Paving the Way for Fake News
How much time do you really have to pay attention to the 24/7 News Cycle?
I don’t know about you, but my days feel so busy sometimes that I don’t have so much as an hour of free time at the end of it to pause and catch my thoughts. The amount of time spent working, tending to the kids, and doing the general tasks around the house take up the bulk majority of the day. By the time the day is over, the last thing I want to do is catch up on current events.
So instead of getting all my news from the daily paper or delivered via a trustworthy anchor on the nightly news like people did 30 years ago, I rely on quick headlines and sound bites in order to formulate an understanding as to what’s going on in the world around us. If you’re like me, you never get the full picture of what’s going on but you feel somewhat informed because you have a general idea of what is actually happening. I think the majority of you feel the same way I do.
Fake News=Division
As the internet continues to overwhelm and overlap with reality it should come as no surprise that people found a way to manipulate the narrative thus paving the way for what has come to be known as Fake News. And as time continues to pass the Fake News has become more immersed with what the average reader, viewer, and listener believes to be our reality. There is no longer a need to question what is real or not because there is enough evidence floating around the web to reinforce whatever position you choose to take. As a result, our country is more divided than ever, as we live in two different versions of reality.
The only way I feel like we can combat the issues that divide us, is a simple solution in theory but very hard to execute. We all need to take a moment and just slow down. Give yourself pause before clicking on that next link. Take a second to do some follow up before forming your opinion after the next YouTube video you watch. And most importantly, take a breath before commenting on or sharing that next post you see on Social Media.
Because the Fake News cycle doesn’t work if we don’t help facilitate it. We are implicit in our own actions that help contribute to the overall atmosphere this has created in our society.
The Strange World We Live In
Granted, with stories like Jeffrey Epstein, Russian Hacking in our Elections, and the ever growing conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 contributing to the shutdown of the economy as we know it, it’s hard to stay focused. We all feel very lost in a world that looks more unfamiliar than ever.
It sucks. I feel your pain. The future is unknown and we’re struggling to find answers as to why it’s heading in the direction we are. But maybe the fact that we’re so buried in a fake reality that is more exciting and titillating that what life really is could be the reason why we find the Fake News so engaging. Or maybe...just maybe...the age of the internet and freedom of information paved the way for the average person to finally know what the elites have known all along...maybe.
Stay with StruggleState.com for more information as we navigate through the ever changing economic landscape.