Eric Tucker made a mistake and admitted it, trying to convince the public not to believe all information unquestioningly. However, his first tweet was re-tweeted over 10,000 times, and the amended one containing the correct information was re-tweeted only 29 times. It is a rather frightening number because it demonstrates people’s attitude towards loud headlines.
Eric Tucker undoubtedly did wrong and created a newsbreak, a phenomenon with the dissemination of loud news that is not always true or honest. His high-profile statement made a lot of noise and quickly spread across the Internet: most likely, only a few people tried to be critical of his tweet on their own. Nevertheless, journalists also did the wrong thing because they started spreading information with no evidentiary sources. Such an event – a massive convoy of white trucks – could not have gone unnoticed, and the journalists only took the topical spot with the breaking news. The information they used from Tucker’s tweet served as an impetus for political gamesmanship by dissenters who cannot adequately express a position. Such an act cannot be considered correct because it violates the very principles of journalism.
I like using Instagram and Facebook – they are convenient communication platforms, and they are a source of information about my friends and acquaintances. Quite often, the algorithms of these social networks play a cruel joke on me – especially Instagram and its selection of delicious food at night. During regular times (daytime and evening), the algorithms of both social networks serve as sources of information, and only a small number of ads and third-party picks are found in my feed. The social media algorithms have more to do with how much I interact with third-party choices. If I get more likes on posts by people other than my followers, I get more content related to those individuals. And on Facebook, comments under posts often become triggers for some pretty intrusive advertising. I am surprised at how fast the algorithms work: it seems like we are in a Black Mirror episode or Mr. Robot, but I think it is just that the IT sector has become very advanced that it can intuitively adjust the feed to a specific request.