#information literacy

[rockpapercynic]

There's an epidemic of AI-made photographs on this platform. Right now, they're mostly used for farming clicks, but as A.I. models get better at faking images, be prepared for a spread of scams, misinformation and propaganda.

Here are some tricks for spotting AI!

#ai #air photography #media literacy #information literacy #comic #webcomic

[faustandfurious]

Once again a reminder that the more polarising an international conflict is, the more misinformation you’ll find online, and the only way to combat that is by being critical of what posts and articles you share. Resist the immediate impulse to reblog unsourced posts, even if you agree with the message, especially if you agree with the message, because your own confirmation bias will make you overestimate the trustworthiness of the information. Misinformation, however well-intentioned, won’t help Gaza. Credible reporting adhering to established journalisting standards for fact-checking, will help. You can’t convince decision-makers with unsourced claims. Be deeply skeptical of anyone who alludes to old antisemitic tropes about worldwide Jewish conspiracies. There are so many people who have a vested interest in polarising matters further and pushing this or that narrative until the public eye loses sight of what really matters (ordinary people’s lives, safety and basic human rights). Also, check out Bellingcat.

#information literacy #this is also why i don’t reblog anything about palestine #i don’t have the time to fact check the posts on my dash so i’d rather not contribute to accidentally spreading misinformation

[corvidcorgi]

Honestly my biggest advice for any Tumblr newcomers but also for longtime users is to turn on Post Timestamps in your Dashboard Preference settings.

We talk about how one of the strengths of Tumblr is that people aren't shy about interacting with posts that are months or years old, that there's no shame in circulating content that might be considered outdated on other platforms. That it's fun to see people's art or memes or shitposts, that they generally hold up no matter how old they are and that we don't and shouldn't cringe about that. And this is true.

But it's also absolutely fuckawful for news or activism purposes.

I cannot tell you how many times people I follow have reblogged articles that are years out of date -- not just two years (2021 was two years ago no matter how fake that feels), but six or more. I've seen them lament over bad news from 2017, clearly shocked and horrified what they perceive as current events.

It's a prime outrage and misinformation engine. It's straight-up bad, not just from a misinformation standpoint but from a mental health standpoint, to be moved to fury or despair by "the state of things" from over five years ago.

That news is important, to give the context of its time and as a benchmark for how we got where we are now, but if you think what happened in 2017 is current events, you will miss what's actually happening right now. Don't risk acting on outdated information.

You get no opportunity to say, "Huh, I wonder if we've made any progress since then," or check how the situation's evolved. You can't give the benefit of the doubt to a stranger who made a bad take and hope they've grown, because you don't know if that post was made two weeks ago or half a decade ago. Things can change for the worse or change for the better and you'd have no idea.

And if you want another upside to timestamps, more positive than just "This is bad for both your information literacy and your mental health," it's genuinely really sweet and fun to see that someone's goofy post from 2012 is still making the rounds. GIFsets from 2013 for a show that went off the air in 2011 getting reblogged in 2023 make you feel the enduring love and community that show generated.

It's vital to know that bad news may be old news, and uplifting to see the parts of Tumblr's history that are still bringing joy to people. Turn on your Post Timestamps. Do it today.

#also from a hellsite history perspective specifically #it's been fascinating to see posts from 2018 when there were interface changes that everyone hated #circulating during the past month when there have been interface changes that everyone hated #and no one seems to realize that those old posts are not referring to the new changes #but to something that no one remembers used to be different #anyway turn on post timestamps there is no downside #this has been a PSA #misinformation #information literacy #internet culture

[mstornadox]

When I come across a video about plagiarism that is NOT made by a librarian, of course I’m going to hit play. I’m always looking for examples of info lit in the wild.

I just wish that I had looked at the runtime first. Not that it felt long. I really didn’t notice the time until I was already 3 hours in. Yes, Hbomberguy kept referencing how long this video was, but I thought it was some kind of in-joke.

Sigh. The video is too long to assign for a class, but it covers so much good stuff.

