how the web distorts reality

How the Web distorts reality

Image: Makia Minich via Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/threar/15467482926/in/photolist-

http://www.theglobeandmail.com.proxy.queensu.ca/life/relationships/digital-overload-how-we-are-seduced-by-distraction/article17725778/?page=all

Freedom of speech, the ability to misrepresent oneself, and social trends have created a falsified environment online which often distorts reality.

.

Image: Pixabay, CCO Public Domain

Public profiles and self presentation may not be entirely true reality.

Image: Chiara Calabrese via flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/chiaracalabrese/5828632980/in/photolist-9T4gw5-mNw5cA

Individuals prioritise information that is congruent with their current values, simply ignoring any discrepant information.[2]

The Guardian How…


results reveal During online searching results reveal a detailed but selective outdated profile for

an individual.

“Static, unrepresentative reminders of lives past, lacking the dynamic of reality”[6]


Stat from: Yale Univeristy,

Image: quiroso via flickr

.

Such that people are increasingly likely to overestimate their expertise.[8]

Image: Andrew via flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/laszlo-photo/4819213905/in/photolist-8kRJoV-ea8rK4-qLHPRb-8ornqt-7tWo58

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/01/how-the-internet-makes-you-think-youre-smarter-than-you-really-are/

The mere act of people using a search engine

makes people think they know

more about everything.

Your news feed is tailored to whom and what you routinely interact with[10]

With every

Image: Sarah Ross via Flickr

Creating a misconception about the realm of information truly available to users

Image: The U.S. National Archives via flickr

Additionally,

online current news information is causing a misconception in the eyes of readers’ by just brushing the skin of bigger issues.

“More is less when digesting deeper news articles, sadly the more news factoids you digest, the less of a big picture you will understand.”-Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Quote: Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, The Guardian 2015 Image: Nathan Andre

Not all viewpoints on a scientific topic share the same amount of scientific substance.

Most media coverage gives

equal time and weight to a

wide range of arguments

without regard to their

credibility creating a “false

balance” in the public

debate[7]

Image: Nathan Andre

Sat:

teens openly claim to be “seriously depressed or “painfully insecure” across social networking sites[4]

Teenage Health and Social Media

Source:

expectations and complex physiologic changes.

Such that,

Teenage years are some of the most difficult for families, friends and teenagers from often overwhelming


These posts cast dark shadows

on teenagers pages

However...

the true affects of depression are rarely considered or even spoken of in person[4]


of people have a major regret about something in their life; social regret looms the biggest[1]

Traditionally- stories, pictures, and memories are lost through time… however, the internet never truly seems to forget[11]


90%

the Web, stores much of what ourselves, and others have to say in a permanent public digital file[11]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/magazine/25privacy-t2.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Preventing oneself the

ability to control his

or her own identity, and the option of starting anew[6]

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/18/the-right-be-forgotten-google-search


Online Falsification

http://www.statisticbrain.com/resume-falsification-statistics/

“[The web]is a vast collection of completely uncontrolled heterogeneous documents”

As Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page described in their original Stanford research paper, the web is “a vast collection of completely uncontrolled heterogeneous documents

As Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page described in their original Stanford research paper, the web is “a vast collection of completely uncontrolled heterogeneous documents

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/18/the-right-be-forgotten-google-search

The First Amendment of the United States constitution prohibits the filtering of objectionable content and communications online.

Without any “quality control” an individual is free to express undefined, unreliable, and unconfirmed information with no credibility.

Image: Nathan Andre

http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html




The average Facebook user

changes their profile picture 18 times a year.

The ability to hide oneself behind a screen

while sharing information with little or no expertise allows for easy deceit.

Did anyone verify it was actually them?


Stat:” How Often Facebook Users Change Their Photo”, Nick O’neil 2011. http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/how-often-facebook-users-change-their-photo-infographic/348201

http://www.livescience.com/27239-online-comments-skew-science-perception.html

. [9]


Absence of Dislike

Buttons

Engineers of social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have completely eliminated the personal choice, such that the decision has already been formed to “like” or scroll aimlessly.[3]


But, this is not equivalent to expressing discontent.

http://www.sarahbeaucheminwriter.com/2014/08/6-ways-virtual-distorted-reality/


“There are now 12 billion devices connected to the internet- in a decade their will be 50 billion”- Dave Evans, Cisco Systems[2]


The internet is here to stay. People must see past the Web’s often misleading conceptions on reality and

keep on pace with it’s transgression into defining the 21st century. Image: Nathan Andre

Sources • Works Cited • [1]90 Percent Of People Say They Have A Major Regret. Here's How To Move Past It. (2014, July 6). Retrieved June 5, 2015, from The Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/26/regret-infographic_n_5529641.html • [2]Anderssen, E. (214, May 29). Digital overload: How we are seduced by distraction. Retrieved June 6, 2015, from The gloe and Mail:


• [3]Beauchemin, S. (2014, August 21). 6 ways the virtual has destroyed reality. Retrieved June 5, 2015, from Sarah Beauchemin: http://www.sarahbeaucheminwriter.com/2014/08/6-ways-virtual-distorted-reality/

• [4]Cameron, A. (2008, January 24). Ailsa Cameron: When teenagers lose touch with reality. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from The Independent UK: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/ailsa-cameron-when-teenagers-lose-touch-with-reality-773071.html

• [5]Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2014, May 13). How the web distorts reality and impairs our judgement skills. Retrieved June 6, 2015, from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/may/13/internet-confirmation-bias

• [6]Chaparro, J. P. (2015). How google determined our right to be forgotten. Retrieved June 11, 2015, from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/18/the-right-be-forgotten-google-search

• [7]heuvel, K. v. (2014, July 15). http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-the-distorting-reality-of-false-balance-in-the-media/2014/07/14/6def5706-0b81-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html. Retrieved June 1, 2015, from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/katrina-vanden-heuvel-the-distorting-reality-of-false-balance-in-the-media/2014/07/14/6def5706-0b81-11e4-b8e5-d0de80767fc2_story.html

• [8]Kaplan, S. (2015, 4 01). How the internet makes you think you're smarter than you really are. Retrieved June 3, 2015, from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/01/how-the-internet-makes-you-think-youre-smarter-than-you-really-are/

• [9]Lewis, T. (2013, February 19). Trolls' Online Comments Skew Perception of Science. Retrieved June 5, 2015, from Lifescience: http://www.livescience.com/27239-online-comments-skew-science-perception.html

• [10]Martin, A. (2015). The web's 'echo chamber' leaves us none the wiser. Retrieved June 2, 2015, from Wired: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/1/online-stubbornness

• [11]Rosen, J. (2010, July 16). The Web means the end of forgetting. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/magazine/25privacy-t2.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Images • 1,2,6- Flickr, CCO Commercial Use • 7,8-Flickr, CCO No known copyrights • 2,4,5,11,12,13,14,16,17,18,19-Pixabay, CCO Public Domain • 9,10,15, 20- Nathan Andre

how the web distorts reality

Social Media

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public debate7 image

cco public domain

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public profiles

dynamic of reality6