Not to defend the stupidity that does exist on Tiktok, but reputable sources often post their news and extra content on Tiktok, and Tiktok often the only way to access it. “Proper news” in the form of articles tends to be more jargony and needs to confirm to a professional tone. Not to mention, they simply take more time to produce.
Examples of extra content include fact checks, debunking right wing conspiracy theories, longer versions of interviews that didn’t make the final cut, or simple clarifications in the form of Q and As.
E.g. see the Tiktok accounts for the BBC, The Guardian, the Financial Times, etc
Getting news from reputable sources generally involves reading and ~25% of American adults are functionally illiterate.
Probably not the main cause of people turning to TikTok for news but if you drew a ven diagram of the two groups, I wouldn’t be shocked if there was an awful lot of overlap.
His tweets have a 5th grade reading level, there’s a connection for sure. Even Facebook and Twitter and other social media requires some level of reading.
4th-grade I’ve heard. In any case, American media had been aiming for 5th-grade long before Trump. Maybe it was 6th? In any case, I learned that in the 90s.
~25% of American adults are functionally illiterate
That ~25% of American adults is too dumb to deserve to vote. You should be able to show some kind of basic intelligence and common sense in order to have a say in how a country should be run – it should be based on merit. I even have a name for that: meritocracy!
That idea gets too sticky, too fast. Look up Southern literacy tests for black people. Complete nightmare.
Reminds me of my friend applying for his concealed weapon permit in Alabama. You had to submit a form, and a picture, to the local sheriff. Told him, “Good thing you’re a middle-aged white guy!”
Still, I feel ya. Over half of Americans read at a 6th-grade level and our President speaks at a 4th-grade level. Obama spoke at a 10th-grade level and the hate wasn’t all down to racism. Americans are so fucking dumb, they were insulted, felt he was talking over their head to be a snotty, over-educated, “I’m better than you.”, type. Or as we call it in the South, “uppity”.
I think it’s just that a content creator, especially one with the ability to come off authentically, comes off as more trustworthy than a media corporation, even one well known for its trustworthiness.
Part of me misses my childhood local paper. Especially the game we played in middle school of finding the spelling and grammar errors. Honestly though I do think we need to have a revival of subscribing to local newspapers
the headline sounds fucking scary, but i wonder what the reality really is. i am in my fourties, i remember news being printed on the paper, and i understand the media world and what the difference is between trustworthy media and tabloid.
still, lemmy is often times the first place where i see specific news, esp. regarding us politics (i am from eu) - but i choose links to reputable sources (which is not that hard, because lot of times the same info is linked 5 times from the different sources) and verify if needed.
so “gets news from social networks” would sound more ominous than i think my reality is. i don’t have tiktok, so i have no idea what the reality is there.
Reddit or lemmy news related stuff is more similar to a potentially problematic curated RSS that happens to have a comment section than influencers giving the news.
Tiktok seems to lean more towards being a video sharing platform filled with aspiring content creators with followers who can get deeply infatuated with them and become their life coach in a sense than a RSS alternative.
So the least harmful impact of those types of platforms is making something like labubu become viral and explode in visibility and popularity, and the more harmful one being what lot of podcasters have done taking on the role of new anchors or science exports to their huge captive audience.
So if going back to the old days most similar thing would probably be getting all your news from what your neighbor Bob says.
My middle school social studies teacher used to give extra credit on things if we brought in a newspaper clipping with a spelling error circled. I didn’t understand until years later that getting us to read the paper was the goal, but it sure worked on me.
Texas GOP official platform had called for an end to critical thinking education. Looks like they took such a beating over that stance as to flip a 180.
We support education in the arts and music and building critical thinking skills, including
logic, rhetoric, and analytical sciences. We support quality vocational educational training that imparts skills needed for meaningful post-graduation employment.
People are choosing stupidity
Is it because it’s easier than getting proper news from reputable sources or something?