#plagiarism #information literacy #hbomberguy #james somerton #librarian problems #cite your sources #don’t rely upon one source to support your argument #use Wikipedia to start your research

[k-wame]

this is the level of information literacy i wanna achieve

#politics #architecture #soviet architecture #soviet aesthetic #anti communism #propaganda #information literacy #left wing politics #twitter #anti capitalism #soviet art #soviet union #soviet

[1863-project]

Cool, I love scam attempts. Anyway, let's break this down for a lesson in information literacy:

So here's how this was obvious to me that this was a scammer:

I've never gotten a text from this number before. If this person had "always thought" I was their friend Linda, I'd have gotten texts from this number before or even been added to group chats. That never happened.

Notice how immediately after the point where the conversation would have ended if it was a real wrong number, the person tries to get personal information and starts acting overly friendly. If someone you don't know is suddenly acting like that, it's a bad sign. My hackles were immediately raised.

After I sent my last message, I blocked the number. It was an interesting strategy - and initially I wondered if "Linda" had given someone trying to ask her out an incorrect number. But as soon as they gave their story, it immediately didn't add up, because if they'd "always" thought this was her number, it would have received a lot of texts before this.

Scams like this hinge on the victim not really having much reading comprehension or being able to analyze the text and see through stuff. They're hoping you won't be thinking, and they're hoping you haven't learned how to not overshare with strangers on the internet/via text. This person unfortunately tried it with a 34-year-old who's been active on the internet since she was about 13-14 years old and grew up in the "don't share anything about yourself" era, but I've noticed since the rise of social media, a lot of people think it's okay to just put their entire life online, and that puts you at risk for things like this. Be careful out there.

#my life is so exciting #scam #scammers #scam alert #information literacy #signal boost

[outlaw-monarch]

Hey guys, in light of these kind of computer-picked search results popping up with dangerous regularity, & since they clearly abandoned "don't be evil" a really long time ago, I'm trying to decide this overly-trusted search engine's new slogan.

Wanna lend a hand?

#ffs #information literacy #“suggestions” #corporate evil #misinformation #Seriously. There are so many people who do not have good Internet or information literacy #The kind of bullshit that is happening now could be disastrous for a lot of reasons #I know you think well I'm smart enough to know the difference. But I'd like to remind you that all of our senators are octagenarians

[thrandilf]

Genuinely can't comprehend how people are incapable of taking new information and applying it to their point of view like

You've been handed evidence

But you just dig your heels in and say no. I don't care about that. I don't want to change my mind. I don't want to have to think. All I want is my bias/first impression. I refuse to budge past a first impression no matter how wrong it is or how much further evidence there is against it.

Like in media it manifests as people clinging to a first impression of a character/what they want that character to be and disregard when a character doesn't fit into the box they want. Which is batshit considering how stories purposefully give new information as time goes on like what are you Doing why even bother watching past episode 1 if you refuse to even perceive outright text

And in real issues it's like climate change deniers and all sorts of political and social stuff and the like

But it all boils down to cherry picking information and not taking in anything new or being able to have nuanced thoughts and the range of effect is anything from annoying people on my posts to devastating consequences to the world and I'm in hell sitting next to information and media literary

#vent #god. screams #media literacy #information literacy #was it always this bad or is it new. like did i just not notice before or

[disastrid]

Youtube, James Somerton, and Critical Listening

i don't watch youtube shows, but this whole thing about James Somerton has been fascinating. I didn't even know who he or hbomberguy was until someone sent me the link (which is here btw)

I've never seen such a detailed, meticulous dressing down of an actual person on a public forum like that. It was truly remarkable.

hbomberguy begins his video with some thorough take-downs of other youtubers and their entrenched plagiarism, basically priming the audience to understand that he has devoted an immense degree of time and research into these people and the subject of plagiarism.

And then says, "oh yeah, and now we're going to get to the main course: this fucking guy."

The takeaway for me is that it demonstrates the problem with getting information from youtube. So often in conversations, someone has a wild claim, and when I ask for sources they send me youtube links.

