This is probably not an ideal way to be an informed citizen.
Average median voter.
And why innocent people are being murdered in the street and why we don’t have auto emission standards anymore and why the FDA is abolishing disease research.
That approach makes up a large part of the world in which we now live. It is also one reason why things are as messed up as they are. On the other hand, whether or not to read the news has become a major mental health issue, so I’m not going to blame anyone who avoids it.
Same. Not like my socially anxious ass that bursts into a panic attack at the slightest in person disagreement who lives in a deep red state in a medium sized town an hour away from the nearest major city can do much.
I oftentimes find myself being ahead of mainstream news on certain topics.
They’ll give a bite size explanation of said topic. When I already learned this from the day before.
I can’t say that the information differs a lot, it’s more that mainstream media gives a very brief and sometimes incomplete version of the story (time constraints).
Hilarious as it may be, depending on where your memes are from, you may be more informed than others
OP, this habit is exactly how old people fall victim to propaganda on facebook.
See funny picture and move on. 3 days later the topic comes up. You’re not sure why, but you feel like whatever thing/person/group is bad. No facts needed, just vibes.
Thank you for pointing this out to me, I’ve been falling into this habit.
Agreed. The Qanon message boards even have a pinned thread, instructing users how to warp reality (public perception) with “meme magic”. They create tons of extreme-right memes that end up on Facebook.
Newsvibing?
You know how starring directly into the sun for too long leads to pain, damage, and blindness? Even just being exposed to it directly for too long can lead to burns, dehydration, and delirium. Best wear sunglasses, move into the shade, avoid spending too much time exposed, and drink more water.
This has been a metaphor, thanks for reading!
This is… painfully… accurate. Well done!!
Ha, you felt this so strongly that you reported it for being “painfully accurate”.
No?
Meta for what?
I don’t play multiplayer games so I’m out of the loop.
Metaphor. As in like English language
English language
Yes yes, the unholy abomination resulted from linguistic orgy.
What is it meta for?
OK I just got the joke, I love it
“News” is a very nuanced thing. Any news report already biases the facts, often without trying: different newspapers can state the same event in unique ways. And memes completely remove the nuance. So they are no longer “news”, they are a one-off joke about some complex thing in real life.
Don’t get me wrong I am the same as you, many news items I first hear via memes. But this is no way to learn about the world. I worry that our ability to digest and understand nuance is atrophying, at least in North America where I’m from.
I would say our ability is being digested by current tech, specifically LLMs, and that disengaging from/relating to one another more directly is a crucial first step in slowing or reversing that process
Agreed. Small talk seems insignificant but it’s real. Meeting folks who are different than you and seeing how they view the world is important. The public square and all that
In glad that you acknowledge the problem, because it really is dangerous. Memes are often totally detached from reality, misleading sometimes by intention or at least through hyperbole. As a format they leave no room for nuanced or fully rounded thoughts.
That said, memes can be fun if you are aware of the context and understand what is true and what is not. At least, before taking away relevant information from a meme, check the story from a proper news site, for example Reuters.
That’s ok because 59% of people who share an article don’t read it either.
It’s probably much higher for that specific article
67% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Looks like that article is based on a single study from 2016. Not saying it’s not applicable, but these days the number could be much lower or (more likely) much higher. I’m also not sure the echo chamber effect is related to this, as you can just as easily say people will read what they already agree with (especially since it’s a time investment) and that leads to the same problem.
If everyone is doing the same then you have a better grasp on the popular zeitgeist than any news pundit.
I don’t know anyone who refuses to READ news who isn’t also a fucking idiot.
What did you think had happened when Lemmy when full beam meme?
There’s probably worse ways to get information of the world.
Sometimes this happens to me as well. Usually when a celebrity does something news worthy that is how I discover it. Or when sports things happen.
I will say though that, while you are probably right that only learning about news through memes is not a good way to be informed, the other extreme (obsessing over every headline) is probably bad too.
As unsolicited advice I’d recommend finding a few long form journalism sources and following them to get a better feel for the news. Doing the over time I have found that i am informed without the hysteria that often comes from 24 hour news cycles.
