DL 323

I Don't Get This Internet Thing

Welcome back all. Here is Digitally Literate, issue #323.

I posted the following this week:

🔖 Key Takeaways

📚 This Week’s Highlights

Charlie Warzel explores whether we're living through a replay of the ’90s, with blockchain and NFTs replacing the earlier confusion about "this internet thing."

Most public activity on Facebook is driven by a small, hyperactive group of users. Their engagement disproportionately influences what everyone else sees, exacerbating polarization and misinformation.

Recommendation algorithms change over time, and Facebook is notoriously secretive about its inner workings. Our research captures an important but still-limited snapshot of the platform. But so long as user engagement remains the most important ingredient in how Facebook recommends content, it will continue to give its worst users the most influence. And if things are this bad in the United States, where Facebook’s moderation efforts are most active, they are likely much worse everywhere else.

3. How Telegram Became the Anti-Facebook

Telegram is a freeware, cross-platform, cloud-based instant messaging service.

What the article misses is that Telegram and Facebook serve two different purposes. Facebook has a focus on finding groups that might be interesting to you in order to keep you using the platform. Telegram has no comprehensive group search feature and is great for messaging people you already know, and joining groups that you already know about.

Telegram has been shown to be essential during the Ukraine invasion.

Please note, Telegram is not designed for privacy as it doesn't use end-to-end encryption for messages, and may be no better than Whatsapp.

If you're looking for privacy and security in your messaging, Signal is the way to go.

4. Facebook And Twitter Have Been Blocked In Russia

In previous issues of DL, we've discussed Russia's build up of their own private internet. The Russian government blocked access to Facebook and Twitter in the country as part of the government’s broader attempt to control the narrative of the war by clamping down on what it considers fake news.

Russian citizens can still access most sites via Telegram or through personal VPNs, but many Russian independent news organizations have already pulled content about Ukraine or simply shut down due to tighter censorship policies from the Kremlin.

5. Schoolkids Are Falling Victim to Disinformation and Conspiracy Fantasies

Digital media literacy must evolve to address children’s susceptibility to fake news. Certain approaches to media literacy may backfire, increasing cynicism rather than critical engagement.

6. I’m a Creator. You’re a Creator. We’re All Creators!

More than 50 million people worldwide now consider themselves creators, a term that encompasses everything from YouTubers to podcasters to writers to artists to people who sell courses online to people aspiring to be any of those things. When did everybody start calling themselves content creators?

Rebecca Jennings writes about the ubiquity of "creator," a term that connotes art + innovation but so often means the opposite.

On a related topic, Jennings writes about the line between being a sex worker and an influencer online. This quote has been haunting me from that piece:

Social media forced everyone to learn how to offer themselves up for digital consumption.

🛠️ DO: How to Retain What You Learn

From Sahil Bloom, a five-step retention framework:

  1. Inspired Consumption: Engage with material that excites you.
  2. Unstructured Note-Taking: Capture your thoughts freely as you learn.
  3. Consolidation: Review and structure your notes to solidify understanding.
  4. Analogize: Connect new information to something familiar.
  5. Idea Exercise: Practice using new concepts to make them stick.

🌟 Closing Reflection

"It is the certainty that they possess the truth that makes men cruel."
— Anatole France

Reflect and Engage

Thank you for reading Digitally Literate. Stay tuned for more insights and discussions. Connect with me at hello@digitallyliterate.net or explore Newsletter Index for all past issues.