Fake News is BS: Here’s What You Might Want to Know
Guest Post by Sydney Brogden What do fake news, clickbait, misinformation, and yellow journalism all have in common? They all fit under the broader umbrella of bullshit (BS). BS is communication that demonstrates little or no concern for truth, evidence, or established…knowledge” [1]. This implies that BS-ing is more about the impression the communication creates […]
Guest Post: Fact vs. Fiction: How Universities are Helping to Curb the Spread of Digital Misinformation
Fact vs. Fiction: How Universities are Helping to Curb the Spread of Digital Disinformation by Mary Sim When was the last time you encountered a catchy headline or news article online, only to question the truthfulness of its content? Perhaps you were searching for an article to include in a research project or were simply […]
Guest Post: Algorithms and the Death of Democratic Discourse
Algorithms & The Death of Democratic Discourse by Christian Koch Our entire digital history tracked— and is still being tracked. Platforms like Google, Facebook, and others collect data from links clicked, time spent on a particular page, whether or not the content is shared, and even the most seemingly inconsequential choices— all to build pictures […]
Guest Post: Navigating COVID-19 Dashboards
Navigating COVID-19 Dashboards by Kailey Fukushima When COVID-19 arrived in British Columbia, I sought safety in information seeking. In Spring 2020, I visited COVID-19 dashboards several times daily. I experienced near-overwhelming anxiety until I learned to navigate these technologies intentionally. Does my story sound familiar to you? If so, you are certainly not alone. COVID-19 […]
Guest Post: Personalized Personal Lives: Students vs. Filter Bubbles
Personalized Personal Lives: Students vs. Filter Bubbles by Joe Wright We’ve all likely seen and been told about how Google’s now seamless integration into our lives sometimes results in a blurring of our lines of privacy, but another hidden tactic of Google (and many other platforms) is ‘personalizing’ the information we’re shown to appeal to […]
Guest Post: Using Your Online Democratic Voice
Using Your Online Democratic Voice By Alexander Howes Strengthening democracy requires us to engage in civil, informed online discourse. It is important to be conscientious about our democratic voice online. From choosing our news sources to engaging in online debate, it is important for us to be informed and engaged. This article provides strategies for […]
Online Resources for Library Access
This semester has been unlike any others before it. One of the big changes has been limited physical access to the library and its resources. Due to COVID-19, library branches within the UBC and UofT campuses either offer very limited services or remain entirely closed. However, this does not mean that students are left without […]
Guest Post: Fake News! Who Cares!
Guest Post: Fake News! Who Cares! by Johnson Huang After a long day of staring at Zoom lectures and taking notes, you catch up on your social media sites like Twitter and Instagram for some semblance of relaxation, and you are bombarded by news story after news story. The Amazon forest is burning to the […]
Guest Post: The Challenges of Live-Tweeting
Guest Post: The Challenges of Live-Tweeting by Victoria Yang My introduction to live-tweeting occurred in 2013, when I was invited to my very first conference as a teenager. Although this was six years ago, I still remember that the email invitation prominently featured one question: what’s your Twitter handle? Delegates were encouraged to maintain an […]
Guest Post: What Can You Do About Fake Reviews: The Case of Sunday Riley
Guest Post: What Can You Do About Fake Reviews: The Case of Sunday Riley by Carmen Wong To buy, or to not buy, that is the question…you check out the customer reviews to see what others are saying, but with so many reviews, both good and bad, to filter through, who do you believe and […]
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