“Don’t Go Down the Rabbit Hole” by Charlie Warzel

Writing Prompt: Don’t Go Down the Rabbit Hole” by Charlie Warzel
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Writing Prompt: Is the Charlie Warzel’s Perspective on How We are Taught to Use Internet Sources Positive, Negative or Complex?
Michael Caulfield is a digital literacy expert at Washington State University Vancouver. He argues that the way we are taught to evaluate information online is out of step with the chaos of the internet. It is often counterproductive to engage directly with content from an unknown source, he says. Instead, Internet users need to learn that our attention is a scarce commodity to be spent wisely. Stop. Investigate the source. Track claims, quotes, and media to the original context, Mr. Caulfield's SIFT process involves stopping, investigating, and finding better coverage. A SIFT fact training can and should take just 30, 60, 90 seconds to evaluate a piece of content. It is designed for casual news consumers, not experts or those attempting to do deep research. The method has been picked up by dozens of universities across the country and in some Canadian high schools.
Christina Ladam teaches a media literacy unit at the University of Nevada, Reno. Students learn how to identify claims in Facebook or Instagram posts. The goal is not to make political judgments but to get students to think critically about sources. The goal of SIFT is not to be judgmental of the veracity of posts but to teach people to distinguish if something is worth one's time and attention. Because the method is less interested in political judgments, students across the political spectrum are more likely to embrace it.
SIFT is not a cure to misinformation. Poor media literacy is just a part of a broader problem. If powerful, influential people with the ability to command vast quantities of attention use that power to warp reality and platforms do not intervene, no mnemonic device can stop them.
As the internet has become a main of information for many, it is necessary to assess statements' truthfulness to prevent the spread of misleading information. However, because practically anybody can write and upload anything on the internet, the information is often incomplete, unclear, contradictory, biased, or incorrect. Furthermore, the sheer volume and speed of information creation make manual verification impractical. As a result, a decision support system's data quality is limited. In addition, the issue of data validity frequently arises when data from social media and other open sources is used. Therefore, a computerized method or tool capable of processing or assessing eno...