Article Assignment

     The first article was interesting as it showed me just how much false information is being spread around on social media. This is a big problem as false information does nothing but cause problems. False information is nothing new, it has been happening before the COVID-19 outbreak, but it has only gotten worse since then. This is a serious issue that needs to fixed fast. It is good that some social media platforms are trying to combat the spread of false information. Hiring third party groups to be fact checkers seems to be one of the better options in attempting to fact check articles, but I agree with the article when it said how the individual platforms are best suited for combating the spread of false information on their platforms. Nobody else quite knows the different social media platforms better than those who run the platforms, so they are the best ones to try and new features to combat the spread of false information. More social media platforms need to take action and create features that check the facts of articles and try to limit the spread of false information. I also agree that headlines are very important. Most people do just read the headlines and never read the article, and so they repeat the headline to others without knowing what it was about or if it was true or not. That is why it is very important to try to crack down and articles with crazy titles as those will gain attention very quickly, and spread fast regardless if they are truthful or not.

     The second article had a lot to say as well. Reader views are important when it comes to what they believe and what they don’t. If a news site is providing helpful facts that can help people, but nobody believes their “facts” to be true, then this is creating a problem. News sites need to find a way to get facts out to the people that they trust and believe. I agree with the article that simple, clear messages are very effective. The easier something is to remember, the more likely people are to remember it. Repetition is also very effective. Hearing something again, and again just increase the chances that it will stick with you. Visual are also super helpful, as they can catch the readers eye more easily than words. Visuals are useful because they can convey a lot of information in an easier and faster way than words can at times. And if an article is very long and has a visual with it, often people will skip reading the article and just look at the images with it. If the images are interesting enough, they can hook the reader into reading the rest of the article but not always, which is why the visual should say all of what you are trying to say in the article. I also agree that you have to expect that not everybody will like the solution being presented to solve the problem. With the COVID-19 epidemic, people are being advised to stay at home and social distance themselves from people to stop the spread of it. A lot of people do not like being alone all of the time though and find this hard.