Pizzagate Meme Readings

One of the things that interests me is how different platforms responded to news. Reddit has a reputation for only removing problematic subreddits when the media picks them up and starts reporting on them for instance, whereas Facebook and Twitter hardly ever remove anything, no matter how problematic.

It is also interesting to see the interaction between clear mental illness and fake news, and who is susceptible to it. There is also the amazing capability of people to adapt their reality to suit their beliefs rather than the other way around. The resilience of the human mind is somewhat amazing.

Ultimately, it seems that some people just have a native need to seize on these things. Flat earth, anti-vax, and more are all just sort of lurking in some people's psyche.

It's fascinating how things can spiral out of control like in the #PizzaGate controversy. People will take posts on a random site and belive them without a second thought. I found it really interesting that people chose to believe things on a site that also claims "that the Titanic was deliberately sunk and that the queen of England is a reptilian alien." It's shocking how people can believe something so wholeheartedly that they are willing to drive to a different state and threaten people with a gun. I just don't understand how people can believe such outrageous things, it's baffling.

I honestly don't find this story very surprising at all. People believe anything nowadays, especially with our (crazy) president claiming so much "fake news" and spreading so much false information. It's so unfortunate how much this particular thing spiraled though, because it could've easily been prevented had people not made outrageous assumptions. Also, the fact that Reddit was the reason this all got so much attention is crazy because there was no reputable source confirming this and yet people continued to believe it. The emails that are displayed on the site really don't have any sort of meaning to me other than politicians and people exchanging words on pizza. People truly made it into something it was not because they were itching for a scandal. It was lucky (saying that about a shooting doesn't seem like the right word but it fits here) that no one was hurt during the shooting of the pizza place, but it is important to recognize that someone could have been hurt and acknowledge that misinformation and speculation can be dangerous. 

I had no idea that this conspiracy theory was as deeply rooted as it was (or I guess, continues to be?). Obviously the whole thing goes back to the dangers of Fake News and people being skeptical of the media as a whole. I'm all for individual research into topics of interest and current events, but when such activities dip into false claims that get to the level of several neighboring shops and the Comet Ping Pong restaurant itself being seriously threatened, that is way too much. Thank goodness no one was killed or injured, but the reputation and sales of these small, family-owned restaurants were heavily affected. I'm surprised the police and FBI claimed they couldn't do anything even when 150+ calls were being received daily and the accusations crossed into the realm of unprotected speech like defamation. Definitely an example of how the internet has the power to skew perception. 

Before reading this two articles, I was not familiar with the Pizzagate conspiracy. I find it fascinating how websites such as Reddit, 4Chan, social media websites, etc. are able to spread fake news quickly and for people to jump on the band wagon and believe everything they see. I think people do not trust mainstream media anymore and feel people with similar interests and views are more trustworthy since they are part of the same group. I do believe that Reddit should not have closed its post on Pizzagate as that is removing free speech. However, it should have only been removed if the language was threatening individuals which I am not sure if it was based on the article.

It is shocking how a conspiracy that spread quickly impacted individuals and businesses who did not do anything to deserve this stress, loss of business, and fear of constant threats in their lives. Pizzagate demonstrates how the Internet can bring people together to attack individuals that is not justified. While I feel forum sites provide avenues for people to connect with others on topics and who have similar interests, there needs to be better education on realizing what is fake news and understanding that threatening people is inappropriate. 

I had heard about #Pizzagate previously but I hadn't really known much about it. The entire thing is so crazy. It's believable, I know that people are incredibly easy to trick, but it's still so wack. It's really sad how negatively affected the store was, especially since none of the rumors were true. When the one "reporter" said that she didn't try and be 100 percent accurate that felt really weird. Obviously I know that people can never be completely unbiased etc. but it's so assumed that everyone tries to tell the truth. I think that the mentality that you don't even need to try and be accurate is really dangerous. 

