Life Online, Cultures, Community and Performance

Critical Annotated Bibliography
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Critical Annotated Bibliography
Research Question
How are social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, promoting the spread of misinformation and fake news in the post-truth world?
Annotated Bibliography
Berghel, H. (2017). Lies, Damn Lies, and Fake News. Computer, 50(2), 80-85. doi: 10.1109/mc.2017.56
This article investigates the role of social media in sharing and promoting misinformation, fake news, and post-truths. The author captures how social media sites, especially Facebook, have been used to propagate fake news without taking responsibility for the content posted. The author brands fake news as “unworthy, unreliable, and tribalist” that should not be endorsed by social media sites (Berghel, 2017, p.82). The article gives various examples of popular fake news that have been used on Facebook to promote political mileage, specifically for President Trump. Despite the lies and misinformation spread by social media platforms, online propaganda has always served to influence people as well as to discredit opponents.
The article posits that the subject of fake news and post-truths is critical since it has been used to promote various agendas, some of which are dangerous. For instance, apart from political propaganda, the notes that social media has been used to spread adverse issues such as white supremacy, racism, homophobia, and antisemitism (Berghel, 2017, p.81). Some of the common ways that social media users to spread fake news include using pseudonyms and anonymity to hide their sources. Without providing sources and hiding in secrecy, users can create information with repugnant and offensive content. The author also notes how those propagating fake news are hiding behind the First Amendment by failing to disclose or verify their sources, thus failing to become accountable for sharing their unverifiable content. The article challenges Facebook’s claims of free press given the enormous amounts of fake news spread without first checking for authenticity and correctness of the news written.
Corner, J. (2017). Fake news, post-truth and media–political change. Media, Culture & Society, 39(7), 1100-1107. doi: 10.1177/0163443717726743
This article analyzes the works of three journalist-researchers who explore the difficulties that media researchers experience in regards to media-political situations filled with post-truth and fake news. With the influence of social media, the author claims that politicians have adopted a new wave of spreading falsehoods to reach their supporters. The article points to the influence of social media, where millions of political supporters easily believe the fake news. The article also explores how politicians have adopted social media, including Facebook and YouTube, to promote propaganda and woo as many supporters as possible. The author also illuminates the growth of conspiracy theories that have been used to spread misinformation using social media and as a powerful political propaganda tool.
Corner explores the challenges that journalists face in the course of their work due to increased proliferation of fake news in the poli...