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Let's talk about fake news.

Fake news is a form of misuse of information, and Rubin and Tandoc consider these to be variants of fake news;

Clickbait

Propaganda

Satire or parody

Sloppy journalism

Misleading Headlines

Slanted or Biased News

I would argue that bar satire this news article is guilty of all five forms of fake news.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/02/dont-say-gay-florida-week-in-patriarch

The writer of this news article is demonstrating what can also be seen in social media posts which I will show below. She is displaying wilful ignorance that is misleading to an uninformed reader.

The article provides no attempt at linking to the bill itself, the writer also backs up her claims with other controversial political topics in order to further catastrophise things. Despite the Guardian author having reliability due to her using her real name and face and being published in the Guardian, the article is riddled with personal feelings and biases toward Christians and other groups. I have no doubt that this article is intentionally misleading.

Her fear of indoctrination of children with Christianity is an opinion she is entitled to, however, one could suggest that the most pervasive form of indoctrination at hand is the mindless scrolling on the vacuum of social media, and consuming everything you come across uncritically and without question.

I will discuss the virality of the #dontsaygaybill and why I perceive this particular phrasing, and the propaganda associated with it, to be misleading and/or false.

However, a serious negative result of widespread controversial issues is fear-mongering. Individuals use social media and have become accustomed to a certain lack of accountability attached to the posts they share and the ideology they promote.

I will attach below the Bill that is being referred to.

I will attach below an example of the posts talking about the #dontsaygaybill.

As you can see, the very real panic that people are in, is snowballing due to the severity of the misinformation.

For example; the hyperbolic language regarding the stripping of human rights and equality being revoked puts people in a panic and forms a type of echo-chamber where they are constantly reaffirming their views instead of stepping outside of the platform and doing some research.

Now don't get me wrong, if you read the bill, understand it and take issue with it. You are well within your right to say so and take a stance, however, the sheer volume of post-truth being spread is concerning. As you can see commenter @nicolehuttner21 has been so immersed in social media that she actually believes the name of it is the #dontsaygaybill.

What I believe is most imperative about this bill and what we can learn from this blog post is how vital it is to be able to substantiate your claims and base them on real evidence. Higgins states it best; "don't bother me with facts' has become a political stance not a punchline".

To conclude no matter what you think belongs in the classroom, or where your political affiliations lie. We should all have the faculties of logic to be able to discern what is being dramatised and be encouraged to form opinions based on our own research on any given topic.

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What is the best hashtag, and how do we use it?

Let's talk about hashtags!

According to Zappavigna; 'the use of the hashtag on twitter means that users can affiliate around a topic or theme on a vast scale'. Essentially; hashtags can be used to engage in wider dialogue in a twitter thread of posts.

The hashtag originated on Twitter due to one of its constraints. The previously restrictive character limit was bound to; as Tagg says, 'encourage users to vary their spelling in order to compact a message'. This is one of many forms in which preference for convenience, on social media and technology, can alter language.

But the question remains... What IS the best hashtag?

It is my opinion that the best hashtag is the most versatile hashtag.

That is the hashtag; #challenge, in which people add whatever they see fit before it, and others feel compelled to partake!

#dancechallenge

#foodchallenge

#artchallenge

As you can see, this is by far the most entertaining hashtag. Not only do you get to see people overcome great triumphs but even better, you get the #challengefails. People can modify and reinvent this hashtag however they see fit; demonstrated by the #challengefaildbutikeeptrying. Because with hashtags, there are practically no rules!

What exactly are the functions of this hashtag though?

I have noticed in recent years this hashtag has been adopted by brands who noticed its efficiency and reach. For example, let's talk about the #picklechallenge. The viral tik tok trend included the product Hot Mama pickles which individuals would eat with chamoy, tajin and fruit roll ups. This concoction was so intriguing that it resulted in thousands of unboxing, and tasting videos of people trying the #picklechallenge.

This gave rise to the use of the hashtag as a way to invite other people. Lest we forget the #icebucketchallenge that raised money for charity and equalised both celebrities and other users a like. Nobody was safe from the #IChallengeYou.

The challenge hashtag serves as a way of including people and inviting them to create a video of their own. It directly addresses someone who may otherwise be passively scrolling on social media, as it challenges viewers to join and try it out. It also provides brands such as the Hot Mama's to globalise and reach out to consumers who would otherwise have never heard of them.

What's the real harm though?

Well, it presents the same threat as other acronyms: an affliction for laziness. Whilst at first, it may have been a way of categorizing your tweet or image, they have slowly become an easy shorthand. It's not hard to make the connection between hyperlinks and hashtags and shallow reading. However this affordance aids in connectivity and collaboration among users.

As Biddle states; at hashtags worst 'the colloquial hashtag has burst out of its use as a sorting tool and become a linguistic tumour - a tic more irritating than any banal link or lazy image meme'. I would argue this is an apt analogy when referring to certain hashtags such as #offended, but not for experimental hashtags.

As demonstrated by the best hashtag #challenge they can still be used for functional reasons such as indicating a particular theme or genre of tweet or post.