Lowrider Librarian

Facebook is a cesspool of invalid information.  Image is public Domain. Dear readers, I used to be a huge proponent of FB.  I am a librarian and early on I realized the potential of social media for networking, sharing information and as a medium for learning.  This is no longer the case. I used to believe FB was a great tool to share information. It is not even a good tool for sharing information.   I am an information professional.  Part of my job is teaching students information literacy.  Here is a definition of Information Literacy that ALA uses: Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information."   This has much to do with the the person's ability to search for and find valid information.   Most dictionaries define validity as: "The quality of being logically or factually sound; ...

[This blog post is a sketch of ideas. I plan on fleshing these ideas out.  I want to share them now though.] Fake News as Related to Culture and Information Literacy: The recent information that has come out about fake news sites and stories   that were shared on social media and influenced the recent elections are directly related to the concept of Information and Culture .  The idea of controlling public perception via the control of media was perfected by the Nazis' Josef Goebbels.  Now the ideas of Edward Bernays have been combined with Goebbels  techniques to manipulate and reinforce the idea of Whiteness in US culture. In many ways, this election was about Whiteness versus the alternative developing multicultural worldview that exist within the USA.  These ideas, because a lack of access to education and publishing by people of color, are still developing.  The pace this development has picked up steam recently. The backlash by the Racis...