Greetings, it’s a privilege to earn a few minutes of your eyes
and ears as I speak about the impact of fake news and its
relevancy with social media mainly Google and Facebook.
My name is Nigel Katsande and today we will be discerning
on how social media has become a haven for fake news,
propaganda and demagoguery.
Social media has revolutionized the way we communicate
and interact with each other. But with great power comes
great responsibility. Social media can influence the way we
think, feel, and act, often without us even realizing it.
According to the oxford dictionary “fake news” are those
news stories that are false: where the story itself is
fabricated, with no verifiable facts, sources or quotes.
You might further question me how important such an ‘un
intimidating slumber approach topic is for me to waste your
time when people can just use their common sense .‘Well all
I can say that some of can be really be convincing with
ignorance for example, ’’humans have 5 senses,’’ but in
actuality there are already 15 accepted senses and 22 to 33
distinct senses neurologists and scientists are currently
debating on. So if l made you feel perplexed, stupid and
doubtful please visit www.sensorytrust.org.uk or just go to
medic school.
One of the key characteristics of fake news is that it often
plays on people's emotions, using sensational language and
provocative imagery to grab attention and generate clicks.
Buffer.com states that Facebook and Google's algorithms
work by analyzing user data to determine what content they
are interested in.
This in simple terms means that if you frequently engage
with posts about a specific topic, the algorithm(which is the
googles or facebooks) will show you more of that type of
content, creating a feedback loop.
Just like the human senses topic which is actually an
outdated scientific fact by Aristotle of De mina in (384-322
BC)(which is really old)
This algorithm can bias people as they develop a tendency
to seek out information that confirms pre-existing beliefs
and ignore information that challenges them. Ignoring the
boring and useless information that might have been
relevant to potential fake news ,so if it is not dealt with
properly people will take it as a fact and answer to living
which is absolutely not.
According to eye witness news.co.za facebook posed a
threat to democracy and its constitution amid the pandemic
.This was in indeed the fact of the matter when fabricated
stories of legitimacy of the covid 19 vaccines where citizens
of south Africa avoided being vaccinated in fear of being
more vulnerable to corona virus.
But what was more baffling was how the senior politicians
and members of the judiciary of the country also
surprisingly expressed their doubts. Which would make fake
news the cause of escalated deaths of numerous people
which could been avoided.
It is also the further cause of only 61% of people in south
Africa trusting the media according to statista.com.
Personally l had such an encounter of these conspiracies on
different websites of google where by l almost believed the
government created such a virus that was convenient to
spread across the world through air and contact in an
attempt to thin out the population of the world alongside
certain hostile competition. I am truly grateful that it was
just an accidental creation of a disease.
Note that .
The sarcasm on this personal view is why this presentation
is so important. I cant erase that thought anymore than l
want all from some story l had this has now left me
confused and so will all.
Constantly having our biases confirmed can make us more
susceptible to fake news, propaganda, and demagoguery as
another example can be the Pizzagate conspiracy theory,
which claimed that a Washington D.C. pizzeria was involved
in a child sex trafficking ring through Facebook ,this led to a
man firing shots inside the restaurant.
One of the most needed skills in today's world is being able
to identify fake news on facebook and google. With the rise
of social media and the ease with which information can be
shared, it has become increasingly difficult to separate fact
from fiction.
How can we tackle this? Its all very simple, we need to read
news from many different perspectives other than just one.
There are numerous websites on google that provide news
all people need to do is search with powerful prompts. If a
certain key topic seems .Since there are numerous news
outlets on google and facebook ,best bet that many people
will comment on them, as an individual read through all
sources and research instead of basing relevance off of
social group because you trust them and feel as if they are
making sense.
The vaccine issue sorted it ‘self out, for me when l did
research and got to learn how the vaccine actually work.
Another way to battle such a cases is to follow up on news
daily with accredited news outlets, in an attempt to catch
loopholes on any day’s take on fake news. Finally, consider
using fact-checking websites such as Snopes or
FactCheck.org. These sites are dedicated to verifying
information and can help you determine whether a story is
whether a fake or a fact.
Demagoguery is a dangerous tool used by leaders to
manipulate people's emotions and beliefs for their own
gain.(from oxjournal.com)There are numerous examples of
demagogues who have risen to power by exploiting people's
vulnerabilities. For instance, Adolf Hitler used propaganda
to spread anti-Semitic ideas and blame Jews for Germany's
problems, while Joseph McCarthy used fear of communism
to justify his witch hunts in the United States.
Now the next question to ‘what is fake news ’ is more
of“Who is fake news.”
That person is you. Yes any one of us. When one gets wrong
information. What does he or she do. Ahh yes you panic and
proceed to sent to your friends and family. This is how its all
our fault. This is exactly how it was designed and created to
spread . The naivety people feel when they eventually figure
out the shared document irrelevancy should be learnt from
and should not be repeated. If we could all just stop and
follow the steps mentioned earlier to spot fake news, we
wouldn’t be having this conversion , right.
As someone who consumes news on a daily basis, I can't
deny that fake news has impacted my life. It's frustrating to
see sensational headlines and misleading stories being
shared on social media, and it often leaves me questioning
the validity of the information I come across.
In a closing note, the prevalence of fake news in our society
is a serious problem that can have harmful consequences. It
is important for all of us to be able to distinguish between
real and fake news by fact-checking information and using
credible sources.