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Social media has remarkably small impact on Americans’ beliefs:
Social media had only a small influence on how much people believed falsehoods about candidates and issues in the last two presidential elections, a pair of new national studies found.
And Facebook -- which came under fire for spreading misinformation in the 2016 campaign -- actually reduced misperceptions by users in that election compared to those who consumed only other social media.
The results suggest that we need to put the dangers of social media spreading misinformation in perspective, said R. Kelly Garrett, author of the study and professor of communication at The Ohio State University.
"Given the amount of attention given to the issue, it may seem surprising that social media doesn't have a larger impact on Americans' belief in falsehoods," Garrett said.
Journal Reference:
R. Kelly Garrett. Social media’s contribution to political misperceptions in U.S. Presidential elections. PLOS ONE, 2019; 14 (3): e0213500 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213500
The study lets Facebook off the hook for influencing the 2016 election. Further, the study found, "Results showed that, overall, Republicans beliefs tended to be less accurate than those of Democrats, which made sense because the falsehoods were a prominent part of the Republican campaign strategy, Garrett said."
There you have it. It's science.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday March 29 2019, @04:58PM (2 children)
Here's one person's take on Obama's words - and he is reasonable, in that he does point out that others have different interpretations: https://personalliberty.com/obama-really-say-will-stand-muslims/ [personalliberty.com]
Another one that is more defensive of Obama, and tries to put the quotes in context: https://www.truthorfiction.com/obama-books/ [truthorfiction.com]
Obama accusers see one thing in the very same sentence in which Obama apologists see another thing. You should know by now that I scrutinize all of the presidents, and apologize for none. I have found myself in the uncomfortable position of defending most of them from totally unfair accusations. (Sucks to be Carter, I don't recall EVER defending him!)
IMO, Obama meant exactly what he is accused of meaning with that quote. Did Obama get aggressive with ISIS/ISIL/DAESH? Uhhh - no - he didn't. Did Obama kick ass anywhere? Not much. His Naval forces bagged Osama bin Laden, but I can't recall anything else that was even moderately impressive. Remember that "What difference does it make?" Clinton's blunder happened under Obama's leadership.
Yes, I do believe that Obama's first loyalty is to Islam. You may believe differently, of course.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Friday March 29 2019, @08:34PM (1 child)
You are correct, as I do think differently.
I wasn't looking for someone's interpretation of said quote, I was looking for the ACTUAL quote you attributed to Obama, which thanks to your second link I was able to find it.
You can interpret that how you like, but I'm thinking that you are taking that statement WAY out of context. He is talking about protecting AMERICAN CITIZENS that happen to be of Arab or Pakistani descent. Much like Japanese Americans were NOT protected during WWII.
I get it that you don't like Obama, but please vilify the man for the REAL shit that he did, and not bullshit like this.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 30 2019, @02:56PM
The far right is spouting fake news? Really? o_O