Democratization of Information: A major wave
TODAY OUR CHALLENGE IS NOT HOW TO CONSUME INFORMATION BUT WHAT INFORMATION TO CONSUME. As of January 2022, we have more than 10 billion social media accounts each acting as a sources of information, Facebook 2.9, YouTube 2.6, Instagram 1.5, WhatsApp 2.0, TikTok 1.0 and more (Statista, 2022). Not to mention millions of independent websites and other social medias with smaller user counts.
The wave of democratization of information that started with the popularity of social media and internet access is poised to dominate the way we receive information today. In fact, today majority of people, especially people with easy access to internet, consumes the news casually from their social media on their phones more than from the news stations on TVs. The shift from central news medias to social media has certainly made consumption of information easier and cheaper. In fact, it has given each individual power to act as independent news source. However, this shift is not free from negative aspects.
Increased information doesn’t practically make people more conscience. Yes, it definitely gives people more option to get information from but it is still on us to filter and consume information. It is like you go to ocean to drink water. You see water everywhere but whether is are drinkable? you need to decide yourself.
when each individuals holds power to act as a news source, it divides the responsibility of publishing news among larger number of population each not responsible for reliability and truthfulness of the news. In the past, when there was a fake new written on The Washington Post, they could be held accountable for the impact of the news. Today, if you receive a news from a social media account belonging to someone in Middle East, you can’t hold him/her responsible for the fake news.
the pace of information dissipation is significantly low.
and many more…