The Internet has allowed anyone to have their voice heard.  This is the driving force behind the pizzagate scandal.  The Internet allows for information, real or fake, to be spread to whoever and whenever.  This has brought rise to denialisms like flat-earthers and skeptics on the moon landing.  It has also bread extreme conspiracy theories that accumulate massive followings.  This can be dangerous, as thousands can be duped to believe things that to the normal eye, are ridiculous.  It goes to show that we should be responsible with our media consumption and be wary of denialism and heard mentalities. 

I have studied fake news and its dissemination in classes in the past, so I was not overly surprised while reading this article. However, I do find it fascinating the way the producers of fake news or false information leverage people's innate desire to believe in things which are in accordance with their previously held beliefs and values. Further, it seems they actively take advantage of people who are more susceptible to believing these things due to factors such as mental health. 

After reading these articles, I feel as if our ability to figure out what information sources we can rely on has weakened over time. As we take in information online, we often want to believe whatever we see most frequently on the trending pages. Since a lot of these things aren't regulated, it becomes easier for us to be misinformed. The effects of being misled are widespread and drastic, and I think it is up to big sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit to determine what needs to be filtered out. Even though it may be great that anyone and everyone has a voice on the internet, the spread of false information can really have a negative impact on people's lives.

What struck me immediately was how ridiculous and uncorrelated the points were. I think that the image of the restaurant was a perfect symbol for how people are stuck in their tunnel vision. They saw moons and stars at two opposite corners and pointed it to be a symbol of satanism, without noticing two more moons and stars at the other corners. Does that mean its double satan? No. It also shows how devolved people can become when they are stuck in their own echo chambers. The possibility of an (at the time) presidential candidate to run a child sex trafficking ring out of a pizza parlor is so ridiculous that it is almost comedic. People have such a hatred for certain people that they will literally believe anything. They look at a email referencing something mundane and think that that can't be, because they're evil. Then, they spin the email and make it in a way that fits their narrative, posting it to social media for people who are just as gullible. It shows a sector of this country who are ridiculous and simply refuse to be rational or informed, and how we can devolve to a state of mentality where people opposed to us are beings of evil and need to be stopped.

It's both not surprising and amazing how these stories played out. To me, it seems ridiculous that anyone would ever believe these stories. What is interesting to me is the fact that even when these people were proven wrong they still denied it. The video evidence was a coverup, Welch was a government plant, etc. Nothing was ever good enough. It seems like the only thing people will believe were things that confirmed their own biases. People were more willing to believe that two stars on a sign were satanic than actual video evidence showing that there was no secret sex ring going on. The way that this stuff just snowballs is both amazing and mind-boggling. Especially, considering a lot of this is driven by hate. They hate the democratic party, they hate Hillary Clinton, etc. so they continuously look for ways to make them look horrendous as a way of validating their own point of view. However, what they fail to realize is that I guarantee the exact same thing could be done to them if people had access to their emails and texts. I lot of people argue that it must be true because of all this obscure 'evidence' that they have. What they fail to realize is if someone took the time they could twist these people's own messages, blogs, and emails into a conspiracy in itself. One of the major things that I hate about this is the bloggers and other 'reporters' who know the information they are spreading is fake or isn't 100% true but still do it anyway. As we say in the Washington Post article the blogger, MacWilliams, is proud of the fact that she spreads false information. She claims that people will be able to find the truth amongst all this false information and that there must be some truth to these false claims otherwise they wouldn't have spread as fast. To me, these people are just money/fame-hungry and they will do anything and spread any false information that they can if it makes them money or gives them their five seconds of fame. There needs to be a line when it comes to stuff like this. I strongly believe in free speech, but when that speech wishes harm on others or insights harm on others that crosses a line that is beyond free speech.  

