Who to trust in a Web 2.0 world?

"Fake news". A phrase that blew up these last two years and is now uttered almost daily - sometimes as a joke and sometimes as "factual statement".

I'm not going to get political here, rather I'd like to pose a question to you all:

In our ever evolving Web 2.0 world, who do you trust?

As Web 2.0 tools evolve and allow users to make stronger connections to a wider audience base, how do users know who to trust? With little to no legal regulations on who can publish online content (i.e. Russian hacking issues), what is "real news", what is "fake news" and how does the general public distinguish between the two?

Noniashvili, Batiashvili, and Griffin's article The use of social media in the Republic of Georgia and a discussion about American academic freedom with electronic communications touches on the issue. Authors note "[an] area of concern is the level of honesty given by the participant in an online setting. It is difficult to ascertain if the other person is being honest or not" (2014). While their article explores the issues Universities face in relation to sharing academic content while still protecting privacy and being protected from hackers, I think the more prevalent issue is who are Web 2.0 users trusting for their information?

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, all these Web 2.0 platforms use an algorithm to generate news feed content based on a users previous interests / internet search history. I feel these algorithms promote personal bias and only perpetuate the personal narrative instead of sharing diverse viewpoints.

For example... If User A's search history is mostly centered on anti semitic content, the algorithm on their preferred Web 2.0 platforms are more than likely suggesting additional anti semitic content they should read. Thus, User A is not seeing any content related to the other end of the spectrum, getting "news" from potentially biased sources and is perpetuating the anti semitic narrative.

How is User A vetting these sponsored and suggested sources? How does User A know who to trust? Does User care, or even realize, what content is fake or biased? As more and more people rely on social media and Web 2.0 platforms for their daily news, who is monitoring what is "fake news", what is "real news" and what is being suggested as content for these users?

What are your thoughts on the war on "fake news"? Do you agree that social media algorithms perpetuate a skewed narrative? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

XO,

Michelle