As I wrap up the class that looked at children’s use of technology for school, reputation management, social media and politics, citizen journalism, the blurring of our online and in-person lives, the use of cell phones that have connected us to nearly any information at any time I go back to early on in the course and ask again, when will we reach information overload.
I was watching a few videos of the congressional hearings with the journalist that published the Twitter Files. I wondered how our elected officials don’t understand the First Amendment and why these government officials think that journalist have fewer rights than the CEOs or government leaders that go in front of a committee and answer questions with nothingness.
Misinformation and disinformation is big business because those that control the narrative control everything. We only have to look back in the history books about 90 years ago to see how this played out for Germany.
Social media is big business. TikTok is looking at bans from countries around the word. Belgium recently banned it from government phones. Belgium's ban was based on warnings from the state security service and its cybersecurity center, which said the app could harvest user data and tweak algorithms to manipulate its news feed and content.
TikTok is attempting to engage countries that are looking to ban it. TikTok said it is “disappointed at this suspension, which is based on basic misinformation about our company.” The company said it’s “readily available to meet with officials to address any concerns and set the record straight on misconceptions.”
If TikTok was owned by a U.S. company would the same issues arise. While we hear about issues with Facebook and Twitter they don’t last very long in the news cycle.
Regardless if today’s social media platforms continue their reign or new platforms are developed they will all continue to thrive on information and the ability to monetize it.
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