Do Your Own Due Diligence

 

Do Your Own Due Diligence

               ‘Trust me bro’, is a phrase used in the world of financial vloggers that describes an individual making a claim with no supporting evidence. Now, the fact that this individual does not provide any supporting evidence doesn’t necessarily mean that what he or she is saying is invalid, but it doesn’t help them in the credibility department. There are reasons for sources to not be directly cited. The information may have come from a whistleblower with firsthand knowledge, but this person does not want the organization to know that they are the potential leak; their identity would be considered protected information. There could be an issue of personal safety that calls for discretion but it’s imperative that the news gets out to the public, this could be a reason as well. If there is no official, legitimate reason, and no source is conveyed upon request, it’s highly likely that what’s being spouted is personal opinion. Personal opinion is necessary for a democracy to flourish, but intelligible action requires evidence. A blogger/vlogger’s opinion can be a dangerous thing in the hands of an easily swayed audience. Urbandictionary.com defines ‘Trust Me Bro’ as “investing advice based on no fundamental or technical analysis”. (Phouse, 2022) A person has a blog and says that a particular digital coin is going to ‘make a run’ (rise sharply) and says that based on nothing more than an educated guess; this action causes people with less knowledge about the market than this person to invest in the coin. The value of the coin is raised, and the vlogger pulls their money out of the trade without telling their audience. This would be a pump and dump scheme and if the audience didn’t cross check the information and just took it at face value, they would lose their investment. This is an exaggerated example but not outside the realm of possibility.

               In the Washington Post article, Americans have been ‘blogging’ about politics for 250 years, author Rachel Scarborough King states, “Dryden and Walsh were corresponding at a time when print was still a suspect medium and there was only one legal newspaper, the government-controlled London Gazette. By using their letters for news reporting, they could verify stories printed in the Gazette and add details or contextual information. They combined personal vouching with the public news”. (King, 2016) Citizen journalism was born out of necessity. Many individuals wanted to express their experiences with an issue, service, good, or institution, good or bad, and either prevent or replicate that experience for other citizens. At a time when “15 billionaires own America’s news media companies” (Vinton, 2016) it seems as though the news, or lack thereof, can be manipulated, fabricated, delayed, and/or omitted when the need arises. The massive machines behind the news media of today have political agendas and alliances that they will protect. Citizens must be smart and arm themselves with information, so they aren’t kept in the dark. Citizen journalists allow these news stories to be challenged or corroborated, allowing citizens to think freely and take the best course of action for themselves and their families with the best possible information.

               The other side of this issue is intentional disinformation. Citizen journalists that knowingly disseminate ‘fake news’ for socio-political gain, fearmongering campaigns, or other reasons are a serious drawback and a blight on this community. Because the nature of blogging tends to be viewed as opinion based, it is generally unregulated. There are mitigations in place on some platforms, for example, Facebook displays if a story has been verified or not. However, the diligent citizen will ensure that to be true because Facebook is also a major media player with its own political agendas to manage. ““The internet allows people to take disinformation and rapidly disperse it to many other people and populations across geographical borders,” said Nadya Bliss, executive director of ASU’s Global Security Initiative. “Now pretty much anyone can institute a sophisticated disinformation campaign and it requires almost no resources to do it right.”” (Roschke and Gillmor, 2020) Anyone with a computer and some free time can initiate a disinformation campaign. In the investment vlogging community that I am a member of, there are vloggers that have drastically changed their message since the beginning of the collective journey. There are a few underlying tenets that were always upheld, and these tenets have been completely abandoned by a few of the vloggers. The growing chatter in the community is that the integrity of these vloggers have been purchased by the hedge funds and other financial institutions that we have been standing against. Almost overnight the message was flipped 180 degrees and the institutions are the direct beneficiaries of this ‘change of heart’. If this is what actually happened, it would be the perfect example of disinformation. If you know one thing to be true but spread a false narrative that it isn’t the right thing to do to your trusting audience, you are an agent of disinformation.

               The citizen journalist is necessary. The citizen journalist has been affected and wants to protect you from the same pain that he or she has felt. The citizen journalist, like the mainstream media, must be cross-checked because the citizen journalist could be an agent of disinformation as well. The main thing to remember is that the citizen journalist is a citizen. He lives in the same community, attends the same religious centers, shops at the same stores, possibly knows the same people and wants the community to be the best that it can possibly be for everyone because he lives there too. She was called to duty, in a manner of speaking and strives to inform all who will listen of the things that may make their community better in every way. She may pull for a certain candidate for office, give directions and feedback about the local polling location or tell you why you shouldn’t eat at the neighborhood Burger King. It’s all done to help push something forward.

 

References

King, Racheal S. 2016. Americans have been ‘blogging’ about politics for 250 years. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/10/31/americans-have-been-blogging-about-politics-for-250-years/. Accessed on September 18, 2022.

Phouse. 2022. Trust Me Bro. Urbandictionary.com. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trust%20me%20bro. Accessed on September 18, 2022.

Roschke, Kristy and Gillmor, Dan. 2020. Disinformation in the media: Two ASU journalism experts weigh in. ASU News. https://news.asu.edu/20200817-disinformation-media-two-asu-journalism-experts-weigh. Accessed on September 18, 2022. 

Vinton, Kate. 2016. These 15 Billionaires Own America’s News Media Companies. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2016/06/01/these-15-billionaires-own-americas-news-media-companies/?sh=19654f16660a. Accessed on September 18, 2022.

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