiting in line for a minute. This is why Tiktok is concerned about being removed from the app store, even though it's easy to install the app yourself, easier than signing up for a newspaper delivery subscription was. But Tiktok isn't more like a lurid tabloid that most people would not go two steps out of their way to find, but they might read it waiting in a slow line. I'm hopeful that people will learn to manage the new technology and not keep being influenced by tabloid entertainment.
My GF is a student at the university of TikTok whereas I am very much about traditional media. It's interesting seeing where both succeed and both fail.
That said, you hit the nail on the head. A video on TikTok about some conspiracy bullshit is no different than seeing Bat Boy on the Weekly World News. The problem to me is not just the increased accessibility of this bullshit but the echo chamber around them that keep you engaged.
Trust but verify should be in everyone lexicon.