Dawn Of The Techlash By Rachel Botsman

When I first created my Facebook account, I intended to use it as a way to learn more about people and their views. In my eyes, I saw social media platforms as ways for people to express their opinions, raise awareness or simply receive feedback. With the emergence of bots that can spread false information, however, these platforms have become hostile. In “Dawn of the Techlash”, Rachel Botsman in the Guardian Editorial explains how tech giants such as Twitter and Facebook have failed to enforce regulations on computer-generated, propagandistic posts. Consequently, these exaggerated and inaccurate posts have created a false reality for many people, trapping them to believe endless amounts of misinformation. Additionally, due to the one-sided

In our modern age, the political division between the left and the right has created many issues, including the difficulty of passing legislations that both sides agree on and the lack of unity in the country. Such divisions have facilitated the supporters of each side to turn to news sources that already agree with their opinions, creating what Rachel Botsman calls “a media echo chamber” (3). With social media, it has become easier to turn to these chambers because the attention-grabbing nature of propaganda created by bots have easily drawn people in. For example, the thousands of bots that created fake Facebook posts during the 2017 election reached “up to 126 million residents” (5), or half of the American population. Thus, it has become easy for people to listen to those who agree with them rather than those who don’t, which strengthens their already established views. Once the bots have drawn people in, they are trapped in an endless loop of watching, listening, and reading posts that agree with their assumptions, even if their assumptions are inaccurate. It frustrates me to see people opposing those trying to correct these misleading articles because it shows how ignorant we can be as people; day by day, the comment section of these articles become more hostile, frightening me to speak out and correct them. It has created a malicious environment where compromise isn’t an option, and it is worrying to know that we are straying away from resolving our problems as