I remembered that back in 2012 during the Boston Marathon Bombing that there was a FUCK TON of misinformation going around everywhere. The Boston Globe reported that there was a bomb that went off in the hospital, and that all of Brigham and Women’s hospital was evacuated. And at the time, I was at my desk at Brigham and Women’s hospital.
Like… The Boston Globe is a highly, highly credible news source. And here I was, maybe 10 miles from their offices, putting out stories that I could prove false in real time on Facebook.
This isn’t to throw shade at the Boston Globe. They were certainly not the only culprit here. I just remember this distinctly…
I don’t know quite what my point is here. I guess that there’s always been a lot of it misinformation? Maybe the degree to which we’ve become interconnected through a generations worth of smartphone use has brought not only the disinformation to light, but the problems it creates?
It certainly feels worse today than it ever was, but as I look back on it I’m not so sure.
I had a weird recollection the other night.
I remembered that back in 2012 during the Boston Marathon Bombing that there was a FUCK TON of misinformation going around everywhere. The Boston Globe reported that there was a bomb that went off in the hospital, and that all of Brigham and Women’s hospital was evacuated. And at the time, I was at my desk at Brigham and Women’s hospital.
Like… The Boston Globe is a highly, highly credible news source. And here I was, maybe 10 miles from their offices, putting out stories that I could prove false in real time on Facebook.
This isn’t to throw shade at the Boston Globe. They were certainly not the only culprit here. I just remember this distinctly…
I don’t know quite what my point is here. I guess that there’s always been a lot of it misinformation? Maybe the degree to which we’ve become interconnected through a generations worth of smartphone use has brought not only the disinformation to light, but the problems it creates?
It certainly feels worse today than it ever was, but as I look back on it I’m not so sure.