Tag Archive for: Pop Politics

Social media must curb fake news


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Fake news has dominated this month’s news cycle. Almost every major media outlet has pointed fingers, profiled someone who writes or publishes fake news, compiled a list of misleading or fake sites and written column after column about what to do to prevent fake news from taking over. To me, this seems to be too […]

Trump’s sexist quip mobilizes women


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While this year’s presidential debates have provided plenty of fodder for memes and late night skits, it was the third and final debate that seemed to create the largest trend the fastest. In fact, Forbes claims that an entire economy was created: “The Nasty Woman Economy.” From “wrong” to “no, you’re the puppet,” Republican presidential […]

Media desensitizes viewers to Syrian crisis


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While the name Omran Daqneesh may not sound familiar, his face is impossible to forget. In August he was brought to a hospital after an airstrike in Aleppo. A photo was taken of the 5-year-old staring blankly, covered in dust and blood. The picture immediately struck a chord with people worldwide. It was retweeted thousands […]

Beware of humor that normalizes injustice


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The 2016 presidential election has been somewhat of a challenge for satirical shows like Saturday Night Live — it is nearly impossible to make the antics of this event more ridiculous than they already are. How do you caricature Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who is already so much of a caricature? But humor has […]

For politicians, Twitter poses a unique problem


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There may be no maxim that millennials are more familiar with than this: “The internet is forever.” In an age of screenshots and retweets, internet ephemera is almost instantly transformed into something more permanent that can be shared weeks, months and even years after the original posting. For most of us, this translates to concern […]

Social media outcry can enact real change


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On Sept. 2, TIME Magazine tweeted, “Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to be released from jail Friday.” A few days later when Turner was registered as a sex offender, media outlets followed TIME’s precedent for a headline. BuzzFeed News tweeted, “Ex-Stanford swimmer Brock Turner registers as sex offender.” The Associated Press followed suit with a tweet […]

Facebook ad policies cripple open discourse


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Facebook is relatively transparent about why you see certain advertisements. Any user can go into “Ad Preferences” and see how Facebook targets its ads. For example, Facebook thinks I will be interested in, and therefore more likely to click on, ads that concern Beyoncé, Postmates and irony. The New York Times  this week brought to […]