Está en la página 1de 2

Bryson Min

18 Sept 2017

Research Exploration & Proposal

Im choosing to research the issue with deceptive clickbait and memes on social media, with a

specific focus in the bipartisan toxicity. Across multiple sources of social media, you see people distort

facts and news in seemingly harmless ways and I find it really irritating to see. I am a libertarian in that I

disagree wholeheartedly with having a two-party system so this has always been of interest. I found

myself involved in the due to that fact that I have been a victim of, and have seen others become victims

of deceptive memes and clickbait. I also have a huge stake in the debate of free speech, and in the

technology age there is a large philosophical and moral issue surrounding inaccurate and deceptive

postings. I will confidently assert that the issue of deceptive memes and clickbait is commonplace at this

point and is unknowingly affecting users every day.

I chose this topic after seeing the prompt because it was the first thing that immediately came to

mind when I thought, What is the most underrated but annoying issue I see happening around me? I

believe that it was in part also influenced by my first project with related technology to my literacies. The

focus of this will be on personal and organizational social media accounts, with a small digression into

account bots). The personal accounts show responsibility for this social issue and its virality due to their

perpetuation of falsified media through reposting. Organizational accounts are the source (typically) of

the misleading media because the agenda that group seeks to convey. In this there are; interior discourse

communities (those with similar opinions) that essentially rally each other, and exterior discourse

communities (those that clash in opinion.) I believe the discourse is typically considered toxic, where

purposefully disrespectful users seek to insult/manipulate others. This applies towards both exterior and

interior communities. The interior communities tend to show toxicity towards those who oppose their

ideas to bond amongst each other whilst the exterior communities exemplify cruel attitudes towards each

other as opposed to rational thought. The most common trend for the external communities is: the side

that opposes the argument presents a contrasting thought and the one that supports it responds with

inappropriate and degrading remarks, all while still perpetuating false information.
Bryson Min
18 Sept 2017

The easiest way to witness this issue is to go online and view anything with a semblance of

political influence; notably on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. After finding a clickbait article or meme

that feels overly simplistic, you can do a simple Google search to self-research the topic. I hope to inspire

people to investigate for themselves once again (and I know even in schools they have trouble trying to

convey this idea). I do my best to debunk the posts or clarify them so that others do not fall victim to their

manipulation. Even if its only one post at a time, its your own personal community that can be changed.

The is room for action amongst social media companies and what they can do. This draws into the

question of the 1st Amendment as well as the idea of fake news, that also heavily influences politics

online nowadays. As an individual that desires for society to progress we need to find a solution to

deception tactics employed by clickbait and meme accounts that only further numb the online community.

This issue has been the spotlight of both the Democratic and Republican party members in that

they employ them to degrade and manipulate the opposition. The problem with defining who speaks on

the issue is that it is spawned from organizations and perpetuated by individuals, leading to a subliminal

speaker of sorts. In terms of utilizing clickbait articles and deceptive memes, I feel like it is perpetuated

by the whole political spectrum do to its effectiveness in the technology era we live in. I find myself very

familiar with various accounts to do my politically focused social media because I see misleading content

spawning daily. I plan to research specific accounts that are known for posting memes or click bait

articles and see what data I can pull from them, this will help account for primary resources (if I can

ensure it was the original creator of the meme/clickbait). I also want to research accounts developed

specifically to debunk and create awareness about the deceptive media to dwindle its influence.

Academically, I would like to find professors to discuss what research means in the modern context and

how it could make a resurgence in the public.

También podría gustarte