The number of people globally who initially access news through a website or app has dropped by 10 points since 2018, and younger groups prefer to access news through social media, search or mobile aggregators, according to a report released on Tuesday.
How many people who are horrified by this get their news through reddit or Twitter? Getting news via social media isn’t weird.
How many tiktok users cite their sources?
How many people actually click on the cited sources on reddit and Twitter?
If I said over a million users on each platform, what would you do to prove me wrong?
I’d request you cite your sources. I might even click on them.
That still wouldn’t prove me wrong, there could be users the sources don’t cover.
The burden of proof nevertheless lies with you.
So I can claim that over a million people on both platforms run their due diligence and actually click on cited sources, disregard your demand for proof, and you still won’t have done anything to prove me wrong? Do I have that correct?
Exactly. The issue with TikTok isn’t that it’s somehow inherently less trustworthy, it’s that it’s so aggressively algorithmic. I use it (mostly because my SO sends me comedy and pet videos), and my algorithm reflects my interests and my tolerance for bullshit, which is little to none. The misinformation on TikTok is fed to people with an appetite for it. That’s dangerous, yes, but these people already had horrible media literacy, and TikTok is a platform that allows creators to prey on that, even if the algorithm is “neutral.”
This is why there is a legitimate concern about state control of the algorithms. They can choose to amplify stories that serve their propaganda goals, and silence stories that do not - all while making it look organic.
I think it’s okay to get some news from social media, but mostly it isn’t good. No one should be getting all of their news from social media. So often the news shared is sourced from complete dogshit propaganda and view farming rags. If you’re in the US at least, you should be getting most of your news from the associated press. If you really need to watch the news, rather than read it then your only halfway decent options are nightly news broadcasts. If you need to listen to news, NPR is the only halfway decent source that comes to mind.