Given the fast rate of change in the world of cyberspace and the gaboodles of commentators out there, some of this may be old news to you. Still, I hope to bring some new insights to this issue, even if some of it is a bit of a rehash.
Much has been made of the issue of ‘fake news‘ lately. Simply put, fake news is that which is intentionally incorrect. There are fake news sites who specialize in putting out fake news stories, and certainly some of the internet memes you see on your Facebook page are fake news.
Fake news, though, is normally pretty easily dismissed – facts shut it down, although not as easily as you would think. But what is more insidious is something that has been talked about for years – biased news. News organizations, Facebook pages, twitter accounts, etc. that don’t actually report what is untrue, but simply only report one set of the facts – typically a set of facts that are designed to appeal to a particular subgroup of people – be that subgroup political, religious, racial, geographical, etc., and oftentimes a combination of factors that sub-slice society into tiny segments. I would go so far as to say there are probably millions of these out there.
And not all of them are bad. You may have a site that focuses on newsworthy items that relate to your suburb, and it’s probably just fine that site doesn’t carry the latest story from Iraq.
Where the problem exists is in those sites that carry news and report on things from a given perspective where there are multiple viewpoints, but the site only focuses on those facts and opinions that appeal to a certain group – i.e. conservatives vs. liberals. These sites will typically report the facts that support the viewpoints of their consumers – usually slathered pretty heavily with rhetoric and hyperbole. A steady diet of these kinds of ‘news’ sources can cause someone to have a pretty skewed perspective on what’s really going on in the world, not to mention promoting an ‘us vs. them’ mentality.
But even these sites are only a symptom of the real problem. The real problem is plain and simply… us.
The only reason these ‘news’ sites exist is because there is a demand for them. They are simply responding to the marketplace. If we did not seek after these sources of skewed and fake ‘news,’ there probably wouldn’t be near as many of them, and those that did exist would be there only for parody purposes.
We like these sites that present the information that we want to hear and exclude that info that we don’t want to hear. Many people in cyberspace have built alternate realities for themselves where all they see is that which they agree with – that which affirms what they already believe.
Which means that many people out there aren’t really seekers of the truth – they are merely seekers of affirmation.
OK, so we’ve gotten this far, but now why are people this way? While I’m sure there are lots of reasons, I’m just going to hit on a few that I think are relevant.
The first reason is I think folks like to be entertained. They like the tantalizing, exciting pieces. They like the anger, angst, and outrage. They like the scandal and the gossip. A straightforward presentation of all the facts and a ‘you make up your own mind about it’ approach is plain and simply too boring for some folks – indeed, it may seem like work.
Another reason, and this one is pretty understandable, is that a number of these sites can be downright hostile, obnoxious, condescending, even hateful to those who don’t think like they do or agree with them.
But even if the site doesn’t have these negative traits, a lot of folks don’t like to be exposed to facts and opinions that disagree with their own. It can cause what psychologists call cognitive dissonance, and people don’t often care for it. After all, life is stressful enough, right? Who needs to struggle with facts and opinions that contradict our worldviews. So we exchange the truth for a lie.
The thought I find most intriguing, though, is this. People are seeking something to belong to – a group to feel like they are a part of and can identify with and feel like they are accepted and appreciated. This analogy may seem base, but it’s one of the primary driving forces behind gang membership. Guys come from broken homes with no sense of family and want to have that sense of belonging, that someone is looking out for them, that they are a part of something beyond themselves.
I wonder if… people who come from broken families, or families that were so bad they just want to forget and get away from them, if they are attracted to political or social viewpoints and causes that they can feel a part of. Perhaps the reason there are extremes in political and social viewpoints, the reason people build these virtual online realities, is because of the angst from the past. They just want to be a part of something that they never experienced when they were young. Of course, it doesn’t fill the void – and can’t be expected to – but we humans are great at falling for the lies of the world and the enemy.
As I alluded to in an earlier post, Jesus is the only one who has the right to define us. His creative work, His incarnation, His life and teachings, His death and resurrection, His word and His ongoing ministry to us through the Holy Spirit. These are the only things that have the right to define us.
We’ve been reading Revelation recently as a family. While I don’t know if the end is soon or not, I can certainly see how there are political/philosophical/religious systems that are doing their best to pull us away from the Lord.
May we be aware of these things, be vigilant against the enemy who seeks to destroy our souls, and ever turn away from these deceptions and keep looking to Jesus – the author and finisher of our faith.
A Place to Speak 