The Spreading of Information on the Internet

The Internet has changed the way writing and how information is spread on the internet. There are discourse bubbles that take place on over the Internet and in those bubbles are smaller more concentrated ones that fit within the context of the bubble that surrounds it. The Internet is a transient place; it's easy to go from one place to the other. You can jump from looking at clothes at your favorite retail online store to reading news articles on celebrities, politics, the economy and even the latest viral video. The problem is that there is so much of the same thing, but each source adds something different to the information they are spreading, whether that be in the format of an article, video, podcast or blogpost. They are also different in their delivery, style and their audience. Even the most high profile media sources are bias in some ways and that bias is going to attract an audience that has views that aligns with that media source. This is both a good and a bad thing.

It's important that this source is providing a different perspective on an event or issue, but what needs to be considered is whether they are engaging with the discourse from other sources and are their readers doing the same. A lot of the time disinformation is spread, and often very quickly, since on the Internet a lot of things are happening in real time. Think of the recent "beef" between Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift. Nicki Minaj was tweeting about racism in the music industry, particularly the racism black women musicians face. Taylor Swift decided to insert herself into the conversation by implying that Nicki Minaj was talking about her and therefore pitting women against each other. She didn't look at the broader context of Nicki Minaj's tweets; therefore, putting her own assumptions onto what Nicki Minaj was tweeting about. This led many media outlets to look at what Nicki Minaj was tweeting from the skewed perception of Taylor Swift, since she gave them the means to do so. It wasn't long before there were articles talking about how Nicki Minaj was "attacking" Taylor Swift; therefore, controlling the narrative and ideas behind Nicki Minaj's tweets. It Nicki Minaj to call out these news sources for their spreading of false information and redirect the conversation to what she was accurately referencing in her tweets.

Cases like the above happens to often and many times media sources on the Internet do not take responsibility for their actions, leading to people being painted in the ways Nicki Minaj was going to be painted: 'The Angry Black Woman'. Bias is something that is bound to happen, especially when it comes to written work, but there needs to be an acknowledgment of critical discourse engagement online.