Disinformation.

During our class EOTO, a topic that really caught my eye was Disinformation, or commonly known as "fake news." Disinformation is highly prominent in our society today and throughout history. Although it is common knowledge, disinformation can be defined as information spread to the public that is intended to mislead them. A major example of this is the propaganda used by one government organization or administration to another rival power or the media. Throughout history, fake news has been spread from World War One all the way until the Cold War. Disinformation is still used today in many aspects of media, including social media. For example, there have been many instances of fake accounts, people pretending to be other, more well-known people, and spreading false information. Verified people on social media have been seen sharing this false information to their thousands of followers without even knowing that it is a false account. In most situations, disinformation can be seen as negative and hurting our society. There are situations where fake news is not necessarily a bad thing, like Santa Clause. Parents tell their children to behave for Santa Clause which helps them raise their children in whichever way they see fit. This little, white lie does not really hurt anyone and benefits parents and children. Recently, there has been disinformation in our political system. There was many instances of fake news in the 2016 election that was even spread through mainstream media such as CNN, NBS, and newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post. False voting ways were spread to our society. This really confused the public and caused many issues in terms of voting. There were photoshopped images and fake accounts projecting false information to the public like telling them to vote via a Twitter hashtag or to text in your vote to a specific number. The public was told these voting services would register their vote properly. This was spread throughout society and really caused issues in our voting system.