As I read these two articles, I couldn't help but to think about the many ways that fake articles can affect people. Even if I read something and know it isn't true after, I still feel like I subconsciously believe what I just read. Even if it is ridiculous, I think if someone wrote it then it might make sense for it to be true. What is specifically sad about the #Pizzagate is how much bad publicity the pizza restaurant got. They were not even a part of anything negative but a rumor caused them to gain such a bad reputation. Even if people know it is not true now, many are subconsciously affected like I talked about before. After reading comments by my classmates, I agree that social media sites should work to filter out fake news like this. But how do they do that? There is millions of articles a day, and they really do not know how to handle it unless they actually know if it is the truth or not. People have the right to their own opinion, so its hard to balance something that is totally fake or something that is an opinion. From the second article, they stated, "Pizzagate — the belief that code words and satanic symbols point to a sordid underground along an ordinary retail strip in the nation’s capital — is possible only because science has produced the most powerful tools ever invented to find and disseminate information"(Pizzagate: From rumor, to hashtag, to gunfire in D.C). What is interesting about this quote is the fact that people are going to have to deal with fake articles because that is just the nature of social media. With the advancement of technology, there is also going to be false rumors and problems that arise with it.

I had no knowledge of the Pizzagate scandal prior to reading these articles but they certainly show the problem of fake news. It is absurd to me that people would believe there to be a child sex scandal operating out of a nice pizza restaurant in DC just because of some leaked emails from John Podesta.  I think these articles also demonstrate how easily information can be spread that is interesting and that people want to believe. A person who already does not like Hilary Clinton might see an article saying bad things about her and not question the articles validity. The same could be true with someone not supporting Donald Trump and seeing a negative Trump article. I mentioned in my audio essay that false stories are more likely to spread than true ones on social media, and it is because they're eye catching and they sound wild. I think these articles and the scandal as a whole demonstrate the need to limit the spread of harmful conspiracies online, although I do not know how to do this while protecting freedom of speech. I don't think telling lies and spreading rumors that can lead to someone being harmed is a protected form of speech but the trouble is that the people saying these things online actually believe what they're saying.

I was fairly familiar with Pizzagate before reading these articles, but it still registers as shocking upon every re-read. It is honestly a little terrifying how fake news can weaponize people in this way. I am reminded of the psychological phenomenon of confirmation bias, in which people root themselves in their preexisting beliefs and seek data to confirm these beliefs. It is kind of scary how some members of society can utilize this to confirm the extreme and irrational. I am not sure what the solution is, but hopefully people can be educated on the dangers of their biases and how to evaluate their beliefs logically.

I had no idea about the Pizzagate Scandal before reading these and I am not at all surprised by how the entire thing played out. There are so many people who are unable to understand and see the difference between real and fake news and it has truly become a problem. The picture of Obama playing ping pong especially stood out simply because of how easy it is to trick people. It was taken in the white house but because someone put text over it, it spiraled out of control and misinformed an entire population. People need to take more time looking into issues online, especially of this degree. 

I did not remember this conspiracy theory as one of those that were spiraling around at the time of the election (probably because there were so many with each each candidate). I never really thought about how conspiracies come about, but these article drew a perfect picture of the Pizzagate controversy. It was crazy to see how one WikiLeaks post can be picked up by people and how far these people can actually take these outrageous conspiracies. That is kind of the double- edged sword that comes with the internet and the first amendment because its difficult to regulate what people will post or believe. 

Although I have never heard about the #Pizzagate scandal itself, I have become familiar with the concept of fake news due to its prevalence in today's media. Due to my knowledge about how common it is for people to buy in to fake news and accept it at face-value, I was not too surprised by the way the Pizzagate scandal unfolded. I find it extremely problematic that today's society can be swindled so easily by certain generated images (such as the ones discussed in the reading). 

I remember (vaguely) the #PizzaGate theory when it broke. With my experience with Reddit posts, they have been mostly true or seem to come true (i.e. the Game of Thrones final season plot ended up being mostly true). These people on these online spaces dedicate themselves to finding "receipts" or seemingly concrete evidence to support their claims. However, there come stories like #PizzaGate that discredit any ability to have factual stories break on online forums. It is beyond crazy to me that people actually believe controversies like this enough to shoot a firearm in a place of business. I can't imagine a regulation of speech on the internet either that doesn't infringe on the first amendment, but something needs to occur.