Not to defend the stupidity that does exist on Tiktok, but reputable sources often post their news and extra content on Tiktok, and Tiktok often the only way to access it. “Proper news” in the form of articles tends to be more jargony and needs to confirm to a professional tone. Not to mention, they simply take more time to produce.
Examples of extra content include fact checks, debunking right wing conspiracy theories, longer versions of interviews that didn’t make the final cut, or simple clarifications in the form of Q and As.
E.g. see the Tiktok accounts for the BBC, The Guardian, the Financial Times, etc
Getting news from reputable sources generally involves reading and ~25% of American adults are functionally illiterate.
Probably not the main cause of people turning to TikTok for news but if you drew a ven diagram of the two groups, I wouldn’t be shocked if there was an awful lot of overlap.
His tweets have a 5th grade reading level, there’s a connection for sure. Even Facebook and Twitter and other social media requires some level of reading.
4th-grade I’ve heard. In any case, American media had been aiming for 5th-grade long before Trump. Maybe it was 6th? In any case, I learned that in the 90s.
In general, media companies usually target a 5th grade reading level to ensure most can read and understand the stories.
His tweets definitely aren’t a 5th grade level, because they’re clearly below that level.
That ~25% of American adults is too dumb to deserve to vote. You should be able to show some kind of basic intelligence and common sense in order to have a say in how a country should be run – it should be based on merit. I even have a name for that: meritocracy!
In representative democracy even dumb people deserve representation.
That idea gets too sticky, too fast. Look up Southern literacy tests for black people. Complete nightmare.
Reminds me of my friend applying for his concealed weapon permit in Alabama. You had to submit a form, and a picture, to the local sheriff. Told him, “Good thing you’re a middle-aged white guy!”
Still, I feel ya. Over half of Americans read at a 6th-grade level and our President speaks at a 4th-grade level. Obama spoke at a 10th-grade level and the hate wasn’t all down to racism. Americans are so fucking dumb, they were insulted, felt he was talking over their head to be a snotty, over-educated, “I’m better than you.”, type. Or as we call it in the South, “uppity”.
“Why are you being mean to me?!?!”
“…I’m sorry for being a little flustered but I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re doing it again!”
I think it’s just that a content creator, especially one with the ability to come off authentically, comes off as more trustworthy than a media corporation, even one well known for its trustworthiness.
Part of me misses my childhood local paper. Especially the game we played in middle school of finding the spelling and grammar errors. Honestly though I do think we need to have a revival of subscribing to local newspapers
the headline sounds fucking scary, but i wonder what the reality really is. i am in my fourties, i remember news being printed on the paper, and i understand the media world and what the difference is between trustworthy media and tabloid.
still, lemmy is often times the first place where i see specific news, esp. regarding us politics (i am from eu) - but i choose links to reputable sources (which is not that hard, because lot of times the same info is linked 5 times from the different sources) and verify if needed.
so “gets news from social networks” would sound more ominous than i think my reality is. i don’t have tiktok, so i have no idea what the reality is there.
Reddit or lemmy news related stuff is more similar to a potentially problematic curated RSS that happens to have a comment section than influencers giving the news.
Tiktok seems to lean more towards being a video sharing platform filled with aspiring content creators with followers who can get deeply infatuated with them and become their life coach in a sense than a RSS alternative.
So the least harmful impact of those types of platforms is making something like labubu become viral and explode in visibility and popularity, and the more harmful one being what lot of podcasters have done taking on the role of new anchors or science exports to their huge captive audience.
So if going back to the old days most similar thing would probably be getting all your news from what your neighbor Bob says.
My middle school social studies teacher used to give extra credit on things if we brought in a newspaper clipping with a spelling error circled. I didn’t understand until years later that getting us to read the paper was the goal, but it sure worked on me.
People aren’t taught to use critical thinking skills anymore.
Texas GOP official platform had called for an end to critical thinking education. Looks like they took such a beating over that stance as to flip a 180.
Doubt that translates into real-world policies.
When they are, US Nazis puts a stop to it.