Somerton not only seems to have ripped off other writers, but also presented misinformation and blatant lies with a veneer of credibility (and terrible lighting like wtf) that I can't help but feel is dangerous.

It underscores the importance of critical thinking, but also critical listening/reading. To consider what others say with a careful level of detachment, especially if they're considered an authority in any form.

To be able to hear when someone is talking out of their ass or when something doesn't quite make sense.

To be able to parse what is a claim or opinion VS a factual statement. And then check those statements, or analyze what exactly is the opinion, and formulate one's response to it. Even if you agree, you should be able to articulate why.

So many of the responses I've seen are like "oh i used to watch some of his videos and didn't catch these things/didn't think much of it...."

I understand it's hard and exhausting to be vigilant, but our consumption of media is so constant now, on so many mediums and vehicles, i think we should be more careful when we can. To take a moment and check even those people or sources we trust.

#some thoughts #information analysis #information literacy #james somerton #youtube #youtube creators

[civanticism]

CIVANTICISM Softhearted Compassion | Hardnosed Coherence https://www.civanticism.com/

#learning #information literacy #reading

[aguineapigcouldntdothis]

a general guide on how to research things online beyond just looking at a few tweets (this doesn't apply for every single thing you search but i hope it's helpful for anyone researching current events, history, science, or anything that's complex enough to warrant something more than a quick google search):

have inspiration for what you wanna research. doesnt matter where it came from it could be that random tweet you just saw! now, find a source that relates to what that inspiration said

find at least two more sources that are directly related to your first source. i like to use the "two is a coincidence, three is a pattern" rule.

examine the people who created your sources! who wrote them? are there any other prominent figures included? what are their credentials? what is their expertise? do they have enough experience in this topic to be discussing it? you can use these questions as a guideline but please please feel free to diverge. the main thing you wanna see is: is there anyone involved in this source who knows enough about this topic to be talking about it.

examine the places in which your sources are published! what are their biases? are those biases present in these sources? what type of information do they usually release? one question i like to ask is "how badly would they be fucked if they got a major fact wrong" this can range from a blogger who may get a few angry comments, to a writer of a huge news source who could be fired and not hired again for a similar position ever. this can help judge how important fact-accuracy is to that specific source.

☆ 3-4 are good steps to use google a lot, which you can honestly do in any of these steps but these particular ones lend themselves nicely to googling the fuck out of things.

5. analysis time! this is my favorite i love it but it can be a fucking pain especially when you're still figuring it out. basically what you want to know is what are these sources trying to do, what are they actually doing, and how do they tie together. sometimes this is really easy! sometimes all of your sources have the same overarching story, the same fact included, etc. however that's not always the case and sometimes you've gotta dig a little deeper to find those strong connections. and other times you'll have a source you thought was good but it just doesnt fit in, so it's time to scrap it and find a new one. this is your time to be super fucking nitpicky about details in the spirit of high school english classes.

6. now put all that together! you have your sources, you have overarching information you learnt, and possibly some specific information too! now you can share that if you wish or not share it.

"my guinea pig loving friend", you may be asking, "doesn't that mean I'll have less information to share"

abso-fucking-lutely it does, yet the information you do share will be a lot more carefully thought out and most likely better. every piece of information you share has the capacity to affect someone and being mindful about sharing proper info can reduce negative impacts. you will fuck up sometimes and that's super normal however you can avoid fuck ups by being careful about the information you believe and share.

i hope this helped someone! idk if it will this is just shit ive used and i think it works well. i might include an example in a reblog if i can find a topic to base it on sadly i am tired and that's not my problem rn

#information #information literacy

[faustandfurious]

Extremely niche question related to Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles, but Wikipedia claims that de Villegagnon was present at the Siege of Tripoli in 1551, contrary to Dunnett’s depiction in The Disorderly Knights, where de Villegagnon stays behind at Malta. The only source cited for Wikipedia’s claim that de Villegagnon was present, is the Introduction to an edition of Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta, which contains the following passage:

Notably, this doesn’t actually state that de Villegagnon was present in Tripoli, only that he wrote about the Siege later.

