Introduction to Communication Science Class

 

Hi Everyone! It is me Sudiksha, welcome back to my blog! Today I learned about an issue in my Introduction to Communication Science Class which is very interesting as well as important,  it is called Infodemic. So what exactly is an infodemic? Now we are facing a pandemic which is the Corona-Virus or Covid-19. However, ever since this covid time there has also been a spread of information, like you don't even know what you are watching in the news if it is true or not, there are so many fake news and hoaxes that are spreading online. This is creating so much fear and panic among people. This is why we learned about media literacy which I will be sharing with you guys what I have learned below. 

7 Skills of Media Literacy (Potter, 2014): 

1. Analysis:  Breaking down a message into meaningful elements. 
2. Evaluation: Judging the value of the elements.
3. Grouping: Determining are alike/ different in some ways.
4. Induction: Inferring a pattern from a small scale to make generalisations.
5. Deduction: Using general principles to explain particulars.
6. Synthesis: Assembling elements to a new structure.
7. Abstracting: Creating a brief, clear, accurate description of the essence of the message. 

7 Types of  Mis-Dis-Mal Information

1. Satire/ Parody

2. Misleading Content

3.Imposter Content 

4.Fabricated Content 

5. Manipulated Content 

6.False Connection

7.False Context  

Definitions of Terms:

Satire is often a post of a joke, without any intention to harm or deceive.

Misleading information is usually made to frame an individual.

Imposter content is making use of genuine sources and often impersonated. 

Fabricated content is 100% false information to deceive people.

Manipulated content is genuine information that is altered with the intention to deceive.

False Connection: When headlines, captions or pictures do not support the content of the article.

False Context: Genuine content is spread with false contextual information.

Conclusion/Reflection: From this class I have learned that we should not simply believe everything we see in the internet. My teacher told me about this website, called Tineye, https://tineye.com/. You can upload a screenshot of whatever you see only to help you verify the information, other than this don't forget to cross check with other online sources too. Sometimes, the news can even spread false information especially if there is a motive behind the business or the government. I hope that you learned something from my post today and be careful with what you believe from the internet. Today was actually my last day of class and I have Christmas holidays. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Stay Safe and Healthy!