CMN 2173 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Fake News, Newsprint, Microtargeting
18 Jul 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Social Media – Part 1
CMN2173 – Advertising & Society
Wednesday, July 18th
Allcott & Gentzkow (2017)
• 19th century: rise of partisan newspapers with cheap newsprint and
improved presses
• 20th century: sound bites and telegenic images with the advent of the
mass media
• 21st century: echo chambers or filter bubbles with the social media; no
significant third party filtering fact-checking, or editorial judgment
o concern that the only media available, is media as consumed
and as interested in through your network of friends – not all
the information that you should receive to inform you
o social media are advertising businesses – we are made to forget
by distraction of other functions, but their business models are
to promote ads
• Fake news: false stories circulating on social media
• Most adults get their news online
• Fake news widely shared in favour of Donald Trump
• The average U.S adult has seen at least 1 or several false news stories
in the month before the 2016 election
o Played a major role in U.S. elections and convincing audiences to
vote a certain way
o Facebook is implicit in this
• Fake news as distortion
o Canada has laws against this – it is not as strict in the U.S.
• What false news is not;
Document Summary
Korolova (2011: advertising systems are breaching user privacy by exploiting micro targeting capabilities, an advertising system without privacy protection build-in the design is vulnerable (data monetization, two types of attack: inference from impressions or from clicks. 2: micro-targeting: between utility vs. privacy, when minorities are targeted, its usually to prey on lack of knowledge, but this is not the case when it comes to news over social media. Case study #1: (cid:862)t(cid:396)u(cid:373)p i(cid:374)(cid:448)ites thai (cid:271)o(cid:455)s to (cid:449)hite house; (cid:271)o(cid:455)s (cid:396)e(cid:395)uest to (cid:396)etu(cid:396)(cid:374) to (cid:272)a(cid:448)e(cid:863, although this is seemingly obviously fake, however, it plays on past stories of similar reactions and almost plausible realities. Case study #2: (cid:862)wate(cid:396)s: (cid:272)otus pi(cid:272)k should (cid:271)e illegal i(cid:373)(cid:373)ig(cid:396)a(cid:374)t(cid:863, fake but affirms confirmation bias of republicans. Case study #3: (cid:862)t(cid:396)u(cid:373)p sa(cid:455)s he (cid:373)ea(cid:374)t to sa(cid:455) the e(cid:454)a(cid:272)t opposite of (cid:449)hat he said a(cid:271)out. Russia"s ele(cid:272)tio(cid:374) (cid:373)eddli(cid:374)g(cid:863: real news, but so ridiculous, it must be fake!