I’m also reluctant to believe that Dunnett, with all the meticulous research she put into her novels, would have made an error like this. Does anyone have any good and reliable historical sources on de Villegagnon’s actual whereabouts at the time of the Siege of Tripoli?

#the lymond chronicles #nicholas durand de villegagnon #dorothy dunnett #information literacy #sort of #at least a lesson in why you should check the sources for the claims made on wikipedia

[rarilee33]

annoyed with the assumption that all younger ppl use google (even in uni). Like no I don't want to use the mega giant that fucking steals every aspect of you ffs plus everything about its operation is terrible. Give me some boolean operator advanced search proquest shit and promote information literacy

#rant #google fucking sucks #information literacy #use firefox #yes I know google has hidden boolean operators but they are hidden #also hate amazon aws

[maniculum]

Doing some research for an information-literacy project, and I ran across this in one of the articles I found. This is the official title of one of the faculty involved in the program being written about.

"Wikipedian in residence for gender equity." That's... wild. I need to know what this job is like. I'm a fan of both Wikipedia and gender equity, so I fully accept that this person is doing useful & important work, but I need to know what that is. This is in the second sentence of the article and it was like being hit by a two-by-four. Just fascinated by the existence of this position.

I did Google them, and they had a blog that's ostensibly about the work they do in this position (it's entitled "Wikipedian in Residence for Gender Equity at West Virginia University"), but there are only two posts and they're pretty much just pictures, so it's not very informative. Making a note to go back and look into this once I'm done with research for the evening.

#things found while doing research #information literacy #academia

[fireonfire]

While it is so easy to go insane, getting back the sanity is contradictory. Losing hope might just be difficult for some, though gaining hope is difficult for all. They say to succeed, one has to choose the path that strains one the most. Yet some succeed in the path the believed they could do easily. It takes but a moment to question everything, yet even a trillion years can not bring answers to some. Losing faith hurts even those who had already expected to do so. Albeit, gaining trust heals even those who wished to avoid it.

#reading #literature #spilled thoughts #prose #english literature #thoughts #books & libraries #booklr #bibliophile #𝕃𝕚ℕ writes #writing #writeblr #thought bubbles #media literacy #information literacy

[professorbussywinkle]

Personally, I don't mind being called bro as a trans woman, to me, the function of that particular expression of speech doesn't feel like a reliable enough indicator to certifiably intuit the way someone's perceiving your gender, but moreso, just happens to be a word that

"Conveys A Specific Set Of Emotions™️"

none of which usually have anything to do with a given person's gender that someone's using it in conversation towards, so deciding to get upset at that is petty and lame to me...

...but I don't judge other transfems who have different feelings about it, like it's really easy for me to imagine why someone could possibly be upset about something like that, and I don't mind if she feel some type of way about it, and I won't use it around her

But getting upset in like... An aggressive or intimidating way, lashing out at in excess towards people for inadvertently saying it in casual conversation without realizing it, or towards people who have no history with you and don't know not to call you that?? That really doesn't ever seem like a justifiable response to me because "bro" also happens to be one of those words that

"Fills In Empty Spaces In Speech™️"

Just like people say "Like" all the time, or "Um" or "Uhh" as a transition in between thoughts, or to switch the feelings associated between certain thoughts, and those "fills in empty space" type words are usually deeply unconscious and automatic, so having to exert conscious effort in order to change it for the sake of being respectful is gonna take some time and energy, so if you've explicitly told a person how to refer to you, and they wanna be in your corner and wanna be polite and respectful to you, they will usually notice when they fuck up and usually proceed to self correct without being prompted, and if they don't, usually a look is all it takes to get people to check themselves about these things if they don't immediately realize what they've said is in some way impolite

and if they don't care to bother exerting that effort into changing it to be more respectful, then that type of person don't deserve to be a significant part of your meaningful inner circle anyways...so like... fuck em, right?? Find better people to hang around then and move on

#bussywinkle speaks #queer #lgbt #trans #transgender #discourse #txt post #trans discourse #disc horse #lgbtqia #linguistics #language #parts of speech #information literacy