In a world of the 24-hour news cycle, people are increasingly putting down their newspapers and opening up their laptops, mobile phones, and tablets to remain connected with the rapidly changing face of journalism. Newsreaders are ever more reliant on Internet communications in the form of blogs, tweets, and Facebook posts as the primary source of information.
Although these online sources provide the most rapid form of news and information sharing, one must question the reliance of Internet communication as completely factual sources of information. The recent scandal over the narrator of the blog “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” displays the ease with which authenticity can be feigned online.
The blog, “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” claimed to be written by Amina Arraf, a gay Syrian female, but was revealed to have actually been authored by a straight American man. The blog was wildly popular in the blogging community throughout the world, and the hoax has raised questions about what “reality” means for the Internet.
I understand that creative license on the Internet is important, however I am not sure how to identify when creative fiction becomes flat-out lies. The blogging community is in uproar about Amina Arraf, but I’m not really surprised that she proved to be a character of fiction.
The Internet has long provided individuals with a forum of anonymity—
A place where you can provide commentary on news articles and pick fights with people about a video on YouTube. The Internet will always be a location for identity construction, and then reconstruction. We shouldn’t read too much into any particular opinion or editorial, we just need to understand that the Internet provides everybody a voice, even if it is not their real one.
I think you bring up an interesting point about the internet and how an individual can be anyone he or she pleases online. I do agree that this anonymity is often abused, with sites such as CollegeACB and other blogs where an individual is essentially free of any limitations and can harass others, whether it be their peers or politicians or celebrities. In this sense, the anonymity of the Internet can be harmful.
ReplyDeleteHowever, at the same time, I believe the anonymity can be used in beneficial ways such as spreading information and news in countries with totalitarian governments or strict government control. The anonymity provides almost a 'safety blanket' for those individuals who, by any other means, would be targeted, harrassed or persecuted for their actions.