Yesterday, we were introduced to a game called getbadnews.com where we have to pose as a fake news writer and acquire as many followers we can. Aside from it being enjoyable and challenging, it sure opened my eyes even more on how widespread fake news are.
The game started out as from a frustrated tweet to a large fake news blog with tons of followers who were blinded by the disinformation fed to them. This mirrored the harsh reality of today’s society. Fake news are easily created and those who aren’t careful enough tend to believe them easily. These news are usually created to attack someone or to make people be on one’s side. This situation is sadly evident in our country. As the “Social Media Capital of the World”, most of us spend lots of their time online, which is why disinformation is easily relayed to everyone. Since it’s much easier to lie on the internet with the help of certain tools such as photoshop, people are easily deceived. The game was able to show these disadvantages and allowed me to experience it first hand.
I realized that anything on the internet is a possible fraud or fake news and aims to create misconceptions and disinformation to either cover up the truth or get the support from the masses and that is why we, as media users, must remain vigilant. We should always fact check and find out whether the news or source is reliable or not. We must practice our objectivity and continue seeking and fighting for the truth and what is right.
Despite the seemingly nonstop production of these fake news, it is never too late to stand up and fight against it. The media is a wide and large place yet information can be easily relayed. We can start preventing it with ourselves, by avoiding making up or spreading fake news. We can help exterminate them by reporting it to the site it was posted. If a news seem shady we can always fact check and look for other sources that could verify it. No matter how hard and difficult it may look like right now but I believe that with our perseverance to fight for it, the truth will always win.
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