Social Media and Truth

 Today, I referred to the social media platform of Facebook in order to locate an email address from one of my good friend's that I wanted to use for a job.  After visiting his profile, I decided to browse around the platform just to see what's new.  And I was shocked to find out that there is an option that informs you what friends are in proximity of your exact location.  The option will also tell you how far the friend is from you, and you from them.  And it doesn't stop there, the option also has a log that illustrates a map that shows where you've been even when you're not using Facebook.  Whoa!  It's not that bad of an option, if you're the type that likes to sit down and marvel at your personal travel, but that tool could be used for evil.  If you happen to have a significant other, who has the password to your phone, and enjoys interrogating you about your whereabouts, things could get interesting...  I believe this application is true because it tracks all of your personal movements, whether in the neighborhood or while you're traveling abroad.  The one advantage that I did like was that there must be two people interacting or with permission from one-another in order for the application to work.  But how could I test it?

In order to find out if the application was truly accurate, I asked my sister, who's also a Facebook user, to install the same application.  After we both had the application installed, I mapped out the exact route that we both were going to walk, from the front steps of our house, to the stop sign down the street, and back to the front steps.  While en-route to the stop sign, the application informed me of my sister's exact location.  While I was walking away from her, it displayed the estimated minutes I was away from her and also the distance from my location to hers.  Once I got back to the front steps, it was my sister's turn to walk that "technological mile."  The map displayed the exact same thing for her on her phone, which made the application immediately credible because I was able to witness its capabilities first-hand.  I just hope that this application derived from Facebook was intended to bring people closer together, and not as a tool for stalking and cause people to be further apart...

Although this particular tool from Facebook is merely used to display locations, Facebook, as well as other social media platforms, also have space where individuals can post information regarding current events on their individual page.  Now, this particular tool can be utilized to produce content with a much higher significance.  But in order for an individual's information to be credible, the information must be obtained by way of skeptical knowing (Kovach and Rosentiel, 2010).  Asking, and knowing how to answer a series of systematic questions, along with knowing how to resolve them, create a criteria.  If this particular criteria is followed, then the information obtained will be credible.  But we all know that won't always be the case...

Kovach, B. , & Rosentiel, T.  (2010).  Blur: How to know what's true in the age of information overload.  

          New York: Bloomsbury.