The Social Filter

I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel last week with an incredibly smart and interesting group: Jay Rosen, a leading media critic; Baratunde Thurston, The Onion’s web editor; and Andrew Rasiej, the founder of Personal Democracy Forum. Our panel, The Forum on Participation and Politics Online, was organized by Susan Crawford, the founder of One Web Day, in honor of Internet Week New York.

These panelists were so impressive, they really do represent the pioneers of online activism, in Andrew’s case by creating opportunities for collective learning and lessons for using social media for political change. Jay is an incredible blogger about the ways that media coverage of politics and government are changing and influencing how we can change these areas. And Bartunde is a performer and blogger who uses a variety of media to convey his message of the need for systems change in politics and government.

The part of the conversation that I enjoyed the most was the incredible moment of clarity that the panelists brought to a question I hear so often: “How am I supposed to know what to believe online?” This issue resonates particularly true for young people who get so much of their news online, making it hard to discern truth from fiction sometimes.

I usually give a long-winded answer about the wisdom of the crowd eventually enabling the truth to separate from the falsehoods online — it never really feels satisfying. But Jay had a brilliant answer. Here’s what he said: “This is what good bloggers do. They filter the news and information on other websites and blogs for you and bring it together on one site.”

Oh, now that makes good sense, doesn’t it? It was widely reported in outlets like the New York Times a few months ago that young people primarily get their news online and share links with friends — and that these friend-to-friend communications have become their reliable filters for what to trust. And that works for breaking news, but knowing that good bloggers are out there working hard to identify and share kernels of truth about issues on an ongoing basis provides even more secure support for activists of any age.