While reading breaking news about the Hamas attack on Israel, I kept running into links to X/Twitter that would not load unless I had an account. So I bit the bullet and created an account with a “hide-my-email” address so I could open the links and perhaps even see more real-time updates.
That was a mistake.
What I found immediately was a flood of fake stories, fake pictures, bogus videos and tweets that purported to be “news” but were were clearly untrue.
There were obvious photoshopped images. There were images of “Palestinian babies killed” that was actually an image of Syrian babies poisoned in Assad military attacks years ago. There was a video purporting to be the Israeli Defense Force rescuing hostages that I think was crated using some first person shooter video game.
The comments and texts were even worse, if that’s possible to believe. The ranged from cruel to moronic to inflammatory to hypocritical to bizarre.
The “verified blue check” account content seemed no different than the unverified account content. Nothing seemed credible to me. Or rather, it was impossible for me to ascertain which sources were legit and which were not.
I deleted my account.
Given how much the media still relies on X for source material, quotes and references, it’s not wonder its content is so abysmal.
And let’s not forget Instagram and TikTk are used constantly as “sources”. Instagram. And TikTok. Where image and video manipulation are preset standards for everything we see.
I’ve been skeptical of the news for most of my life – ever since I read watched a report 30 years ago about an incident in which I had direct personal experience and found the report completely misrepresented the situation getting basic facts and key points incorrect.
And that was when media was a trusted source.
Now, forget it.
So what do I do? I limit my news consumption, in general.
I try to get information from a few sources with whom I have a higher degree of trust. But even then, I always consider the motivation behind the stories, the people who are speaking, the money, etc.
I’m optimistic by nature, but skeptical when it comes to media.